Do you feel like you’d go out and do more if you simply felt better? Would you be happier if you felt energized, inspired, and fit? Turns out, there is one simple change you can make to possibly benefit your mood and overall health.
Your gut health can be a major key to feeling healthy as a whole. If weight loss is your goal, you if may be difficult to get there through dieting alone. Your digestive health plays a huge part in how well the food you eat gets processed. Improving human microbiomes takes time, but it isn’t as complicated as you might think.
Are you concerned about gut health? Read here to learn how you can change your gut to potentially change your life and overall health and well-being for the better.
Beneficial Bacteria: How Might Prebiotics And Probiotics Benefit Digestive Health And Well-Being?
How can your gut have such an impact on the rest of your health? Well, it is your body’s basecamp for bacteria and nutrient absorption. Your gut helps you break down the food you eat. It then turns the nutrients you consume into materials your body can actually use.
Healthy Digestion With Probiotics
Probiotic bacteria are the “good-for-you” microorganisms in your digestive tract. These beneficial bacteria and microbes may help fortify your gut wall. And according to recent studies, probiotics and gut microbes could help fight oxidative stress.1
Fermented foods like sauerkraut, kombucha, and Greek yogurt are great sources of probiotics. But here’s the thing – you’d have to eat a ton of yogurt or sauerkraut to make an impact. So, it may be a good idea to chat with a doctor about taking probiotic supplements.
Do Probiotics Help With Weight Loss And Weight Maintenance?
Again, probiotics have physiologic functions that benefit the health of your gut microbiota. In fact, your probiotic intake can affect how much food you eat, your body weight, and your body’s metabolic function through gastrointestinal pathways.2
Although lifestyle changes, diet, and exercise are still necessary for weight loss, probiotics can support the function of your digestive system and help your body to better absorb nutrients.
Healthy Digestion With Prebiotics
Prebiotics are nutrients. They’re actually dietary fibers. And prebiotics feed probiotic bacteria (the good gut bacteria). Here’s how it works:
Since prebiotic fibers aren’t able to die or get broken down by your gut, they’re able to withstand stomach acid and nourish the probiotics and microbes in your gut. In a similar way to how fertilizer can help make grass flourish, prebiotic fiber helps the bacteria in your intestines to grow.3
Some excellent dietary sources of prebiotics are:
- Onions
- Leeks
- Garlic
- Asparagus
- Jerusalem artichoke
- Green bananas
- Flax seeds
- Wheat bran 4
Change Your Gut Health, Boost Your Energy
It makes sense that your gut health could help regulate your weight, but did you know a healthy gut might also mean more energy? That’s because your gut is responsible for breaking down and digesting the food you eat.
Here’s how it works: when your gut is working in the right way, the food you consume is processed more completely. You naturally increase your energy harvest from the foods you eat. So, microorganisms play a pretty important role when it comes to energy extraction and energy regulation.5
Can Changing Your Gut Change Your Skin?
When most people try to improve the health of their skin, they turn to balms, oils, serums, or creams. But you might just be able to have a healthier outside by nurturing a healthier inside. Sometimes, certain skin conditions may be a signal that your gut isn’t functioning as it should.
It turns out that probiotics are proven to have some benefits to help support skin health. It’s easy to forget, but your skin is the biggest organ in (or on) your body. But you’re constantly exposing your skin to environmental stressors — chemicals, bacteria, and fungi. Studies prove, however, that probiotic application can potentially help with skin health issues, too.6
So, whether you’re after weight loss or simply trying to improve your health and well-being, supporting your gut health is a great place to start. Talk to your doctor about whether probiotic and prebiotic supplements are for you.
Learn More:
Cheese Can Improve Gut Health! (find out which types to eat)
Sources
1..https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31018570
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4761174/
3. https://www.clinicaladvisor.com/home/features/beyond-rx-otc-corner/dietary-fiber-the-prebiotic-co
4. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/19-best-prebiotic-foods
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3601187/
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24364369