There’s no question that with colder weather and more time indoors, comes the influx of cold and flu viruses making it more important to nourish our bodies and enhance our body’s natural resilience. The more we uncover about the influence of gut health on our overall wellbeing, the more equipped we are to give our bodies a natural ‘ leg up’, in improving everything from our immunity, skin, hormonal and mental health. At Life Health Foods, we’re passionate about getting more plant-based foods on plates for good health and wellbeing, but we know it doesn’t stop with what we’re eating. Check out our top 6 actions you can take to get that good gut feeling – all over your body.
- Increase your fibre intake
We all have a microbiome (gut bacteria that we start building at birth), and diet is the first point of call in keeping our microbiome happy and healthy. Maintaining great gut health is a balancing act and high fibre foods have been shown to have a positive effect in increasing the good bacteria in our gut. Ensure to include some of the following in your diet:
- Cruciferous vegetables like Broccoli and Cauliflower
- Whole grains like Oats and brown rice
- Apples
- Berries
- Nuts
- Kumara
- Pumpkin
- Artichokes
- Brussel Sprouts
- Kale
- Legumes
- Chia Seeds
- Eat the rainbow
Just like us, our gut bacteria get bored of eating the same old thing. A simple approach can be eating a variety of vegetables based on colour, with each colour group containing different properties that benefits not only our gut but overall health.
- Red – Red foods have shown potential to protect the eyes, reduce heart disease and fight infection.
- Green – Adding greens to your diet could offer numerous health benefits like improving blood pressure and brain health.
- Orange – Loaded with nutrients that can support eye health, heart health, cognition and skin health.
- Purple – Purple foods generally contain a high level of antioxidants, known to have anti-inflammatory effects which in turn aids cognitive health and heart health.
- Prioritise sleep
When it comes to connecting gut health and sleep, it’s a bit of a ‘chicken and egg’ situation – where poor sleep can have a negative effect on our gut and any microbe disruption can in turn negatively affect our quality of sleep. This is because our microbiome is crucial in producing neurotransmitters that help orchestrate the connection between our gut and brain, playing a part in the production of serotonin and dopamine – both crucial for a healthy sleep-wake cycle.
- Exercise and hydration
There is data suggesting exercise benefits our gut health. Pairing exercise with hydration helps flush waste and toxins, which is not only great for our gut microbiome, but incredible for our physical and mental health too.
- Prebiotics & Probiotics
Prebiotics are what we feed our gut bacteria and probiotics are the healthy bacteria, themselves. Get your dose or prebiotics with fibre-rich plant foods and probiotics, by including fermented foods in your diet – think kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh, kefir.
- Avoid
Limit the following to not only improve your gut health but open the door to bigger health benefits like reduced sugar intake, and getting more plant-based foods in our communities.
- Refined sugar
- Factory-farmed and cured meat
- Refined grains
- Artificial sweeteners
- Saturated fat
- Fried foods
