How Can You Improve the Health of Your Gut?
BY Lucy Walton
Our gut is extremely complex and has a big impact on our overall health. The gut is another word for the digestive tract, which starts from your mouth and ends at your rectum. Gut health refers to the overall health of your digestive tract.
The gut microbiome, found inside the gut, contains many different microorganisms including multiple types of bacteria. These bacteria live in the gut and are also found on the surface of the skin and inside the mouth and nose. It is estimated there are around 300-500 species of bacteria in your gut! There has been a large increase into research of the gut microbiome as we are discovering more and more about how it is involved in the multifaceted makeup of the human body.
As a result of the ongoing research into gut health we know a healthy gut can indicate how healthy we are overall. Bacteria is involved in our digestion, helping us to absorb nutrients, produce vitamins including folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin K, can help to regulate the immune system by killing harmful bacteria, regulates our hunger levels and metabolism and can also determine how well we sleep at night.
Gut health is associated with a number of diseases including digestive cancers, inflammatory bowel diseases, irritable bowel syndrome, antibiotic associated diarrhoea, cognitive issues and obesity.
The gut microbiome is affected by not only the food we eat, but other lifestyle factors such as physical activity and stress. Let’s take a look at how some food and lifestyle factors affect our gut and consider how we can increase the diversity of our gut bacteria to improve the health of our gut.
FIBRE
Fibre is a form of plant-based carbohydrate which is not digested in the small intestine and reaches the large intestine. Fibre has been shown to increase the good bacteria in the gut and also supports gut transit time by bulking out and softening your stools.
Fibre can be found in fruits and vegetables, wholemeal bread, brown rice, beans, pulses and oats. The more variety we can get the better.
5 easy tips to up your fibre:
Add fruit to your breakfast cereal, oats, your snack or dessert
Swap white bread, pasta and rice for brown or wholemeal versions
Swap half the meat in your usual bolognese or curry for lentils or beans
Keep a frozen supply of veggies in your freezer, so that you are never without
Add nuts and seeds to yogurt, cereal, oats or toast
STRESS
The gut and brain are actually surprisingly good friends! The gut-brain axis describes a back-and-forth communication pathway between the central nervous system and the digestive tract.
This two way communication between the brain and the stomach uses hormones and other magical messengers to manage what we do and how we feel day-to-day. Communication occurs through the Vegas nerve too, which connects all your major organs. A simple example of this is when we feel nervous, coming from what we think in our brain, we may have butterflies in our stomach.
Research suggests stress can change the balance of our gut microbiome by favouring unhelpful bacteria, which can result in feelings of depression and anxiety. Our gut produces serotonin, a happy hormone. When levels of this are low it can create feelings of anxiety.
When we are stressed the body produces cortisol – a hormone which has an important function in the stress response. Some of these functions are relative to the gut as it works to divert blood away from the gut to the muscles and slow the production of saliva in the mouth so the enzymes available to breakdown our food are reduced. The stress response can also cause digestion to slow or cause sudden evacuation (diarrhoea) and downregulate the immune system.
In the short term this isn’t too bad, and our bodies can deal with it pretty well. However, over an extended period of time it may lead to food not being digested & absorbed properly, which can cause a decrease in the diversity of gut microbes.
Learning how to manage stress and anxiety or reduce it where possible can support your mental health and also help your gut. Try these 4 tips:
1. Find time to switch off
Whether it’s through yoga, running, dancing, climbing, meditation or painting. Find a distraction to focus on just you.
2. Eat mindfully
Try not to eat on the go, sat doing work or avoid it all together when hungry. Focus on the food in front you and your body.
3. Understand your stress
We are all unique and everybody’s stress will come from a different place. Try to identify where your stress comes from whether it be family, work or sleep. You can then introduce steps place to manage this.
4. Prioritise
You are your number one priority. As the saying goes, you can’t pour from an empty cup. It can be difficult to say no to things and feeling like we need to do it all can be overwhelming. Think about what you need or want to do rather than what you feel you should be doing.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
As well as being good for stress and anxiety, physical activity has been shown to increase the diversity of the gut microbiome and can be key to maintaining a healthy gut.
Remember physical activity doesn’t need to mean high intensity exercise. It could be as simple as a 10 minute walk on your lunch break, standing and walking around while on the phone, taking the stairs or getting off the bus one stop early and walking a little further on your commute.
SLEEP
The quality and quantity of our sleep impacts our gut health by affecting how the gut microbes work. In the same way, our gut microbes impact our sleep!
The gut microbes function according to the circadian rhythm, which surprisingly also regulates the sleep cycles! Your circadian rhythm responds to light and dark which regulates physical and mental processes that occur at different times. Going to bed at irregular times and not getting enough sleep can cause the delicate community of gut microbes to be disrupted. Your gut needs sleep just as much as the rest of your body does!
Some tips to improve your sleep hygiene include:
1. Find a routine
Sticking to a regular wake-sleep cycle helps your body to regulate its circadian rhythm and find its groove.
2. Natural light
Try to expose yourself to natural light at the same time every day, where possible. This helps your cycle stay in check and can increase alertness.
3. Digital detox
Switch off all screens before bed. Bright lights and stimulus can interfere with the bodies hormones that help to regulate sleep and cause an increase in stress and alertness.
4. Avoid stimulants
Stay clear of caffeine and nicotine 8 hours before bedtime. Caffeine can stay in your system for up to 12 hours so try to limit consumption to the morning.
PROBIOTICS AND PREBIOTICS
Probiotics are a live microorganism that when consumed can confer a health benefit to the host – that’s you! They help to increase the diversity of good bacteria in the gut and can be found in live yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha and kefir.
Probiotic supplements are available on the Highstreet and may be beneficial for some individuals. There are a range of different strains and types available which can be quite confusing! Always consult your GP or a registered dietitian or nutritionist before consuming these supplements.
Prebiotics are a specific type of fibre which feed the good bacteria in your gut, keeping it alive so it can do its job. Prebiotics can be found in onion, leeks, garlic, unripe bananas, asparagus, artichokes, olives, apples and almonds.
About the author:
Lucy has a BSc in Nutrition and Psychology and enjoys getting creative with recipes in the kitchen and writing content for her Instagram page where I like to share recipes, debunk nutrition myths and share practical nutrition tips and advice. Lucy is currently interning with Nutribytes who aim to bring nutrition advice to life and help individuals make healthier and more informed choices. Lucy also interns at Nutritank on their social media platforms, helping to increase nutrition and lifestyle medicine education in medical training.
To find more about Lucy, head to her Instagram
References
Martin et al (2018) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6047317/
Psych Scene Hub (2018) https://psychscenehub.com/psychinsights/the-simplified-guide-to-the-gut-brain-axis/
NutriWebinar, The Gut Microbiome (2018)
BDA, Give your friendly gut bacteria a helping hand https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/give-your-friendly-gut-bacteria-a-helping-hand.html
https://www.nutrition.org.uk/nutritionscience/foodfacts/functional-foods.html
Monda et al (2017) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5357536/
NHS https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/reduce-stress/
Martin et al (2018) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6047317/
The Gut Microbiome - NutriWebinar
Fibre – NutriWebinar
Makki et al (2018) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S193131281830266X
Vuyst et al, 2004. Probiotics, prebiotics and gut health. Functional Foods, Ageing and Degenerative Disease (Book)