Happy Friday to you all and welcome to 'FAT LETTUCE Friday Fact'. This week I want to highlight to you the benefits of increasing your good gut bacteria!
First a little information and don't switch off I promise not to make it too scientific. Let's start in our gut which contains billions and trillions of bacteria and this bacteria is there to help your body function properly.
What does gut bacteria do? These little guys help you to absorb the vitamins and minerals from your food, help to balance hormones, relieve IBS symptoms, they help to strengthen your immune system, they help to kick start your metabolism, they help to improve mental health (anxiety, autism, depression) and they help improve your digestion.
On top of that if you have any skin conditions such as acne and eczema or psoriasis it is most likely that your gut bacteria could benefit from a top up of the good guys! Keep in mind that your health from your inside shows on your outside and skin conditions are a sign something is not balanced inside. So rather than use a cream to cover up the symptom we want to address the cause by increasing your good gut bacteria.
Sounds simple doesn't it! We need to make sure we have a high amount of good gut bacteria in our gut to keep our body strong and working correctly.
Let's first uncover what destroys these good guys in the first place?
The answer has a lot to do with our lifestyle choices, the types of foods we choose to eat, the way we live our life and our current health status.
For example if we get sick a lot this would indicate we have a low immune system and our immune system strength is linked to our gut health. Now if you get sick a lot you may catch an infection and be given antibiotics which will then lower your gut bacteria more! The antibiotics job is to kill a bug or bacteria and it kills our gut bacteria along the way. Many people are on quite a few doses of antibiotics over the course of their life and include this with a highly processed diet your gut bug army can't keep up the fight alone!
Other lifestyle factors that destroy your good gut bacteria;
Drinking too much alcohol
Too much stress
Not getting enough sleep
Cigarette smoking
Lack of prebiotics in diet (the bacteria our gut bugs feed on to make them strong)
Not eating a diverse range of foods
Eating processed foods
Antibiotic use
From the list above it is easy to see that over the years our trillions and billions of good guys get destroyed and it is out job to replenish this little army! Considering the significant role that gut health plays in human health, it is not surprising that imbalances in the gut bacteria can lead to illnesses, such as irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel diseases and obesity.
What’s the solution?
Alongside a healthy lifestyle and balanced diet, start including more fermented foods into your diet such as, sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), kimchi (fermented vegetables) and kombucha (fermented black tea). These are probiotic foods and contain the bacteria your gut thrives on.
Additionally in order to add more good bacteria supplement with a high quality probiotic such as Optibac to top up levels of friendly bacteria and restore balance to the gut microbiome.
What are probiotics?
They are “Live micro-organisims which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host” World Health Organisation (WHO).
In other words bacteria that keeps us healthy.
A probiotic such as Everyday Extra Strength by Optibac is for anyone seeking a high quality daily probiotic.
It is recommended to all those seeking a probiotic for poor digestion, IBS, skin conditions such as acne and eczema, allergies including hayfever, Immunity including upper respiratory tract infections and those on long-term antibiotics.
Can't I just eat gut friendly yoghurt?
Truth be told many of these yoghurts are pasteurised which kills off the bacteria and normally contain a lot of added sugar. This will not work in the same way as topping up your gut bacteria by taking a probiotic supplement containing 20 billion strains of bacteria.
How else can I help my gut?
Whilst topping up with a probiotic is the quickest way to fix an imbalance in your gut, you can start by including more prebiotic foods into your diet.
Prebiotic foods as I mentioned above - sauerkraut, kimchi and kombucha are what our current little gut bug army like to eat. More prebiotic foods include;
Apples, Artichokes, Asparagus, Bananas, Barley, Berries, Chicory, Dandelion greens, Flaxseed, Garlic, Green vegetables, Konjac root, Leeks, Legumes (peas and beans), Oats, Onions, Tomatoes and the fermented foods.
I hope this helps you to see you can strengthen your own gut bug army by eating more of the prebiotic foods and removing the negative lifestyle factors killing them off. Then to top up your team and address any symptoms, start supplementing with a daily probiotic, this is a way to address the cause of your imbalance rather than covering it up.
You're only as strong and healthy as your gut so look after your gut bug army!
To find our more or to purchase Optibac Everyday Extra Strength - Click here
Shared with you by Jennie Dudbridge
Nutritionist & Health Coach @ FatLettuce.com
Comments