How To Look After Your Gut This Christmas
Each of us has approximately 100 trillion microbes in our gut. We are more bacteria than human cells! I’ll let that sink in…
This collection of bacteria, viruses, yeasts, and other microbes is collectively known as the microbiome and it’s super important for our health! The microbiome helps keep us healthy by:
helping us get nutrients from our food
making vitamins like K & Bs
helps us fend off inflammation & infection
produces compounds important for keeping the gut healthy, helping to control our blood sugar, blood fats, & appetite
Sadly, modern life puts a lot of stress on our gut. For example, we know antibiotics kill both bad and good bacteria while processed foods, our super sanitised environments, sedentary lifestyles- to a name a few- can all decrease the diversity of our gut, which isn’t a good thing. Low diversity in the gut has been linked to everything from obesity, inflammation, cardiovascular disease and poorer brain function.
So with Christmas fast approaching what can you do to protect your gut over the holidays?
Veggies first
Our gut bacteria love many of the thing’s plants have to offer- including fibre, prebiotics & polyphenols.
The holidays are a time of rich &, let’s face it, large meals but starting with your meal with your veggies can be an important way support your gut and blood sugar levels. When we eat sugar and simple carbohydrates, they spike our blood sugar affecting cravings, hunger and energy. By eating your veggies first it ensures you are getting fibre to support your gut but also supporting more balanced blood sugar levels.
Get daily probiotics
Historically, we would have consumed lots of probiotics from fresh foods grown in good soil, and from fermented foods, a common practice to keep food from spoiling. Today, however, our diet quality is poorer and agricultural practices mean our foods are lower in probiotics.
Probiotics work to rebalance the bacteria within our gut, pushing out the ‘bad’ bacteria, and supporting gut and immune function. Foods include kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, tempeh, miso- variety is key as each contain different strains of bacteria.
Prebiotics are the food for the healthy gut microbes. The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) says we need at least 5g of prebiotics daily for health benefits. You can find prebiotics in the following foods: onions & leeks, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, dandelion greens, beans, wholegrains (e.g. rye, millet, wheat, oats), cooked and cooled potato and pasta, asparagus, pistachios.
Drink bone broth
Don’t throw away that turkey carcass! Use it to make bone broth. The benefits of bone broth are numerous & it’s been used traditionally for decades as a nutrient-dense food to support healing and repair.
Let’s face it, the Christmas period is a time of excess food and alcohol. Excessive drinking makes the lining or barrier of our gut porous & leaky, allowing unwanted things in and increasing the risk of inflammation. Alcohol also disrupts the diversity and composition of the gut microbiome.
Bone broth is a great source of collagen- good for skin, joints, bones- and its great for your gut lining. It helps to support a healthy gut barrier and reducing gut inflammation.
Take it slow & breathe
Chewing is key to our digestion and looking after our gut! Lack of adequate chewing can lead to bloating, constipation, and heart burn. Our saliva contains digestive enzymes so starts the break down process so we can get the nutrients from our food, while the act of chewing signals to our stomach to prepare for what’s to come. Aim for 30 chews a bite!
Breathwork before a meal can also go a long way. 3-10 deep diaphragmatic breathes can help calm the nervous system getting us into the rest & digest phase needed for optimal gut health.
Give it a break
Just like us, our gut needs a period of rest to function optimally.
Intermittent fasting can be good for some people and not for others- it depends on the person and their circumstances (which is why I always advocate for a personalised approach). However, we can all benefit our gut health by ensuring we have 12 hours of rest/not eating or an overnight fast.
The research shows that fasting can positively increase the diversity & abundance of the gut bacteria, support a healthy gut barrier (important to let nutrients in and keep bad things out) & support reduced gut inflammation.
Another option is to leave 3-4 hours between meals to give your gut enough time to reset.
Move
While it might not be top of your list over the holidays even some exercise can be good for our gut!
Exercise has been shown to increase the bacterial diversity, which is important for our health and disease risk reduction. Low intensity exercise can also help with gut motility, and reduce the contact time between any bad bacteria and the gut. Exercise has also been shown to have protective effects reducing the risk of colon cancer, diverticulosis, and inflammatory bowel disease. In addition, reasonable amounts of exercise has been shown to benefit the gut barrier function.
I hope you find this helpful. Our gut is an amazing system and keeping it healthy has never been more important.
Have a lovely December all & stay warm!
Any questions? I would love for you to get in touch!