(ThyBlackMan.com) Let’s start off by mentioning nutritional supplements are not meant to replace a balanced diet at the table. Indeed, it’s recommended that you include as much wholesome organic foods in your diet as possible for the best health.
In addition to eating right, you ought to spend more time outdoors- exercising! For you to enjoy optimal health, you need to pay attention to your gut-according to spore-based probiotics leaders like Microbiome Labs.
Facts
Your gut contains good bacteria that help break-down the food you eat. Besides, it also houses a considerable portion of your immune system. Hence, it’s essential to ensure that your gut is healthy at all times.
Sadly, nearly 70 million Americans suffer from digestive diseases and common conditions, including heartburns, constipation, bloating, and loose stool.
How to maintain the good and bad bacteria ratio
Medical practitioners agree that your dietary habits can have a drastic impact on the mix of beneficial and harmful bacteria in your gut. Here are simple, easy to follow steps you can implement today to support a healthy gut- both within and without.
- Avoid sugar
When you consume sugar, you feed the undesirable guest within your gut. This causes the bacteria to thrive. Recent studies have indicated that when your diet consists of high sugar levels, it can lead to yeast species’ overgrowth and other harmful bacteria.
For the useful bacteria to thrive, they require complex carbohydrates, i.e., beans, vegetables, and whole grains. No sugar! The average adult consumes nearly 22 teaspoons of sugar each day.
When this happens, the good bacteria go hungry and eventually dies off, paving the way for the harmful bacteria. It’s crucial that you stick to whole foods as much as possible. Avoid sugary and junk foods like the plague.
- Cut-down on your meat consumption
Bilaphila has been linked to inflammation and in animals. Coincidentally, when your diet consists of too many animal proteins such as meat, you end up feeding these bacteria. Chronic inflammation is a significant contributor to rising cases of obesity.
Not all is darkness and gloom. If you are a meat lover, it’s alright to include meat in your diet, but think of it as a condiment rather than the main course. A significant portion of your meals should still consist of vegetables, whole grains.
- Don’t forget prebiotic foods
Prebiotics are a must in any diet. They are a type of fiber found in specific plant foods and act as “food” for the probiotics. Like fertilizer, they help probiotics thrive and grow within your gut.
Foods containing high amounts of prebiotics include bananas, garlic, Jerusalem artichoke, leek, and asparagus. Your goal should be to eat one type of prebiotic food each day.
- Get cozy with fermented foods
Fermented foods are an amazing source of probiotics. A good start would be Kefir- a dairy drink that’s packed with tons of healthy bacteria and Greek yogurt. While at the store or supermarket, keep an eye out for products labeled “live and active cultures.”
At the same time, keep off those that contain artificial sugar that can feed the undesired bacteria. Other than the other two, alternative prebiotic foods include fermented porridge, fermented sauerkraut, pickles, and kimchi.
All these contain both prebiotics and live bacteria, which nourish gut bacteria.
- Fiber, fiber, fiber
You need to consume lots and lots of fiber. Eating plenty of fibrous foods is an efficient, essential strategy for enhancing the robustness of your gut bacteria. Through fermentation, these plants provide the necessary food for the good bacteria to grow and thrive.
Both the diversity and number of plants you consume will reflect on the variety and number of good bacteria in your gut. So, the more you eat, the better. You should set a goal of eating between 30 to 40 grams of fiber each day.
Additionally, consider adding three to four servings of fresh fruits, four to six servings of veggies, three to four servings of whole grains, beans, and nuts several times each week.
- Avoid or lower your stress levels
Microbiome labs and other medical researchers suggest that high-stress levels are detrimental to your entire body, including your gut. Thus, you need to avoid or limit the amount of stress in your life. To do this, you can try meditation, walking, jogging, exercising, getting a massage, spending time with friends, reducing caffeine intake, yoga, laughing, etc.
- Get enough sleep
The quality and amount of sleep can have serious consequences on your gut’s health. In turn, this could potentially lead to sleep complications. Doctors recommend that you try and get a minimum of 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.
Staff Writer; George Carter