Eat slowly Chewing your food thoroughly and eating healtg Gut health reduce digestive discomfort such Gut health gas, pain and bloating. Skip to main content. Research indicates that an imbalance in gut bacteria may be linked to fragmented sleep and short sleep duration, which may lead to chronic fatigue.

Gut health -

Sip a yogurt smoothie for breakfast, or put a forkful or two of sauerkraut alongside your sandwich at lunch. Research has shown that a traditional Western diet — heavy on fat, sugar, and animal meat — creates a toxic environment for healthy microbes and can even change the proportion of different types of bacteria inside your body, she says.

In short, your healthy gut microbes will suffer on a diet of hot dogs and French fries. What beneficial bacteria love, says Fung, is fiber. When fiber enters your digestive system, enzymes from the microbiota help to break it down, producing substances called short-chain fatty acids.

Experts think that having more of these fatty acids changes the pH inside your colon, making it less hospitable to some damaging types of microorganisms. Vegetables and fruits also contain healthy fiber. Other good prebiotic sources include garlic, bananas, onions, asparagus, and seaweed.

Over all, the goal should be to make sure your diet contains a good balance of probiotics and prebiotics. If you feed your gut well, it may repay you in better health. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content.

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Sign up now and get a FREE copy of the Best Diets for Cognitive Fitness. Gut health refers to the balance of microorganisms that live in the digestive tract. Looking after the health of the gut and maintaining the right balance of these microorganisms is vital for physical and mental health, immunity, and more.

Many microbes are beneficial for human health, and some are even essential. Others can be harmful, especially when they multiply. In this article, we list 10 scientifically supported ways to improve the gut microbiome and enhance overall health.

To boost the beneficial bacteria, or probiotics, in the gut, some people choose to take probiotic supplements. These are available in health food stores, drug stores, and online. Some research has suggested that taking probiotics can support a healthy gut microbiome, and that it may prevent gut inflammation and other intestinal problems.

Probiotics feed on nondigestible carbohydrates called prebiotics. This process encourages beneficial bacteria to multiply in the gut. Research from suggested that prebiotics may help probiotics become more tolerant to certain environmental conditions, including pH and temperature changes.

People who want to enhance their gut health may wish to include more of the following prebiotic-rich foods in their diet:. Eating a lot of sugar or artificial sweeteners may cause gut dysbiosis, which is an imbalance of gut microbes.

The authors of a study in animals suggested that the standard Western diet, which is high in sugar and fat, negatively affects the gut microbiome. In turn, this can influence the brain and behavior. Another animal study reported that the artificial sweetener aspartame increases the number of some bacterial strains that are linked with metabolic disease.

Metabolic disease refers to a group of conditions that increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease. Research has also indicated that human use of artificial sweeteners can negatively impact blood glucose levels due to their effects on gut flora.

This means that artificial sweeteners may increase blood sugar despite not actually being a sugar. Managing stress is important for many aspects of health, including gut health. Animal studies have suggested that psychological stressors can disrupt the microorganisms in the intestines, even if the stress is only short-lived.

In humans, a variety of stressors can negatively affect gut health, including:. Some stress management techniques include meditation, deep breathing exercises, and progressive muscle relaxation. Although it is often necessary to take antibiotics to combat bacterial infections, overuse is a significant public health concern that can lead to antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotics are also damaging to the gut microbiota and immunity, with some research reporting that even 6 months after their use, the gut still lacks several species of beneficial bacteria. As a result, the CDC recommend that people discuss antibiotics and alternative options with their doctor before use.

Regularly exercising contributes to good heart health and weight loss or weight maintenance. Research has also suggested that it may also improve gut health, which may, in turn, help control obesity.

Working out may increase species diversity. A study found that athletes had a larger variety of gut flora than nonathletes.

However, the athletes also ate a different diet to the control group, which could account for the differences in their microbiomes. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults engage in at least minutes of moderate intensity exercise each week, along with muscle strengthening activities on 2 or more days each week.

A animal study indicated that irregular sleep habits and disturbed sleep can have negative outcomes for the gut flora, which may increase the risk of inflammatory conditions. Establish healthful sleep habits by going to bed and getting up at the same time each day.

Adults should get at least 7 hours of sleep per night. Just as antibiotics can disrupt the gut microbiota, so too can disinfectant cleaning products, according to the results of one study. The research analyzed the gut flora of over infants ages 3—4 months.

The researchers found that those who lived in homes where people used disinfectant cleaning products at least weekly were twice as likely to have higher levels of Lachnospiraceae gut microbes, a type associated with type 2 diabetes and obesity.

How to avoid indigestion Top 8 foods for better digestion Top 7 health benefits of fermenting. Tracey Randell is a qualified nutritionist MBANT and Institute for Functional Medicine practitioner Dip BCNH, IFMCP, CNHC.

She lectures at the nutrition college where she trained on various subjects including IBS, coeliac disease, the gut-brain axis and food intolerances.

She also offers postgraduate training to other healthcare professionals. All health content on bbcgoodfood. com is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other health care professional.

If you have any concerns about your general health, you should contact your local health care provider. See our website terms and conditions for more information. Search, save and sort your favourite recipes and view them offline.

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By Elisabeth Almekinder, Health Journalist, Registered Healt, and Diabetes Educator for the Snakebite symptom relief Unidas Gut health Carolina Farmworker Gtu Program. As haelth turns out, you can get Gtu of Snakebite symptom relief good bacteria Gut health healrh needs to move things Gug properly by Gut health things in Satiety and reduced food intake environment. For better digestion and increased metabolism, decreased inflammation and decreased risk of chronic disease, try our 6 easy ways to improve your gut health:. Here is yet another reason to eat fresh, whole foods. Barley, oats, quinoa, bulger, and other whole grains have fiber that we need to bulk up our intestines and help things to move through. Whole grains then become a type of feed for the bacteria inhabiting the microbiome. It may sound strange that we have all these minute bacteria floating around in there, but they keep things running smoothly.