Your Emotions And Gut-health Are Connected!

Why Do You Need A Healthy Gut

• An imbalance of healthy and unhealthy microbes in the gut is sometimes called gut dysbiosis, and it may contribute to weight gain [4].
• The gut serves as a communication centre for the brain, it provides information to the brain, while the brain helps us decide what, when, how much, and how fast to eat and drink [5].
• The brain and gut play key roles in our stress level, and our mood or state of mind [6].
• The gut also produces more than 90 per cent of the body's serotonin, a hormone that helps regulate our mood or emotions [7]. Serotonin works like an antidepressant.

Check For These Signs For An Unhealthy Gut

• Digestion issues: You might be experiencing nausea, gas, bloating, flatulence or the need to visit the loo too often. You might be seeing undigested food in your stools or the urge to visit the washroom after every meal [8].
• Sleep issues: An unhealthy gut might be unable to produce enough serotonin, a hormone responsible for mood and sleep. This may lead to sleep disturbances and hence chronic fatigue [9][10].
• Skin Irritation: When the gut is not at its peak health, one might face skin breakouts, rashes and irritation [11].
• Auto immune conditions: An unhealthy gut lowers our immunity and hence leads to inflammation in the body. Studies state that this could also be a leading cause for the auto immune disorders where our body attacks itself rather than the harmful invaders [12].

Easy Ways To Achieve A Healthy Gut

• Change the diet: Include more of high fibre foods, plant based foods and sufficient water. High fibre foods could be leafy greens, salads with every meal, whole wheat and millets, pulses and legumes [13].
• Include probiotics and prebiotics: Probiotics are food for the good bacteria in the gut and prebiotics are the food for the probiotics. So, include curd at least once every day, khimchi, sauerkraut, fermented vegetables and pickles. Prebiotics are all the high fibre foods, garlic, banana and more [14].
• Following the body's biological clock: Our body clock ensures that all our internal processes run by a timeline like eating, sleeping, temperatures, morning activities and so on. This is called circadian rhythm. When we disrupt this rhythm, all our internal processes suffer. Our gut health depends largely on following the body's rhythm every day [15].
• Manage stress: High and continued levels of stress affects the gut bacteria and leads to digestive issues. Managing stress needs to be high priority [16].
• Take 20 minutes to finish a meal: This ensures proper absorption and assimilation of nutrients, thus enhancing gut health.

On A Final Note…

Be conscious of what you eat and how you treat your digestive system. Follow a healthy diet and involve in physical activities.Afterall, our gut feel needs to be great!