Your gut is SO important for your overall health and is connected to so many other systems and processes, few of which include:

• reproductive hormone production
• managing the immune system
• thyroid conversion
• nutrient absorption
• neurotransmitter production

This list might have you thinking that it’s possible to have health issues that extend beyond just typical gut symptoms. If that’s what you’re thinking – you’re absolutely right.

A lot of the women I work with don’t have a single gut symptom but they have a myriad of other health issues – like eczema, chronic fatigue, insomnia, recurring UTIs, and migraines.

So the gut is one of the areas of our body that deserves some attention.

Thus, I wanted to share with you 5 of my top tips for helping improve your gut health and keeping it strong:

1. Chew Your Food Fully

This seems so simple, but honestly sometimes the simplest things are the answer.

Do you ever feel like you inhale your food? Suddenly your plate is empty, and you don’t even remember what you ate. This could be contributing to your gut issues.

Digestion begins the moment we put food in our mouths. Slowing down and chewing your food thoroughly will improve your digestion and help you absorb the healing nutrients.

Swallowing our food before it’s adequately chewed can damage the stomach lining and reduce the effectiveness of our natural digestive enzymes.

2. Drink Bone Broth

Bone broth has collagen and gelatin, and minerals such as calcium, sulfur, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium.

Additionally, bone broth is rich in the amino acids proline, glutamine, and arginine, which help repair the gut lining, fight inflammation and boost your immune system.

You can drink bone broth directly or use it as a base in your soups, stuffing, gravy, pasta sauce, or cook rice or eggs in it.

To make your own, search Pinterest for recipes. Otherwise, pick up pre-made in the soup section at your local grocery store. My favorite brand is Pacific Foods.

3. Incorporate Apple Cider Vinegar

Most people with gut issues are low in stomach acid – even those who experience acid reflux/GERD. If you experience that, it’s likely you actually have low stomach acid and not high.

Apple cider vinegar can help aid in digestion by increasing stomach acid production AND also stimulating bile, which helps break down fats and carry waste away.

To use ACV for your gut, just mix 1 tsp of it in an 8 oz glass of water and drink it 15-20 minutes before a meal.

Once done, swish and drink a few more sips of water to prevent the acid from affecting tooth enamel & irritating your throat.

4. Drink Your Water

This is another simple thing but a huge percentage of us are not drinking enough water daily. Being dehydrated not only makes you feel thirsty and can lead to fatigue, it can also have huge impacts on our guts and detoxification systems.

Not drinking enough water can slow digestion. If drinking water before a meal, make sure to drink it at room temperature and at least 15 minutes before your meal so as not to dilute your stomach acid (which helps break down your food).

Aim for drinking ½ your bodyweight in ounces daily. Thus, if you weigh 150 lbs, aim for 75 ounces.

5. Be Mindful About How You Eat Fruits & Veggies

If you deal with a lot of digestive issues or notice a lot of food, raw fruits and vegetables may actually be causing more damage to your gut.

Due to the fibers in the plants, they require a lot more energy to break down and deal with the fiber content of the produce. It is also possible that when you are eating salads or raw vegetables, you are simply eating a larger amount of food.

Two options to help your gut out: Juice the produce or cook it. Both help break down the food to make it way easier on your digestive system.

This isn’t a forever thing, but can be very helpful while you heal your gut.

These five tips are great lifestyle factors to implement and stay consistent with.

Keep in mind though that if you have a gut infection like a parasite, bacteria overgrowth or candida, they wouldn’t fully get rid of those. They’d certainly supplement a protocol to get rid of them but may not get rid of them entirely.

So if you suspect you might have something bigger at play, you might want to get some testing done so we can figure out the root cause of your health issues. It’s WAY faster than guessing or trying to manage your symptoms with eliminating foods you think are triggering them and taking medications.

Book a call with me where we’ll have an open conversation about:

• What’s going on with your health
• What you’ve tried that’s worked and what hasn’t
• Where you want to be
• And my recommendations to get you there