We all have heard the term “Gut Health” and it is often suggested to keep it in good health. But do you know the reason behind it? The Gut is said to be the building block for everything, people who have good gut health have more energy throughout the day. As per studies, there are various best foods for gut health that individuals can consider. In this blog, let’s talk about Gut health, while also giving light on the foods to eat for good digestion.
What is Gut Health?
Basically, the gut is the gastrointestinal system, and it incorporates your stomach, intestines, and colon. It helps with digestion and absorbs nutrients from food as well as excretes waste. To give you a little enlightenment, let us tell you that there are more than 200 diverse species of viruses, bacteria, viruses, and fungi living in your large intestine. The bacteria and other microorganisms in our gut are called gut microbiomes, which help us break down food, modifying it into nutrients that our body can use. The importance of gut health cannot be overstated, let us explain it to you!
The Importance of Gut Health
Gut is known to be the “gatekeeper” of your health. If there’s any situation where your gut is not working properly or it is imbalanced, then your serotonin and hormones won’t stay healthy either. Talking about a healthy gut, it not only requires a proper nutritious diet but also includes deliberate care for our internal systems, making sure that they effectively process the daily changes that occur. Furthermore, there can be certain signs that can talk about your unhealthy or we can say bad gut, these can be:
- Digestive issues – such as bloating, gas, constipation, and diarrhea
- Lack of Sleep or fatigue
- Constant changes in Mood/Emotional state – such as stress, low mood, or anxiety
- High frequency of infectious illnesses – such as the common cold.
Signs to Know Your Gut Is Healthy
It is also essential to know that your gut is healthy. For your reference, let us mention the considerable pointers that tell you that your gut is healthy.
- Firstly, you have regular bowel movements.
- Further, you are passing healthy stool.
- Your Gut transit time is good, i.e. approximately 28 hours.
- Also, you don’t feel any discomfort during bowel movement.
- You don’t feel bloated.
There are many people who complaints about their gut health, so let’s tell you about some ways in which you improve your gut health!
How to Improve Your Gut Health
There can be certain ways that can help you keep your gut healthy & happy and even support your immunity. Look at the below-mentioned pointers.
- Eat a Diet Rich in Fibre- Fibre is said to be very important for our gut health as it affects the whole digestive system as well as helps in the absorption of nutrients. Further, fibre has other advantages to our health apart from the gut, these can decrease the risk of heart disease as well as diabetes.
- Eat An Ample Number of Vegetables– Vegetables are one of the best foods for gut health as these contain important antioxidants, known as polyphenols. These antioxidants activate pathways to help decrease our body’s inflammatory response. Further, these are also competent in insoluble fibre that our body can’t ordinarily break down. This is not only good for serving gut bacteria but also helps in moving material through the gut. Vegetables like mushrooms, spinach, bean sprouts, lettuce, and peas can be excellent for boosting your gut health.
- Eat Fermented Foods– Another thing that you can consider for good gut health is to consume fermented food. These can be kimchi, sauerkraut, yoghurt and kefir. These are the best foods for gut health as they are sources of healthy bacteria.
- Exercise Regularly- A daily run or walk is important to the health of your gut and the rest of your mental and physical well-being. Thus, it’s very important that you do something mildly playful each day. Take note that exercise gets your blood circulating in the body, and the mechanical action helps move things through the gut too.
- Limit Refined Carbohydrates, Processed food, Fried and High sugar foods- Make sure to limit such consumption, as these can lead to an imbalance of bacteria in the gut.
Best Foods for Gut Health
If we want to jot down some foods good for gut health, these can be!
• Beans, lentils, and dried peas
• Oats and wheat
• Dried fruits, for example- prunes and raisins
• Whole-grain bread, cereal as well as pasta
• Barley, quinoa, bulgur and brown rice
• You can also consider fresh fruits, especially apples with the skin, oranges, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries
• As mentioned above, vegetables, especially artichokes, winter squash, green peas, broccoli, sweet potatoes with skin
• Most importantly, you can also include fermented food in your gut health diet. These fermented foods for gut health can be Yogurt, Kimchi, etc.
To maintain the essential nutrients, one must maintain proper gut health diet. You can look at the Expert Tips on Pre & Post Workout Meal Nutrition.
The bottom line is that one can improve one’s gut health efficiently by focusing on the best diet for gut health. You should include a gut health diet in your schedule that should be rich in probiotic and prebiotic foods. It is all about developing healthy eating habits as well as regular exercise.
