How to Heal Your Gut: 5 Simple Ways to Improve Gut Health
Your gut is home to to 100 trillion bacteria — and hundreds of golf cases of canned light beer. Come on’ you’re not fooling anybody with the baggy clothes. Too many nights at BW3’s with hotwings, pitchers and big screen sports (when that was still a thing… FU 2020) can really catch up with you quickly. Like a ninja in the shadows of the night, as you slip into your late 20’s and 30’s your metabolism needs a kickstart from time to time.
All that bacteria we mentioned, isn’t a bad thing. Instead, your gut plays a pivotal role in your overall health. With a balanced gut, you will have a stronger immune system and improved digestion, for example. Sometimes, though, our gut bacteria falls out of balance. Less-than-stellar gut health can lead to skin irritation, weight gain and autoimmune conditions, among other side-effects.
How to Heal Your Gut
Everyone loses their way from time to time. (You brought the map, right?) When you get off-track here are some tips, tricks and tactics to find your way back home to healthy gut. Disclaimer: We’re not doctors, even if act like it. So, if you’re unsure which steps to take to get your gut back on track, ask your doctor.
1. Drink Lots of Water
Healthy bacteria is only part of the equation — you need proper digestion to maintain gut health. As such, hydration is one of the major keys to keeping your gut happy.
Make sure you’re drinking eight glasses of water each day at a minimum. The more you drink, the more you’ll keep digestion flowing — and start improving an unhealthy gut.
2. Avoid Processed Foods
Doritos are awesome. Some guys can live off spicy shrimp raman noodles, Red Baron cheese pizza, and Sunny-D drink. It’s disgusting and feat of survival that equals Shackelton’s mishap in Antartica. But, that doesn’t mean eating like a bachelor on 40-day no sex streak is good for your gut.
Humans evolved eating whole foods — fruit, vegetables, meat and whole grains. Processed foods are convenient and tasty, of course, but they’re not as good for your gut. You might find that cutting processed foods altogether does wonders for your gut. Or, you might try an elimination diet to see which ones have the most significant effect on your stomach health.
Pro tip: If you have to open a cellophane bag to eat it, it’s probably not that good for you. Skip the chips and read labels. You don’t need anymore fat or salt in your diet that you’re already getting.
3. Try Adding In Gut-Healthy Eats
Once you get rid of the processed foods that hurt your gut, try adding in gut-healthy food and supplements. You can get belly-bettering probiotics from fermented foods, such as kimchi. You can never go wrong with fresh produce, either.
Legumes and other foods that contain resistant starches aid in digestion, and antioxidant-rich berries nourish your body, too. Don’t forget that there are plenty of products like these supplements designed to improve gut health further.
4. Exercise
Get off the couch. Turn off your phone. Grab an axe, fishing pole, woman, …. and get to the woods. Be a man. Men work. Exercise is work. Do some work.
Exercise can enhance your gut with a diverse spread of microbial species, which is great for gut health. But a quick cardio session can also fight bloating. If you need to kick-start your gut into action after a big meal, for example, try taking a walk and seeing if you feel better.
5. Sleep More
Sleep is so crucial to your overall health. In general, it improves your mood, hones your focus, enhances physical performance and clears your skin. But sleep is vital to gut health, as well. While you rest, your body has time to repair itself. And, with ample rest, it can self-correct a leaky gut or other issues in the gut microbiome. Make sure you’re getting the recommended amount of sleep for your age group. For adults 26 to 64, that’s seven to nine hours a night.
Improve Your Gut Health
With these five tips, you know how to heal your gut — or, at least, how to get started. So, begin now and see how much better you feel when you cultivate a healthier gut.
And don’t forget to check back in with us for all of your men’s health news and advice.