Gut health is often overlooked and under appreciated. Well, not anymore! As it turns out, a healthy gut could mean a healthy body and a healthy mind.
But wait, what does my gut have to do with my mind? And there is no way it could affect my entire body!
Wrong! Your gut is one of the most important factors for you to live an entirely healthy life.
Gut health is crucial and is connected to more things than you would think. Your gut is your intestinal tract and if it is not in good health, you may have multiple digestive problems, you may not be absorbing all of the nutrients that you ingest, and your overall mood may be affected.
When healthy, a balance of the bacteria and microorganisms within the gut exist in a symbiotic relationship. Unfortunately, that balance can be disturbed by an excessive use of antibiotics, an unhealthy diet that is low in fiber, and the constant consumption of additives and preservatives in our food and drink. This makes it fairly easy to disrupt that balance, huh? When your gut does not have a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria, it can no longer absorb nutrients and repel toxins efficiently affecting your entire body including:
- Allergies
- Stress
- Muscle fatigue
- Immune system, which is responsible for fighting diseases and infections.
This is why digestive problems often correlate with other symptoms that seem unrelated. But fear not, a healthy gut is not only important– it is possible!
To begin to improve the overall health of your gut start to incorporate a healthy amount of fiber into your diet from whole grains and other unprocessed foods. You should also try to add probiotics to your diet whether it is from a supplement or from certain foods including yogurt, kefir, dark chocolate, or even pickles. Avoiding antibiotics when possible will also help keep your gut healthy as well as reducing stress in your life - you would think your digestive tract has nothing to with your brain or your mood, but it does. In fact, many of the major neurotransmitters that are in your brain are also in your gut as well as countless nerves.
So the next time you feel butterflies in your stomach or you have a “gut feeling” about something, you may just want to trust it!
