There’s so much information available online promising to improve your gut health, but how do you know where to start? Our Registered Nutritional Therapist, Mrs Abir Hamza-Goodacre, has put together the following guide which includes five ways to start getting your gut health in gear and how to identify if you have a ‘good’ gut.
What are the signs of good gut health?
- Healthy bowel movements
- Frequency: it is considered healthy to have a bowel movement anywhere between one to three times a day to three times a week
- Stool form: If your stool is smooth in texture, sinks into the toilet bowl and forms soft to firm sausage shapes in one passing or in a few smaller pieces
- Digestive symptoms: If you are generally symptom free (bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhoea, pain, blood or mucous in stool)
- Healthy bowel transit time: This is the time it takes for food to travel through your gut and to your bowel. It varies widely between people and there are tests available to calculate your transit time. The general rule is the shorter the time, the healthier your gut – although do look out for undigested food in your stool that can be an indication of poor absorption
- Healthy reactions to food
- Better resilience to stress
- Consistent energy
- Resilient immune system
Learn more about the signs of gut health with our essential guide to assessing the state of your gut.
How to improve your gut health
1. Optimise your diet
Check for intolerances
“Supporting your gut health also starts with checking for any intolerances you may have. Food intolerance often causes digestive disturbances and can also result in inflammation in the gut and elsewhere in the body.
Eat the rainbow – more fibre!
Research carried out as part of the American Gut Project, a crowd-sourced project involving more than 10,000 participants, discovered that participants who ate 30 or more different types of plants per week had gut microbiomes that were most diverse.
Our Nutritional Therapist Abir says, “It’s important to eat a variety of fibres (soluble and insoluble) to benefit from the different nutrients in these foods. I categorise plant-based foods into six groups to ensure patients are reaping the nutritional value from these foods: Vegetables, fruit, legumes – lentils, chickpeas and beans, wholegrains – brown rice, barley and quinoa, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices.”
Avoid ultra-processed foods – these foods are classed as anything with high levels of refined sugars, salt, additives, and unhealthy fats. If you tend to snack on things like crisps, sweets or chocolate, you’re more likely to have a less healthy gut microbiome which may affect your overall health
2. Lower your stress levels
It’s likely you’ve heard of the links between mental health and gut health. This is because of the Gut-Brain Axis, a term used to describe the intimate connection between the enteric nervous system (in the gut) and the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).
Your brain and gut microbiome interact with each other constantly to regulate most biological processes.
Our Nutritional Therapist Abir says, “In many patients, I see the negative effects of stress on digestion including pain, constipation/diarrhoea and bloating. Some patients lose their appetite under severe or chronic stress too.
“Stress can also worsen digestive conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). IBS flare ups can happen for no obvious reasons, but sometimes they can have a trigger such as caffeine, alcohol, certain foods and of course, feelings of stress and anxiety.”
Discover some tips on how to reduce stress.
3. Cultivate a healthy overall lifestyle
Get plenty of sleep – specific types of bacteria have been found to affect the quality of your sleep. It’s recommended you sleep between seven to nine hours per night. There are established links between sleep and Type 2 diabetes as poor sleep can affect your blood sugar control and can increase inflammation. Losing sleep? Here are the top five reasons why you may be losing sleep.
Exercise regularly – this is often recommended to people suffering from constipation as it not only encourages healthy bowel movements but also reduces stress, risk of colon cancer and can improve symptoms of IBS.
Quit smoking – already a poor habit, smoking can directly affect your gut health from increasing IBS symptoms, the risk of oesophageal and bowel cancer and stomach ulcers and colon polyps.
4. Eat slowly and stay hydrated
Eating slowly can enhance your health and quality of life by improving digestion, aiding in nutrient absorption, reducing stress levels, and, above all, increasing your enjoyment of food.
Drinking more water is a simple yet effective way of boosting the diversity of bacteria in your gut and reducing the risk of gastrointestinal infections.
5. Take a pre or probiotic
What are prebiotics?
Prebiotics are ‘food’ for the gut bacteria. Many fibres contain prebiotic fibres. The top five foods with the highest prebiotic content (79-243 milligrams of prebiotic per gram of food) are: onions, garlic, leeks, Jerusalem artichokes and dandelion greens. (Medical News Today).
Powdered prebiotic supplements can be taken to create a good environment for the gut flora to grow.
What are probiotics?
Probiotics are live bacteria taken as supplement tablets or found in certain foods such as live yoghurt, kefir and fermented vegetables. If you’ve had an illness or antibiotic treatment, they’re sometimes recommended to restore the balance of bacteria in your gut. They can also ease some symptoms of IBS.
Talk to your healthcare practitioner before starting nutritional supplements.
Watch our videos on gut health
At Benenden Hospital, we offer treatment for a wide range of gut health conditions.
How our Nutritional Therapy service can help
Struggling with symptoms of IBS or poor gut health? Need to give your gut a boost? Our nutritional therapy service can support and guide you through these issues.
Take the first step to a happier, healthier gut by calling our Private Patients team on 01580 363158 or filling in our online enquiry form.
Published on 13 August 2024