A blog about gut health at the end of the holiday season? Yup! Now this isn’t cruel and unusual punishment, but rather six quick tips to improve your gut health going into 2021 and beyond!
Reduce Stress. Cortisol is often known as the “stress hormone.” While cortisol can help in stressful situations, too much cortisol and other stress hormones can cause a slew of negative health issues; including telling the digestive system to slow down when stress rears its ugly head. Meditate, take some deep breaths and choose stress-busting foods.
Cut Back on Sugar. The same hormone that helps maintain stress also maintains blood sugar levels (cortisol.) Therefore, when we spike our blood sugar levels, we also spike our cortisol production. If that isn’t bad enough, it gets worse. Cortisol is released by the adrenal gland. Ingesting too much sugar or spending too much time in the sympathetic nervous system (“fight or flight”) will lead to adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue will materialize as a whole list of other negative issues. So don’t eat sugar because you’re stressed. In fact, you may be stressed because you eat sugar. BTW, there are 61 different names for sugar listed on food labels. Go ahead and google if you’re not sure if there is added sugar in your foods. This is why doctors refer to sugar as “the white death.”
Get More Sleep. Inadequate sleep and/or quality of sleep can lead to increased stress (see #1) as well as preventing your body from undergoing the regenerative processes it needs to recover. Need help in this area? Check out this blog on sleep aids and make sure to give our CBN tincture, C3, a try!
Cut the Caffeine. If you can’t function without your morning cup of Joe, you don’t need to give up coffee completely. However, if you’re regularly drinking several cups each day, you’re likely going to find yourself feeling more stressed than you’d like. Too much caffeine can spell trouble for your adrenal glands by overstimulating the body. It’s important to remember that caffeine isn’t found in just coffee. It’s also in soft drinks, certain types of tea, energy drinks, over-the-counter pain relievers, and even chocolate.
Drink More Water! Not drinking enough water can lead to constipation which can lead to bloating and straight up discomfort. Drinking enough water can help you stay regular and also hydrates those all-important organs in your digestive tract.
Prebiotics and Probiotics. Most of us have heard of probiotics, but do you know what PREbiotics are? These gut bugs feed the probiotics, helping to strengthen and increase “good” bacteria. You can supplement with prebiotics like a fiber supplement, or get them from mother nature (apple cider vinegar, garlic, bananas and flaxseeds are a few examples).