Have last year’s bad diet decisions left your gut feeling a little worse for wear? Stress, alcohol and high carbohydrate diet can all have an impact on your gut health, causing bloating, altered immune function and mood dysregulation. The secret to restoring your digestive system is all about balancing the good and bad bacteria in your gut.
Here are 5 tips to get your digestive system onto the right track in 2018!
Probiotics
Probiotics are live organisms that reside in your digestive system, playing a vital role in your overall health. Introducing a probiotic supplement into your daily routine will help populate your digestive tract with good bacteria, strengthening the immune system and support your body’s ability to absorb nutrients. While there are countless species of probiotics offered in stores, look out for a multi strain probiotic that contains 5 or more types with at least 15 million CFU. Look for: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis and Lactobacillus rhamnosus.
If a probiotic supplement isn’t for you, probiotics can be naturally found in food sources such as; kefir, sauerkraut, probiotic yogurt and fermented vegetables. When starting out, make sure you are consuming small quantities of them and slowly build up to a comfortable amount for you.
Zinc
Zinc is a very important nutrient for gut health. Zinc is necessary for producing stomach acids to break down food, allowing it to be absorb properly into the digestive system. Zinc also improves the lining of the digestive tract by assisting with the rapid cell turn over and intestinal permeability.
Green Tea
Drinking green tea has a very positive effect on gut health as it works to increase the good bacteria and reduce bad bacteria. Green tea contains polyphenols, a naturally occurring compound found in plants. In the gut, the polyphenols act as a prebiotic and increases the amount of healthy bacteria. It is recommended to consume a minimum of 2-3 cups of green tea per day.
Clean Teas to try: Green Tea Chai, Green Tea Smoothie Tea, Green Tea with Jasmine, Green Tea and Insanitea.
Bone Broth
Bone broth is an amazing health food for the digestive tract which contains gelatine and collagen to support the healing the lining of the stomach and reduce inflammation. Gelatine is a great source of protein which helps with restoring the lining of the digestive tract, making food easy to break down and nutrients absorbed. Collagen, a protein found in your skin, helps to improve skin appearance and is a great for hair, nails, teeth and bones.
Ditching the sugar!
Sugar is not only an inflammatory food, it also feeds the bad bacteria in the digestive system. Bad bacteria such as candida, feeds off sugar and can grow out of control when given the perfect environment to do so (a high sugar diet). By reducing sugar in the diet, you are starving the bad bacteria, giving the good bacteria a chance to fight back and re-establish themselves in the digestive tract.
By Jess Morland
Sources:
http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/nutrition/nutrition-tips/how-to-rebuild-your-gut/news-story/9547e96c2c9e32595ef0df648a0098f6
http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/diet/diets/the-14-day-gut-cleanse-plan-that-works/news-story/abf21778a2a149420ff84fb1d3be5123
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4231515/
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