Why looking after your gut could be the best health insurance policy ever.

There’s much talk of the new science of the microbiome even though the importance of gut health has been around for years; Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, is often quoted as saying “all disease begins in the gut” more than 2000 years ago.

So a few reason why that might be true:

🍎 The gut is responsible for digestion and absorption of our food providing the essential building blocks for energy creation, hormone synthesis and tissue growth and repair.

🍐 The gut houses approximately 70 - 80% of your immune system. So a healthy gut helps to keep our immune system strong.

🍓 Good gut health can support good brain health. The gut is constantly communicating with the brain and vice versa. Approximately 90% of our serotonin and 50% of our dopamine is made in the gut, hormones responsible for mood, sleep, energy, motivation and cognitive function.

🫐 Poor gut health has been linked to many chronic illnesses including type 2 diabetes, obesity, insulin resistance and auto immune conditions.

🍍 A recent study by Kings College London also found that those who supported their gut during cancer treatment for melanoma almost doubled their chances of survival.

So what can we do, in today’s world of fast food and high stress to protect this root of all health?

🍐 Make sure you’re calm and not distracted when eating. Eating when you’re stressed diverts all the energy away from digestion causing food to ferment rather than digest.

🍓 Avoid ultra processed foods and artificial sweeteners. These can disrupt the gut microbiome and cause an imbalance and provide very little nutritional benefit.

🍎 Focus on a diverse diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, pulses and lentils to increase fibre in the diet and feed that microbiome.

There’s no such thing as a quick fix…. but I have the next best thing....

I take fruit, veg and berries that have been carefully preserved in a capsule to retain the vitamins, minerals, fibre and beneficial plant polyphenols so important for our gut health.

Get in touch if you’d like to know more.