Good gut health signifies a long, healthy life that doesn’t limit you from doing what you want. Poor gut health has become a common issue in this age of binge eating and binge-watching, leading to chronic gut health issues in various age groups. So, if you know how to improve gut health, the first step is understanding why it’s so important.
An unhealthy gut can lead to poor sleep, stress, fatigue, and several other issues. Hence, choosing foods and a lifestyle that contributes to a good gut system and keeps us healthy is important. This article will discuss how to improve gut health so you can live a sound and healthy lifestyle.
Before we begin, let’s first look into what we mean by good gut health.
What Is Gut Health?
The human gut consists of the small and large intestines, which host millions of microbiomes. These microbiomes are microorganisms that form a bacterial community in our gut, which helps digest food, process nutrients, and maintain our immune system.
The human gut consists of the small and large intestines, which host millions of microbiomes. These microbiomes are microorganisms that form a bacterial community in our gut, which helps digest food, process nutrients, and maintain our immune system.
When there is a consistent balance between the good and bad bacteria in our gut that helps properly digest food and metabolism, we have good gut health. However, this balance is often hard to achieve because of unhealthy foods and lifestyle choices.
When there is a consistent balance between the good and bad bacteria in our gut that helps properly digest food and metabolism, we have good gut health. However, this balance is often hard to achieve because of unhealthy foods and lifestyle choices.
By eating proper foods, we can improve our gut health over time. Let’s look at five ways to improve our gut health and strengthen our immune system.
How To Improve Gut Health?
Here are five proven ways you can improve your gut health.
1. Add Fermented Foods to Your Diet
Scientists have discovered that fermented foods largely contribute to gut flora, also known as the gut microbiome. Eating fermented foods for gut health, such as yoghurt, idli, dosa, and dhokla, allows your gut to cultivate the good bacteria that aid your digestive system in functioning properly.
By incorporating fermented foods into your diet regularly, you can help your gut with detoxification and flourish the colonies of existing bacteria in your immune system.
2. Reducing Sugar Intake
Sugar is present in almost everything we eat — in different proportions. Consuming sugar in small amounts is alright, but high levels of sugar intake can harm our gut health.
Research shows that sugar disrupts microbiome and immune function, thereby leading to metabolic issues. Additionally, studies show that foods with high sugar levels cause inflammation in the body, which can also affect the gut.
Consider replacing sugar in your diet with naturally sweet foods like fruits and healthy sugar substitutes.
3. Consume Probiotics
Consumption of foods high in probiotic fibre, such as yoghurt, fermented pickles, apple cider vinegar, and kombucha, helps boost good bacteria in our gut. Probiotics for gut health keep our immune system healthy and control inflammation.
The main reason why probiotics are great for gut health is that they line the cells of the gut to prevent bad bacteria from entering the blood and making us sick.
Here’s a list of probiotic foods that you can incorporate into your breakfast, lunch, and dinner to get a healthy probiotic supplement:
- Yoghurt
- Sourdough bread
- Buttermilk
- Tempeh
- Kombucha
- Cottage Cheese
- Kimchi
- Miso soup
- Fermented sauerkraut
4. Quit Smoking
Smoking can significantly increase the growth of harmful bacteria in our gut and reduce the growth of good bacteria, creating a disbalance in our gut health. This changes the gut flora and leaves you feeling bloated.
With zero benefits and a whole list of side effects, it’s important to stop smoking if you are a smoker for improved gut health and a sound lifestyle.
5. Stay Hydrated
Staying hydrated can keep your gut flora healthy and free of unwanted toxins. Dehydration slows down your digestion process leading to constipation and abdominal pain or bloating. It also limits the functionality of your gut. Hence, maintaining consistent fluid intake can improve your gut health.
If you have a busy schedule, we recommend setting alarms throughout the day to remind you to drink a glass of water.
Know How To Improve Your Gut Health Efficiently
It can be very tempting to take a bite of that pizza your friends are having or indulge in a sugar craving, but taking a step back before you do it can help you make better choices and learn how to improve your gut health. Visit the Ayu Health website to learn more about gut health and staying fit!
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About the Author
Dr. S. Goel
Dr. S. Goel is a renowned Internal Medicine Specialist currently practicing at Ayu Health, Bangalore. He is a Specialist in Internal Medicine, Diabetes HTN, Paediatric Care, and Family Medicine.