on gut checks.
We are too young to be this tired, sick and sad.
It’s time for a GUT CHECK on Gut Health - inspired by me spending the last week in gut hell. This, from someone who is on top of her probiotic game!
I’m sure some of you have heard the gut referred to as the ‘second brain’, because it’s so deeply connected to our nervous systems and affects our mood, emotions, activity, and behavior — truly, everything. Your gut also contributes heftily to the microbiome, which is our do or die when it comes to immunity, metabolism, digestion, and our holistic wellness from a 360 perspective.
When our guts (ha) are out of whack, problems come into play, like inflammation, pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, fatigue, anxiety, depression, brain fog, and everything in between.
It also increases our risks of developing chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and autoimmune disorders. Big nope energy.
That’s why it’s so important to take care of our gut health and keep it in optimal condition! Like a fine tuned machine.
Eating a balanced diet rich in fiber, probiotics, prebiotics, and fermented foods is SO key. You can have your snacks and your weaknesses, but everything in moderations babes.
Avoiding processed foods, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, and antibiotics - I’m addicted truly to my morning coffee, but this has been a major wake up call for me on exploring my energy at all points so I can ween myself off and get back on track.
HYDRATE! Drinking plenty of water is NOT optional.
Get stress low and dopamine high.
Sleep hygiene - YOU NEED YOUR REST! Know when to take a step back and take that mid-afternoon nap.
Get moving by exercising regularly to get your body moving and evaluate taking supplements to make sure all of your systems are good and green.
It’s important to note, though, like I led with… that sometimes, even if you do all those things, your gut can still want to fight back. Food poisoning, infection, allergy, intolerance, medication side effects, or simply eating something that doesn’t agree with you. These can disrupt the balance and make it hard to get back on track or feeling well.
That’s what has been happening with me - with a triggered nasty reaction in my gut. It’s kept me off work periodically, glued to my bed, been painful, embarrassing, and frankly exhausting. Our bodies have enough to do each day without having to constantly reset each area.
It reminded me that I need to pay more attention to my gut health and overall wellness, even more than usual. I need to be more mindful of what I eat and how I eat. I need to listen to my body and what it needs - not just when I’m running on empty.
So that’s what I’m doing right now. I’m following some simple tips to boost my gut health and wellness, and wanted to share them in case you’re going through the same thing or want to prevent it from happening. Of course, never meant to replace medical advice or treatment but rather complement them. It’s always good to be braced with knowledge!
Thank you for reading this and taking time for your wellness. We’ll chat more wellness foods soon, when I don’t get triple nauseous even thinking of it (haha).
Stay well,
—
A
