You’re a Work. In. Progress.
And so is your gut health.
Your gut health plays an essential part in your overall health.
One health premise I want you to always remember is that everything (and every system) in the body is interconnected, works together, and therefore can be affected by any other system or part of the body.
There are so many things you could be doing wrong to offset healthy gut flora and damage the health of your gut.
But can I let you in on a little secret?
There are so many ways to get it right.
Like most illnesses and diseases that we face, it’s usually caused by either something we’re doing or not doing, it’s simple.
This is called lifestyle factors.
The decisions that you make in regard to your food, how you handle stress, and what you drink, all affect how healthy or unhealthy your gut is.
Today, you’re going to learn everything you need to know on how to improve your gut health and start feeling not only better but more energized today.
1. How do you know your gut is unhealthy?
You’ll know your gut is unhealthy if you are feeling discomfort or pain, excess amounts of gas, or even bloating.
One of the most noticeable ways to know your gut is unhealthy is just paying attention to your bowel movements.
- Are you constipated?
- How often are you going?
- When you go are they painful?
- What’s the size and shape?
- Do you see blood or mucus when you go?
These can all be indications that your gut is unhealthy.
2. How can I improve your gut health quickly?
The quickest way to gut health is dancing. Wouldn’t that be cool?
But all jokes aside, it goes back to changing those lifestyle factors.
And quick results sometimes mean extreme measures like fasting and cleansing.
The gut will heal naturally if it gets the right resources.
This includes foods and herbs that promote healing and the avoidance of food that promotes inflammation and the destruction of the gut lining.
The easiest way for anything to heal quickly is for it to be left alone, unbothered, and untouched.
Just imagine you have a cut on your finger. What will you do to maximize healing?
Slap on some alcohol, Neosporin, and a Band-Aid on it, right?
Fasting allows the gut time to rest and reset.
Not only your gut but your entire body begins a total healing process when you restrict food.
Not only to cleanse but to use the additional energy it would be using to break down food to instead maximize restoration and repair.
After any fast or cleanse be sure to replenish your body with the proper food and nutrients it needs to rebuild.
There are many different ways to do fasting and many different lengths.
Here’s a Starter Guide for Quick Results, but remember to always do your own research and consult your physician.
You can see here how fasting can not only improve your physical health but your mental health as well.
3. How to improve gut health naturally?
The best way to improve your gut health naturally is to focus on you getting healthier as a whole.
Improving your diet, reducing stress, and exercising regularly will all help in your pursuit of natural gut health.
Start taking a probiotic to enhance your diet and flora with good bacteria.
Avoid unnecessary overuse of antibiotics and medications because they can greatly affect your gut microbe.
4. How to improve gut health for weight loss?
Bad gut health can ultimately restrict how much weight you lose if any.
Your gut bacteria not only influences and widely controls your cravings, but also your energy levels, and your ability to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight.
A bad gut microbiome leads to cravings, nutritional deficiencies, and lethargy, often caused by inflammation by the fried, processed, artificial, and refined foods that we eat.
I.e. Chick-fil-a, your favorite restaurant, or your favorite packaged snacks.
This is why when your microbiome is not balanced by good bacteria you will often have cravings for sugar and refined starch, as well as unhealthy foods.
Often times our bodies are communicating that we have a deficiency.
We also have specific microbes that are associated with weight loss and weight maintenance.
These same microbes are more greatly present in individuals that are lean versus obese.
You now know that gut health is easily understood as how many good bacteria are in your gut versus how many bad bacteria are in your gut.
In order to improve your gut health for weight loss you must improve your diet.
We’ll talk about what you should be eating a little later on but I also want you to understand it’s not just diet, but overall lifestyle factors.
Exercising not only helps you to lose weight but also has the ability to improve your gut health by proliferating and diversifying your gut bacteria.
Reducing your stress loads, and taking care of yourself not only physically but emotionally and mentally to keep stress at bay also can have an effect on your gut and your ability to lose weight.
You being overly tired, anxious, or in a state of stress has the ability to totally change your gut microbiome without you feeling or knowing a thing.
So don’t just look to heal one part of your body or improve solely one part of your life because whether you know it or not, it’s all connected.
5. Foods to improve gut health?
Foods that will quickly heal and improve your gut health are whole foods that are unprocessed, plant-based foods, and preferably uncooked.
Some of these foods can include a variety of fruits, a variety of green leafy vegetables to eat whole, or to juice or make a shake.
Foods that are fermented like kimchi, sugar-free yogurt, sauerkraut, drinking kombucha, lemon water, and herbal teas like ginger and turmeric.
Eating a variety of foods will help, preferably a rainbow of food.
Think produce. The real food in a grocery store is usually located at the perimeter of the store.
As you go in the aisles, the food is mostly all packaged, processed, and salt and sugar laden for preservation purposes.
So imagine your produce section, imagine the variety of veggies and fruit and all the beautiful colors they produce.
Focus on eating a rainbow of food to ensure you’re getting the proper nutrients that you need.
Having the proper nutrients, vitamins, and minerals is essential to improving your gut health and overall health.
6. Worst foods for gut health?
The worst foods for gut health include anything that is processed, refined, or fried.
Sugar-rich foods are the main culprit for inflammation and can contribute to bloating due to this inflammation.
So it’s not just salt that can cause bloating.
Also meat, meat has been shown to drastically change the microbiome of the gut (the amount of healthy bacteria vs good bacteria) in a negative way.
For some, specifically red meat can also slow their digestive system down, therefore supporting constipation.
Red meat stays in the stomach longer, takes longer to break down, and compared to fruits, veggies, and beans, has absolutely no fiber which aids in keeping you regular.
Wrapping it Up
As you’ve probably figured out by now, the concept of improving gut health is not hard at all.
Improve your diet, and your overall life, eat less junk and more whole foods – pretty easy.
It’s the implementation that can be a little troubling.
It’s the breaking of the habits that you’ve had for years that can sneak up on you, it’s the application of knowledge.
Can I give you a piece of advice?
Don’t try to revamp your whole diet in one day.
Change takes time, especially lasting change.
The journey to improving your gut health is just that it’s a journey.
Yes, there are great ways to improve your gut health quickly but you don’t want to relapse and fall back into a place of comfort and familiarity.
Take your time, small steps lead you to great distances.
And for more tips on how to improve your overall health, here are The 4 Basic Things You Need to Know to Instantly Improve Your Health Guaranteed.
Until Next Time With Love,
