Having a healthy gut, or healthy gut bacteria, has been linked with a host of health benefits, including: better digestion, a healthier immune system, more energy, helping you find and maintain your ideal weight, and boosting your mood.
Want in? Here’s some advice from Dr Alena Pribyl, Senior Scientist and Research Officer at Microba on bad habits that are putting your gut health under stress:
Cause 1: You are eating low amounts of fibre or no fibre at all
Stop victimising grains! Eating the recommended fibre per day will change the way your gut functions and helps fend off disease and reduce the risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes and food allergies. The daily recommended dose of fibre is 30g but to help reduce chronic diseases 38g is the goal.
Cause 2: Eating large amounts of saturated fats
Eating large amounts of saturated fats like cream, butter, pastries, cakes and fried foods wreaks havoc in your gut and causes stress. Saturated fats typically cause increased fecal excretion of bile acids and can promote bad bacteria and inflammation if they reach your gut microbiome.
Cause 3: Eating the same meals everyday
If you don’t vary your daily diet, you won’t have a diverse microbiome. Healthier people have a diverse microbiome which adds resiliency to your gut health when disturbances occur such as a one-off bad diet day or when you take antibiotics.
RELATED CONTENT: HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT GUT HEALTH?
Cause 4: Overuse of household disinfectants
Households that use lots of disinfectant products tend to have lower microbiome diversity due to the fact a lot of these disinfectants kill all the microbes. Breathing in these chemicals can also reach your gut and affect your diversity levels and weight.
Cause 5: Unnecessary use of antibiotics
Antibiotics are important and when prescribed should be taken for good reason but over-reliance on antibiotics can harm your gut health by killing both the “good” and the “bad” bacteria in your gut.
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