You are not what you eat, you are what you absorb.

Gut health is here to stay.

So what is gut health? It is the overall health of your digestive system.

Your digestive system incorporates everything from your mouth through to your other end. This includes your esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and even the liver, pancreas, spleen and gallbladder.

This is really important to know, because gut health is more than simply bloating and IBS-like symptoms.

These symptoms, amongst others, are clues your body gives, to tell you something isn’t right.

Functions of the Digestive System

Your digestive system is responsible for a number of essential bodily processes that influence your overall health.

Some of these include:

• Breaking down and absorbing nutrients from food
• Removing waste via your poop.  This is a key part of the digestive process
• Balancing your blood sugar levels
• Appetite control or appetite stimulation
• Filtering and detoxifying your blood
• Creating neurotransmitters (chemical messengers)

A healthy gut can help improve digestion, balance hormones, boost immunity, and reduce inflammation.

That’s not all. You have trillions of non-human cells living in your gut too. This is known as the gut microbiome. The health of your gut bugs can predispose you to diseases such as diabetes, obesity, heart diseases and even mood disorders like depression and anxiety.

As I mentioned, gut health is here to stay.

My Top 3 Gut Health Tips

1. Eat a range of plant-based foods

Variety is the spice of life! Your gut bugs love variety. A varied diet, particularly from more than 30 different plant-based foods a week, is associated with a more diverse gut microbiome (gut bugs).

Higher microbiome diversity is associated with a lower prevalence of anxiety, stress, inflammatory bowel diseases, asthma, type 2 diabetes, and even autism. To name a few.

Top tips to increase your plant diversity:

• Buy mixed salad bags over one variety
• Drink tea
• Make a seed mix to sprinkle over yoghurt or oats
• Add vegetables to smoothies (a banana hides most flavours)
• Flavour meals with herbs (low calorie, high reward)

2. Eat the rainbow

Just as we have pigment in our skin, fruits and vegetables get their colour from pigmentation. Different colours of vegetables contain different plant chemicals. These are going to have a world of benefits in your body.

For example, green vegetables get their colour from chlorophyll. Chlorophyll helps your liver detoxify. We’ve all had that big weekend and come Monday morning, we sip on our green juice and think “I am the epitome of health”.

               Well, technically… it does hold some truth! 😉

3. Incorporate a small amount of fermented foods each day, or every second day

This is your yoghurts, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, pickles, and even cheese! I bet you’re happy to hear that.

Fermented foods contain probiotics. Probiotics are your friendly gut bugs. As I’ve mentioned throughout this post, a higher gut microbiome diversity helps keep you and your body healthy.

There are however circumstances where fermented foods may hinder your health. Fermented foods are high in histamine. If you are sensitive to histamine or don’t break it down effectively, you could experience headaches, tummy problems, or skin issues, to name a few.

If you are experiencing these symptoms, or any symptoms that “don’t feel right”, reach out to me here for a confidential chat.

Remember, it’s what you do consistently that is key to your overall health. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Had a bad food day? Get back on track the next day. Had a bad food week? We all have. Start small.