Believe it or not, trusting your gut is more than advice to get you out of a tricky situation. Your gut plays an essential role in your overall health and well being so if your gut is telling you something that isn’t so great, maybe you should be listening? 

Understanding gut health and everything that it entails can seem complicated and messy (as things involving your tummy often are) and it’s hard to know where to start.

Don’t worry, this is why we’ve put together this handy little guide. We will break down what your gut is, why it matters, what you can do to improve your gut health, what you should avoid when it comes to your gut and everything in between! 

Hopefully, after reading this, you may feel you can trust your gut? Or at least listen a little more the next time it tries to tell you something! 

Why is Gut Health Important

Your gut is your bodies fuel intake, power station, sorting station, and waste disposal solution, all rolled into one. It takes everything that you put into your mouth, sorts the good, the bad, and the useless out and then sends it wherever it needs to go. So, as the source that keeps you going every day, gets rid of toxins and the bits we all leave behind, it starts to become very obvious as to why your gut health is so important. 

However, your gut does so much more than simply organising your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It plays a crucial role as a gatekeeper to protect us from harmful substances that can enter our bodies. The environment we live in surrounds us with naturally occurring bacteria. Think of it like any singing contest you’ve watched on TV.  Thousands of contestants (bacteria, substances, food) can show up but Simon Cowell (our gut) can only let the best ones into the next stage (our body and bloodstream).

For your gut to function normally, everything needs to be in good working order. However, an imbalance in this system has a knock-on effect. If you aren’t getting nutrients properly from your food or disposing of waste correctly, this can cause any number of health issues that aren’t obviously connected to your digestion (despite the fact they often are).

Poor gut health can lead to a wide variety of problems including an impact on your mental health, menstrual cramps, general fatigue, joint pain, a weakened immune system, estrogen imbalances and so much more!

What is Gut Health Meaning? 

Gut health that all the various components and organs that make up your gut are in good health and a working balance. An imbalance between all of these various organs is what leads to poor gut health. 

Ideally, having good gut health means that you are able to ingest and digest food without discomfort and dispose of the waste regularly and with ease (but not too much). 

What are the symptoms of an Unhealthy Gut? 

Given the number of organs that make up your gut, there are quite a few symptoms that things might not be working as they should be. Some of the main symptoms to be on the lookout for are:

• Unexplained or unusual weight gain or weight loss.
• Autoimmune problems. Common issues include thyroid issues, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes.
• Unexplained and regular fatigue or sluggishness.
• Regular sugar cravings.
• Issues with digestion. The more common examples of this include issues like irritable bowel syndrome, bloating, diarrhoea, heartburn or constipation. 
• Sleep issues and insomnia.
• Skin rashes, breakouts and or allergies.
• Unexplained mood disorders, such as depression or anxiety.

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How can I improve my gut health?

As you’ve already read, there are a lot of things that can go wrong and throw your gut health out of balance. Luckily, there are a lot of thighs you can do to increase and support your gut health. Many of these scientifically supported steps are small, but, taking them regularly will help you build a habit. Healthy habits are what help maintain your health, especially when it comes to your gut!

11 of the best ways to improve your gut health:

11. Gut Directed Hypnosis

As mentioned in tip 5, Stress is a major cause of IBS and Gut related symptoms so we’ve made a couple of gut-directed hypnotherapy IBS session and gut health hypnosis sessions that relieves the stress as well as heals the symptoms.

Our gut-directed hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome session teaches your mind how to relax and while anchoring in ‘after hypnosis’ tools that you use to relax and get ongoing relief as you need it.

Hypnotherapy is a fantastic tool for IBS because you can find relief fast. It helps your mind learn, sometimes instantly how to feel better and break unhealthy habits that just don’t serve us anymore.

Our Gut-directed Hypnotherapy and Gut health sessions both include gut health hypnotherapy, Therefore this IBS hypnotherapy not only covers the symptoms but the cause of the symptoms and your basic hypnosis for gut health. I hope you get a lot out of this IBS hypnotherapy and get relief of your symptoms today.

How do I clean my gut?

When people speak of cleaning their gut, what they typically refer to is cleansing the colon. Whilst there isn’t necessarily a proven need to do this, it can still be beneficial If you’re focusing on cleansing your gut, the best thing you can do is to shift your focus on the food you eat. There are certain foods, that, when eaten regularly, will help to cleanse your gut and colon. These are: 

• Broccoli: The old saying of green is good has never been more true. There are so many ways to eat more broccoli, so get creative! 
• Milk and Yogurt: These foods contain calcium and bacteria that are beneficial for your gut. 
• Raspberries: They’re sweet, delicious, and full of antioxidants! What’s not to love? 
• Oatmeal: It’s full of fibre, protein, and plenty of other goodness. Plus, you can add plenty of things to it to make it healthier and more delicious. 
• Leafy greens like spinach and kale: They’re good for every part of your body, including your gut. 
• Water: Water draws toxins out of your body, so drink as much as you can to flush your body! (literally).

What are the 3 worst foods for your gut? 

If only there were just 3 foods to avoid, life would be much simpler. Unfortunately, it’s not that straightforward. To make it a bit easier to digest (pun intended), we’ve narrowed it down to three major food groups that will cause you the most difficulty. The top food groups to avoid are: 

1. Soft Drinks: Both diet and normal soft drinks are bad for you in so many ways. Excess sugar is awful for your health and can play havoc with your digestive system. When it comes to artificial sweeteners, the biggest issue is a lack of information. However, early studies indicate that they can alter the microbiota in your gut. The fact that they’re carbonated can also lead to bloating and gassy sensations. 
2. Red Meat: Red Meat can also lead to a reduction in the microbiota in your gut. This imbalance can lead to inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, obesity, and many other issues.
3. Saturated Fats:  Eating a high amount of saturated fats (especially those found in fatty meat, butter, and cheese) can affect both the diversity and abundance of your good gut bacteria. 

What vitamin is good for your gut? 

There isn’t just one singular vitamin that is best for your gut. There a quite a few that have a positive impact on the health of your gut. The best vitamins for your gut are: 

• Iron: Iron not only supports the good bacteria in your gut, but it can also help with inflammation.
• Vitamin C: Vitamin C helps with digestion and contributes to the health of your teeth and gums.
• Vitamin B: Vitamin B contributes to positive digestive function – a key aspect of your digestive health. It also keeps your intestines working and helps to protect your abdomen from stress.
• Zinc: Not getting enough zinc leads to a drop in the enzymes you need for digestion. So you need to make sure you’re getting enough.
• Vitamin D: This helps your body absorb calcium and has been proven to reduce the risk of colon cancer, according to certain studies.
• Magnesium: Amongst other positive effects all around your body, magnesium reduces inflammation in your gut by protecting the good bacteria that reside there.
• Selenium: Selenium’s main benefit is it helps your gut to respond better to inflammation.

Is Apple Cider Vinegar Good for Your gut?

The benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar have been touted for a long time. It has been used as a treatment as far back as Ancient Greece for a variety of different ailments. However, like many things from ancient times that have been reviewed with a modern lens, it doesn’t always hold up like it used to. 

The evidence for the benefits of apple cider vinegar is inconclusive, although some studies highlight some benefits. A study in Japan found evidence that apple cider vinegar might help with weight loss and obesity. Other studies have suggested that apple cider vinegar affected blood sugar levels and insulin in people with type two diabetes. This was only a small study. 

Suggestions that it contains probiotics are yet to be backed by any kind of research.

What is your Microbiome?

Your microbiome is made up of all the genetic material within a specific microbiota. A microbiota is the entire collection of microorganisms in a specific area of your body – like your gut.

This is sometimes referred to as your microbiota. This group of microorganisms in your gut is a collection of good and bad bacteria which need to keep in a healthy balance to maintain the regular and proper function of your gut. If this is out of balance, this is where issues begin to occur.

This is what people are referring to when they discuss the biodiversity of your gut.

What everyday toxins impact gut health?

As we go about our day to day lives, we are exposed to countless toxins that are harmful to our health. This can come from so many places – the money we touch, countertops, even the air we breathe. Unfortunately, this even happens in our homes. Household cleaning products can contain harmful substances and even the food we eat can carry harmful toxins in the form of pesticides.

Why are organic products good for your gut health? 

Simply put, organic products, whether it is the cleaning products you use or the food you eat, are better for your overall well being. 

Organic food is absent of many pesticides that are harmful to your health. Amongst the many negative impacts these pesticides have, one of the biggest concerns is the impact they have on your gut. These substances can alter the balance of your microbiome, and kill off the bacteria present in your gut (both good and bad). This throws your inner biodiversity out of balance, which has several serious negative impacts. 

Similarly, many organic cleaning products are free of harmful chemicals and substances. When we prepare our food, for example, the residue of our cleaning products can end up on our food and in our digestive system when we eat it. If these chemicals aren’t present in your home, this simply doesn’t happen. 

Furthermore, non-organic cleaning products almost do too good of a job cleaning our homes. Our bodies are pretty amazing and are a lot tougher than we think. They are designed, by nature, to handle many ‘harmful’ bacteria that we encounter in the natural world. Chemical cleaning products remove the existence of the substances entirely, which denies our bodies the necessary exposure we need to build our natural immunity. 

We are by no means saying you shouldn’t clean your home. We are simply saying choose organic products wherever you can. Think of this exposure as training for your immune system. It learns to identify and stop the substance from harming you. 

We will cover a list of homemade self-care and cleaning products that you can make at home in another article! These will not only save you money, they’re better for you, your family, and the planet! 

Is Hand Sanitiser Bad for Our Gut Health? 

We are going to preface this with one key point: Hand sanitiser is an important part of slowing the spread of highly infectious diseases. Under the current climate, hand sanitiser is being used more than usual for good reason. This is, of course, an unprecedented period, and so the typical advice around this product has changed slightly. 

Washing your hands properly with soap and water is still proven to be the most effective method for cleaning your hands. Hand sanitiser comes in at a close second. The difference between standard soap and hand sanitiser is that hand sanitiser aims to kill all of the bacteria present on your hands – good or bad. This can affect the microbiome balance in your body. Especially if the hand sanitiser present on your hands comes into contact with your food, which you then eat. 

It’s recommended you only sanitise your hands when necessary. Instances of when this is recommended are when you visit a hospital, doctors office, public bathroom, public transport or when you cough and sneeze in your hand. Where ever possible, wash your hands with warm soapy water over sanitising. 

What food heals your Gut? 

We’ve discussed a lot of things you shouldn’t do to help the health of your gut. Let us look at some of the best foods you can eat to health your gut and improve your gut health overall. 

Eating these foods in heavy rotation will have great benefits for your digestive balance in the long term: