Ten Simple Steps to Improving Gut Health
1. First things first, chew your food.
Yep, that’s it! So simple. But, if we think about it, how often are we mindful about chewing our food and not shovelling it down while on the go? Chewing is an essential part of jump-starting the digestive process. The mouth produces saliva containing enzymes to help break down starches into sugars to begin the pre-digestion process. Without this vital step, we risk having particles of food left undigested that wreak havoc on our intestinal tract.
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2. This will help with the first step… Eat without distractions
Your nervous system will feel it if you’re watching a heart-wrenching scene with your favourite character or reading some heated discussion in the comments. The key to digestion is relaxation. This signals your nervous system that it's a safe time to eat and will put more energy into assimilating the nutrients. So, put down the phones, turn off the TV, and savour your meal.
3. Soak your beans, nuts, seeds, and grains.
These are all very common whole foods that people will cut out of their diets because they feel bloated and gassy after eating them. But, many of us were never taught how to prepare them in the first place properly. Beans, nuts, seeds, and grains contain an anti-nutrient called phytic acid. This substance irritates our digestive system, causing inflammation and harms our gut’s very sensitive thin bacterial lining. By soaking them for a minimum of 4 hours before consuming them, the phytic acid breaks down and no longer serves as a threat to your colonies of helpful critters.
4. Make food your medicine
The overuse of medication is where we really start to destroy our gut flora. Antibiotics, birth control pills, allergy medicines, and many other pharmaceuticals are ripping through our fragile microbial ecosystems. Probiotics and prebiotics, especially naturally forming ones in our food, are an excellent way to help rebuild these colonies.
5. Produce over processed
A poor-quality diet is tough to digest. Processed food is so far removed from its natural state that our body struggles to process the ingredients. Our bodies draw in all the possible resources to decode how to digest this mutant food properly. Ultimately robbing us of the energy needed to repair organs and tissues from the damage this toxic food is doing to us.
6. Remove anything refined from your diet
Three common poisons in our modern-day diet are slowly killing us. Commercial dairy, refined sugars, and refined flour. Refine grains and sugars are void of nutritional value and digest super fast. A consistent intake of refined carbohydrates spikes our blood sugar levels. Over time this becomes chronic inflammation, obesity, insulin resistance, and type two diabetes.
7. What's the deal with gluten?
Gluten is a protein molecule in wheat, barley, rye, and other gluten-containing grains. It is a large protein molecule that is difficult to digest. Like other grains, it's beneficial to soak your wheat grains to remove the phytic acid, which is irritating. For some people, cutting gluten out of their diet is better for their digestive health. When eating gluten, we need to consider the food's quality. I'm referring to modern wheat as a hybrid molecule far from the original version of what our ancestors ate. Look for ancient organic grains like spelt or kamut that haven't been overly processed and tampered with.
8. Commercial dairy
Modern pasteurised dairy is very far from traditional dairy. Like gluten, dairy contains a large protein molecule; called casein. Casein is difficult to digest without the enzymes found in raw milk. Without these rich enzymes, dairy products end up harming your interstitial lining, not to mention all the antibiotics you ingest from commercial dairy cows.
9. Fats and oils
Diet culture and corporate incentives teach us to reduce our intake of healthy fats and replace them with polyunsaturated fats from soy, corn, sunflower, and canola, which cause health problems and inflammation. You are much better off sticking to butter, lard, tallow, coconut oil and olive oil, which provide the building blocks for cell membranes and various hormones. They also act as carriers for essential fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. All you have to do is Google "canola oil motor lubricant WWII", and I'm sure you will be convinced.
10. Do what gives you joy!
Chronic stress wreaks havoc on our nervous system. When we are flooded with cortisol, we are simply not fully digesting and assimilating the nutrients from our diet, even if it’s the best quality, the most organic, plant-based diet. Our mental well-being plays a huge role in the health of our microbiome. When doing something that brings us joy, we tell our body that it can relax, and good hormones secrete into our gut.
