Gut flora, seems a little too intimidating yet fancy to read right?
In simple terms, gut flora is a complex ecological system formed by microbial cells in the digestive system. There are certain types of microbes that are beneficial to the gut as they convert dietary fiber into short-chain fatty acids to be easily absorbed by the host. On the contrary, other microbes synthesize vitamin K, which cannot be absorbed by the host. Hence, our bodies partly rely on gut flora to aid nutrition.
You would also be amazed to know that our gut health has a direct relationship with various lifestyle diseases that you suffer. Any imbalance in the gut flora can lead to a leaky gut and other diseases. This happens when the bad bacteria supersedes the good bacteria. Thus, it becomes important to ensure good health by following a few tips and tricks.
How To Cure Gut Flora?
Before you read on how to cure gut health, it is important to know why you should do it.
A healthy gut refers to the optimum balance of microorganisms that live in the gut flora. It is very important to look after the health of your gut and maintain the right balance of the gut bacterias as they are all vital for physical and mental health, immunity, and more.
Check out the best ways to improve the gut microbiome and enhance overall health.
- Eat more probiotics: If you want to boost the beneficial bacteria, or probiotics, in your gut, you can go for probiotic supplements. Various studies have suggested that probiotics are known to support a healthy gut microbiome. They are known to prevent gut inflammation and other intestinal problems and ensure good abdominal health. Not to miss, fermented foods are a natural source of probiotics.
Some of the best foods for gut are listed below:
- fermented vegetables
- Yogurt
- Traditional buttermilk
- kefir
- kimchi
- kombucha
- miso
- Reduce stress: In today’s busy lifestyle, stress is inevitable. However, managing stress is important for many aspects of health, including gut health. You might be astonished to know that various psychological stressors can disrupt the microorganisms in the intestines, even if the stress is only short-lived.
The following types of stress can lead to several gut problems such as diabetes, depression etc
- psychological stress
- environmental factors, such as extreme cold, heat or noise
- sleep deprivation
- disruption of the circadian rhythm
- Exercise daily:
Exercising regularly may seem to be a herculean task but it can greatly contribute to good heart health and weight loss or maintenance. Not only that, it can also improve gut health and help control obesity. If you work out regularly, it may also increase the species diversity in your gut flora. Seems impossible, right? But, a 2014 study claimed that athletes have a larger variety of gut flora than nonathletes. As an adult, you must engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise each week, along with muscle strengthening activities on 2 or more days each week. Might seem too much in the beginning but trust us, you would eventually love it. - Sleep well: If you also love to sleep, then we are all in the same boat. Getting enough and good-quality sleep not only improves mood, cognition but also gut health. Irregular or distorted sleep can have negative outcomes for the gut flora, which may increase the risk of leaky gut and other inflammatory conditions. In order to cure your gut flora, you must establish sleep habits by going to bed and getting up at the same time each day. It is vital for adults to get at least 7 hours of sleep per night.
- Say NO to smoking: Smoking is injurious to health. It affects gut health, heart and lungs. Not to forget, it also increases the risk of cancer. Smoking is known to alter the intestinal flora by increasing potentially harmful microorganisms and decreasing the levels of beneficial ones. All these harmful effects can increase the risk of intestinal and systemic conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
- Eat less sugar: If you are someone with a sweet tooth, then you must watch your eating habits. Eating a lot of sugar or artificial sweeteners can lead to an imbalance in gut health, which is an imbalance of gut microbes. If you binge on a standard Western diet or Indian diet, which is high in sugar and fat, you are more likely to negatively affect the gut microbiome and also influence your brain and behavior. Foods that consist of artificial sweeteners increase the number of bacterial strains that are linked with metabolic disease. They also negatively impact blood glucose levels due to their effects on gut flora. You can get personalized diet charts that would contain the best range of foods for you from Bione.
- Take a gut microbiome test: A gut microbiome test ? What is it all about and how can it help you improve your gut health? If all these questions are on your mind, we are happy to assist you with all the answers.
The test helps identify the presence of different species of microorganisms in the gut flora through analysis of stool samples. You can get the following results with a gut flora test:
- Diet Recommendations
- Nutrition Charts
- Disease Risk Analysis
- Nutrition Counselling
In a nutshell, if you follow the above mentioned quick tips consistently, you are bound to cure your gut flora and have a healthy and good bacteria rich gut.
