Gut health refers to the overall health and balance of our digestive system, especially the gastrointestinal (GI) tract—which includes the stomach, intestines, and colon.
The bacteria and other micro-organisms found in your gut are known as Gut micro biome. Balanced microbiome means more “good” bacteria than harmful ones. The bacteria help to break down food, turning it into nutrients your body can use. Strong gut lining prevents toxins or undigested food from leaking into the bloodstream and below mentioned indicator of GUT HEALTH are the signal of Good Gut health
Indicators of Good Gut Health
-Regular, comfortable bowel movements.
-Minimal bloating, gas, or abdominal pain.
– No constipation and indigestion.
-No signs of mouth ulcers, acne and pimples
-Good energy levels
-Strong immunity levels
-Stable mood and mental clarity
Five Dietary habits to follow for Good Gut Health are:-
(1)Fiber is important for our gut health for many reasons:-.
It helps in the digestion and absorption of nutrients, how quickly or slowly things move through and the quality of our stools Insoluble fiber which is found in outer skin of food items helps in relieving from constipation.
Soluble fiber helps in removing the toxins of our blood and helps in maintain our normal blood glucose level,triglcerides level and cholesterol level. This all benefit of fiber is occurring when fiber makes our gastrointestinal track clean.
Foods that are high in fibre include:
• Whole vegetables
• Beans and legumes
• fruit with skin
• Whole cereals and millets
• Nuts and seeds
• .
(2) Prebiotic which are not found in all high fibre foods they can act as a fertilizer for the healthy bacteria to grow in our gut. Hence Prebiotics should be included for better Gut health.
They are found in some types of:
• Fruits – banana and apple
• Vegetables – leek, onion and garlic
• Legumes – chickpeas, beans and lentils
• Wholegrains – rye , barley and oats
• Nuts – pistachios, cashews and almonds.
(3)Fermented foods also know as Probiotics foods have undergone a process in which their sugars are broken down by yeast and bacteria. Naturally fermented foods are getting a lot of attention from health experts these days because they help to strengthen our gut microbiome — the 100 trillion or so bacteria and microorganisms that live in our digestive tract Fermented foods are preserved using an age-old process that can give our body a dose of healthy probiotics, which are live microorganisms crucial to healthy digestion.
List of some naturally Fermented foods are:
• Yoghurt
• Buttermilk
• Lassi
• South indian foods
• Fermentated millets
• kimchi
• sauerkraut
• kefir
• kombucha
• tempeh.
(4) Drink water
Water is the best liquid to drink and drinking plenty of water is also linked to increased diversity of bacteria in the gut and provides benefits to gut health by improving the breakdown of food and their absorption,making the stool soft and preventing constipation,indigestion,gas ,acidity and other GI disorder symptoms are best possible indicators of Good Gut health.
So….Guys…must drink water in any form….off course they all should be healthy choices of water such as:-
In form of detox drinks
Lemonades and shikanji
Fresh juices with fiber
Smoothies.
(5)Limit ultra-processed foods
.While almost all foods have had some kind of processing, it is always best to eat foods that are minimally processed. Minimally processed foods have retain their nutritional value and do not have added sugar, salt, unhealthy fats or additives such as emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners, all of which may impact our gut health.
The key message from the research paper review is that high consumption of ultra-processed food can change the gut microbiota and lead to inflammation. The effects can even be transferred to later generations via epigenetic change.
Ultra-processed foods include :-
Meats such as ham and salami,
Many breakfast cereals,
Ready-made meals
Refined flour and its products
Sweet desserts and many packaged snacks such as chips.
So all these ultra-processed foods should be taken in limited amount so that bad and unhealthy bacteria will not flourish and grow instead of consuming ultra-processed food , Unprocessed foods such as fruits, vegetables, wholegrains & millets unflavoured dairy, eggs, seafood, poultry and lean red meat. should be consumed and it will help in the growth of good and healthy bacteria in our Gut.
So …say big no to ultra-processed foods.
In short: A healthy gut = a healthy body and mind