Gut Instincts: Tips for Nurturing and Improving Your Digestive Wellness

A healthy gut is key to overall health and well-being. However, with increasingly busy modern lifestyles, many people find maintaining good digestive health a challenge. Simple changes to your diet, lifestyle, and environment can make an enormous difference in supporting your gut and keeping it running smoothly. Follow these tips for nurturing and boosting your digestive wellness.

1. Visit a Gut Health Nutritionist

Seeing a qualified gut health nutritionist can provide personalised guidance tailored to your unique digestive needs. A person specialising in gut health, like Will Martin Nutrition – Gut Health Nutritionist, understands the intricacies of nutrition, microbiome health, digestion, and common problems like IBS. Based on lab tests and your symptoms, a gut health nutritionist creates customised eating plans, recommends appropriate supplements if needed, and provides gut-healing protocols. Getting expert support goes a long way in helping resolve nagging issues.

2. Eat More Fibre

Fibre moves through the intestines undigested, adding bulk to stools, softening them, and promoting regular bowel movements. Soluble fibres also feed healthy gut bacteria. Enjoy fibre-rich foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes. Raspberries, artichokes, and split peas are exceptionally high in fibre. Gradually increase fibre intake to avoid gas and bloating. Stay hydrated as well so fibre can do its job.

3. Take Probiotics

Probiotics are live microorganisms that confer health benefits when consumed. Fermented foods like yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi contain probiotics. You can also take probiotic capsules with strains clinically shown to survive stomach acid. Probiotics, whether you get them from food or from supplements like Bio Complete 3 by Gundry MD, help repopulate your microbiome with beneficial bacteria to support healthy digestion and nutrient absorption. They may also alleviate diarrhoea associated with antibiotics.

4. Manage Stress

A nutritionist gut health will tell you that you must manage stress in order to achieve optimal gut health. Chronic stress negatively impacts gut health and can trigger issues like IBS as well as inflammation throughout the body. Practising stress-relieving activities is essential.

Exercise, get enough sleep, set aside time for hobbies, and try modalities like meditation, yoga, or breathwork. Keeping cortisol levels in check supports a thriving microbiome. If you need extra support, work with a gut health nutritionist or mental health professional.

5. Avoid Unnecessary Antibiotics

Antibiotics disrupt the delicate balance of microbes in your gut. They kill off beneficial bacteria along with the bad, allowing yeast like candida to flourish. Only take antibiotics when truly needed for bacterial infections. Always finish the entire course as prescribed. After a round of antibiotics, restore gut flora with probiotic foods and supplements. Some people find that supplements with targeted total restore ingredients can also help support the gut lining and promote a balanced microbiome after antibiotic use. Work with your GP or a gut health nutritionist to rebuild your microbiome.

6. Limit Processed Foods

Highly processed foods like ready meals, savoury snacks, sweet baked goods, and candies typically contain chemical additives, preservatives, flavourings, and colourings that can irritate the gut lining. Many also have refined carbohydrates and vegetable oils that promote inflammation. Limit consumption and focus on a balanced, whole-food diet with plenty of plants at its foundation. Keeping blood sugar stable also enables healthy gut bacteria to thrive.

Caring for your gastrointestinal health lays the groundwork for overall well-being and disease prevention further down the road. With some consistent nurturing of your gut, you’ll be rewarded with improved energy levels, nutritional status, immunity, and beyond.