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Gut Health Matters: The Inside Scoop for Digestive Health

Josanne Singh

Gut Health Matters: The Inside Scoop for Digestive Health

During a discussion about overall health, the conversation about gut health arose. To my surprise, someone said, “What about gut health? Why should someone even care about that?” This made me realize that we often don’t think that gut health is important, and it is overlooked. Instead, when we experience digestive problems such as bloating, gas and constipation we immediately try to alleviate the symptoms without questioning the underlying issue.

As we get older there can be many reasons to explain the cause of these symptoms but one of the main drivers that should be explored is our gut health. Before we delve more into this topic, we should first have an understanding of the gut itself.

So, what is our gut?

The gastrointestinal tract, which is part of the digestive system, consists of organs that are connected to each other and includes the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestines, large intestines and anus.

When we eat, our digestive system breaks down the food into nutrients so our bodies can use them for different processes and to give us the energy we need to do our day-to-day tasks. Once these nutrients are broken down, there are microorganisms which act on these nutrients and provide health benefits to our bodies. Our digestive system is actually home to trillions of these microorganisms with a great amount found in our large intestines (colon).

Now that we understand the components of our gut, why should we care and pay special attention to our gut health?

The beneficial bacteria in our gut play an important role in supporting digestion through many ways with one of those being regulation of bowel movements. The impact our gut health has on our bodies extend way beyond digestive health alone. Interestingly, 70-80% of our immune cells can be found within our gut and they interact with each other acting as allies towards fighting off harmful invaders.

Oftentimes we say or hear persons around us saying, “I have a gut feeling about this.” Is there any truth behind this? Can our gut really affect our mood and feelings? Sure enough, there is emerging research showing that there is a link between gut health and our mood, depression and other mental health issues. The gut produces many chemicals and hormones that affect our brain. For example, serotonin which is often referred to as the “feel good” or “happy” hormone is mainly produced in the gut.

What can you do to keep your gut healthy?

Gut Health Matters: The Inside Scoop for Digestive Health

Eating well to promote good gut health

When we eat, we are not only feeding ourselves. We are also feeding our gut bacteria. Therefore, it is important that we ensure that the environment where they reside is well suited for them to thrive and that we also promote the growth of new “good” bacteria so that their presence will be more than any potentially harmful bacteria.

So, how do we do this? Eating a variety of foods to ensure that we get adequate amounts of prebiotics and probiotics will help these beneficial bacteria flourish. We can think of prebiotics as the food that helps the beneficial bacteria thrive and grow and probiotics as the live bacteria that provides a health benefit to us.

Prebiotics are special types of fibres that can be found in a wide array of foods. Filling your plate with a variety of foods of different colours will ensure that you get these fibres. Foods such as certain whole grains (e.g., oats), legumes, fruits and vegetables are naturally high in prebiotics. These prebiotics cannot be broken down by the digestive tract, so it is able to travel to the colon safely for the “good” bacteria to act on them.

Probiotics are the live bacteria that strengthen the already existing community in our bodies and provide health benefits to us. These can be found in fermented foods and drinks such as yogurt, kombucha (fermented tea), pickles and sauerkraut (fermented cabbage). When selecting yogurts, look out for words like “live and active cultures” to ensure that you are receiving the many benefits that are associated with the consumption of probiotics.

What else should we do?

In addition to our eating habits, other factors such as stress, physical activity levels and sleeping patterns affect our gut health. Therefore, to promote good gut health, we should take a holistic approach and pay attention to all these factors. Finding ways to manage stress and including physical activity in our busy schedules are equally important as eating well. Putting down our devices, setting boundaries and logging out of work at a reasonable time, removing distractions and allowing ourselves to prioritize at least 7-9 hours of sleep every night is crucial.