My Top 10 Tips for a Healthy Gut
I think that most of us at one or another have unfortunately struggled with gut health in some manner, whether that’s chronic constipation, bloating, stomach aches, diarrhea, or just feeling “off.” I see a lot of people rush to get expensive testing and while I do think testing is sometimes needed, I don’t necessarily think that it’s the first thing that should be done. From what I’ve seen, many people have poor gut health habits and by cleaning up the basic habits, many of their symptoms dissipate WITHOUT having to do testing, take supplements, or cut out foods. Without further ado, here are my recommendations:
1.) Try not to rush when you eat. Our bodies need to be in a “rest and digest” state when we eat. When they’re more in fight or flight mode, blood is flowing more to our vital organs, not our gut, which can impact digestion. Even if you don’t feel bloated in the moment, it could be affecting how you are absorbing the vitamins and minerals from your food.
Practical tip: Take 3-4 deep belly breaths before eating.
-Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds. As you breathe in, think of a balloon expanding in your abdomen both in the front and back.
-Hold that breath for 4 seconds.
-Exhale slowly over 4 seconds
-Repeat 3-4 times.
2.) Chew your food to a paste consistency. No inhaling your food within 2 minutes lol. Digestion starts in the mouth! Chewing your food fully makes it easier on your gut to digest.
3.) Don’t drink while you eat. I cannot tell you how bloated I used to get from just this one thing. I would guzzle down a ton of water right before or while I was eating and then wonder why I looked pregnant after eating. Drinking too much water can impede stomach acid, which is needed for digestion. Take small sips if you need to drink while you eat. Otherwise, save your water for at least 30 min pre and post meal.
4.) Check your ingredients. If you see the word “gum” or “carrageenan” or “sugar alcohol”, I would probably limit that food item. They are known culprits to poor gut health. Carrageenan is even being linked to colon cancer…not cool! Back when I was a “IIFYM” girly and didn’t care too much about food quality (ugh), I would eat Enlightened ice cream almost every night…it has tons of fake sugars, emulsifiers, and carrageenan. My stomach hurt ALL the time and I had no idea why. Once I took it out, I felt tremendously better!
5.) Watch your alcohol intake. Alcohol not only reduces the absorption of vitamins and minerals from your food (remember you aren’t what you eat; you’re what you ABSORB), but it increases gut permeability, alters the gut microbiome, and leads to inflammation. If you’re curious on the exact amount of alcohol you can drink safely, it’s likely up to 2 drinks per week. This amount likely has very minimal effects on overall health, including gut health. More than that WILL likely affect you negatively.
6.) Add some bitter food to your meals. Things like arugula, dandelion greens or tea, dark chocolate, and citrus fruits can help naturally increase your stomach acid and digestive enzymes to help digest your food. I personally love doing a small arugula salad as a side dish. I top it with tomatoes, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. SO good and easy. I sometimes sip on dandelion tea, as well.
7.) Ditch the Tums and acid reducing medications. If you struggle with heartburn, there’s a good chance that you actually have LOW stomach acid and you’re further suppressing that stomach acid by taking acid reducing medications. In addition, the calcium carbonate in Tums can lead to constipation. Chronic constipation can lead to a slew of issues like bloating, hormonal imbalance (did you know that you secrete estrogen when you poop? If you aren’t pooping, that estrogen gets reabsorbed), dysbiosis, and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Instead, work on naturally increasing stomach acid by incorporating bitter foods (as mentioned above), working on stress management, and chewing your food fully. For immediate relief of heartburn, try DGL chews (needs to be the CHEWS, not the pills) or Throat Coat tea.
8.) You probably don’t need to be eating a crap ton of raw veggies every day. I know, I know, it’s hard to believe this when we’ve been engrained to think salads are the key to health lol. The truth is though, that raw veggies are pretty hard to digest. There’s a reason people swear by the carnivore diet…because it significantly reduces your digestive burden (I don’t support the carnivore diet btw, I’m just making a point that veggies are hard to digest). You can reduce that digestive distress by COOKING DOWN your veggies. I personally love to get most of my veggies in through soup! I make a big pot of soup each week with a base of bone broth (also great for the gut), and fill it with in season veggies. I’m not saying to never eat raw veggies; just don’t be eating an excessive amount.
9.) Be aware of fiber intake. Both too little and too much can negatively impact gut health. The typical recommendation is 13 grams per 1000 calories. That will look like 25-30 grams/day for the average woman. Ensure that fiber is coming from whole food sources, not those fake fibers you see in “carb balance” tortillas, breads, and protein bars.
10.) Limit the snacking. Our body has what’s called the “migrating motor complex”, which is essentially the bowel “sweep through.” The MMC happens every 2ish hours but can be interrupted if we are constantly snacking. Interruption of the MMC can lead to constipation and eventually dysbiosis.
I hope these tips help! Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you ever have any questions!