I want to help you make friends with your Gut Microbiota (GM)!
Not wishing to freak you out but right now, as you’re sitting here reading this you have trillions of microbes living in and on you – like a mini-ecosystem all of your own!
In your lungs, your stomach, your nose, even on your skin.
We have our own unique aura of microbes that we emit everywhere we go – literally like a fingerprint.
And although you’ve probably heard the terms ‘good bacteria’ and ‘bad bacteria’, it’s much more complex than that.
Just like humans, bacteria aren’t inherently ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Their behaviour depends on their environment.
Give your GM a nice healthy environment, treat it well by eating a good diet, getting plenty of sleep & relaxation & it will be the model child.
Start disrespecting it, feeding it poor quality food etc, it will play up like a stroppy teenager!
Because your GM is super smart! They actually have genes like us in their cells, which means they can perform many different functions depending on the environment.
Things like:
- Making vitamins and amino acids (building blocks for protein)
- Making hormones & chemical messengers like serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin which affect our mental health
- Producing important compounds that strengthen the gut barrier & help balance blood sugar, lower blood fats, regulate appetite and communicate with the brain
- Training your immune system to function optimally
- Influencing gut movement & function
- Preventing bad microbes invading our body
That’s a lot of important shit!
So how can we keep our GM happy?
- eating plenty of plants and fibre rich foods – GM thrive on fibre and antioxidants from fruits and vegetables
- reduce your stress levels – or you will literally get an upset stomach
- avoid yo-yo dieting – a study in mice found that much of the rapid weight gain occuring after a diet could be attributed to poor GM which also affects your appetite!
- Sleep well – our GM has it’s own circadian rhythm – when we disrupt that with shift work, late nights or jet lag it can have serious consequences for our gut health
- Move your body – just like the rest of you, your digestive system can get sluggish – your colon is essentially one big tube of muscle after all!
- Assess your Poo Position! I use a squat step and I won’t go into details but it’s life-changing! (link in comments)
What did you think? Any questions?
How’s your gut? Will you implement any of these things & track the results?
