Taking care of your gut is a hot topic right now and for good reason. Your gut, also known as your gastrointestinal system, is essential to your overall well-being, affecting everything from digestion to your heart and even your skin.
And the 38 trillion microorganisms (mostly bacteria) that live there are responsible for digesting food, absorbing nutrients and gatekeeping against intruders, while communicating closely with your brain. The health of this ecosystem – your microbiome – is what most refer to as gut health.
Improving your gut health can have systemic impacts across your body, making it something worth paying attention to. Thankfully, there are plenty of everyday habits you can engage in to care for your gut. Here are five of our favorites.
Eat a diverse, fiber-filled diet
Your diet plays a huge role in the health of your gut, as the food you eat can shift the composition of microbes living there. Sometimes these changes can be detected in as little as 24-48 hours. While there’s no singular “healthy” microbiome (everyone’s microbiome is entirely unique to them), scientists do know that diversity of that community is a marker of health. “While diet recommendations are unique to the individual’s history, culture, context and physiology, there are some simple things we can do to maintain a diverse microbiome: avoid processed foods, reduce sugar intake and eat a varied high fiber and high polyphenolic diet,” says Seed, a company that’s disrupting the probiotics industry with science-backed products.
Reduce stress
The gut is able to communicate closely with your brain through the vagus nerve, a pathway that scientists are calling the “gut-brain axis.” Because of this connection, stress and anxiety can have a negative impact on your gut health. Some research suggests that psychotherapy can help with gastrointestinal distress, but any way of reducing stress (practicing mindfulness, meditating, or whatever works for you) can help improve the overall health of your gut.
Take a probiotic
“Alongside diet and lifestyle, probiotics (and prebiotics) are complementary tools to care for your gut,” says Seed. Their Daily Synbiotic includes strains clinically-studied to support both gut immune function and gut barrier integrity, as well as provide other gut-mediated benefits like digestion, skin health, and heart health. These improvements to the gastrointestinal system also mean a tremendous impact on digestive health. Think: alleviating occasional constipation, easing bloating and maintaining regularity.
Exercise
Since lifestyle matters when it comes to your gut health, it should come as no surprise that exercise can work wonders for your gut. Research has found that regular exercise can change the composition of your gut microbiome, helping to reduce inflammation in many subjects, as well as lowering their risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
Sleep well
Here’s another reason to get some more shut-eye: it can help improve your gut. Research has shown that poor sleep can negatively affect your gut microbiome, which can, in turn, lead to additional health issues. Just like we humans have a circadian rhythm, so do the trillions of microbes living inside us. Better sleep has been linked to a more diverse microbiome, which is linked with better overall health.
Engaging in healthy habits and taking a daily probiotic like Seed’s Daily Synbiotic can work wonders for your gut — and the effects will ripple out to the rest of your body!
xx, The FabFitFun Team
Try Seed’s Daily Synbiotic – the next-generation probiotic and prebiotic made by science. Hint: checkout with code FFF30 at seed.com/fabfitfun for 30% off your first month.
