How To Improve Your Gut Health

Your gut health is all about the balance of microorganisms that live inside your digestive tract. This part of your body is important because having a well-balanced health of these microorganisms is vital for your immunity, physical and mental health, and many more.

These bacteria, viruses, and yeasts are also known as "gut flora" or "gut microbiome". Majority of these microbes are important for the human health and most of them are even essential. But there are also those that can be harmful especially when they multiply.

So if you've become aware of the importance of these microorganisms and your gut health, then there are ways that you can do to help them out. Top Vacaville chiropractor Alex Tam of Absolute Integrative Physical Medicine provides some tips.

Tips To Improving Your Gut Health in vacaville CA

1. Eat fermented foods and take probiotics

To boost the probiotics in the gut, you can try taking probiotic supplements. You can purchase these supplements at drug stores, food stores, and even online.

According to research, taking probiotics can help support a healthy gut microbiome. It may even prevent gut inflammation and other intestinal problems.

If you want a natural source of probiotics, fermented foods are good choice. Also, try considering eating the following foods regularly:

• Miso
• Kefir
• Kimchi
• Kombucha
• Tempeh
• Sauerkraut
• Fermented vegetables

2. Reduce your sugar and sweeteners intake

Sugar and artificial sweeteners can cause gut dysbiosis wherein it causes an imbalance to your gut microbes.

In a 2015 animal study, it shows that the standard Western diet is mostly high in fat and sugar in which it negatively affects the gut microbiome. This can have some influence on the brain and behavior. Another animal study has also shown that the artificial sweetener aspartame can increase the amount of certain bacterial strains which may cause metabolic disease.

Metabolic disease is a group of conditions that will make a person at risk for diabetes and heart disease.

3. Eat prebiotic fiber

Probiotics feed on nondigestible carbohydrates that are known as prebiotics. This process helps beneficial bacteria to increase in numbers in the gut.

Prebiotics can help probiotics tolerate certain environmental conditions like pH and temperature changes.

You can take prebiotics through natural sources by consuming the following foods:

• Asparagus
• Bananas
• Chicory
• Garlic
• Onions
• Jerusalem artichoke
• Whole grains

4. Reduce stress

Managing stress can be beneficial for your overall health including your gut health.

The presence of psychological stressors in the body can disrupt the microorganisms in your intestines even if your stress is just short term.

People who are always under stress will experience negative effects to their gut health, including:

• Environmental stress
• Psychological stress
• Sleep deprivation
• Disruption of the cardiac rhythm

There are stress management techniques that you can do to overcome this which includes meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and deep breathing exercises. Make sure to also sleep well, exercise regularly, and eat a healthy diet because these can also help you manage your stress levels.

5. Eat a vegan diet

There's a study which showed the significant difference between the gut health of vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

People who follow a vegan diet has improved their gut health because of the high levels of prebiotic fiber that it contains. It also reduces their chances of having low levels of gut inflammation which is caused by altered types of gut microbes. They also lose weight in the process which is a win-win situation especially if you're into fitness.

So if you want to maintain a good gut health, it doesn't seem that bad or too difficult to follow. In fact, not only does your gut benefit from it but also your immune function and overall health. Just follow the advice mentioned above and you can enjoy the benefits that a good gut health has to give you.

For more information call our team at Absolute Integrative Physical Medicine in Vacaville.