How to Improve Your Gut Health After the Holidays
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The holidays can bring with them beautiful celebrations and timeless traditions. This includes delicious food, snacks, drinks—and temptation.
The desserts are plentiful. The meals are richer. And the struggle of loosening your belt or changing into sweatpants becomes all too real. The plate of cookies. That extra piece of pie. You don’t even want to admit what you did to all those buttery rolls.
And right now, you’re between two major holidays. One is under your belt (literally), and the other is around the corner. New Year’s Eve means one final round of holiday indulgences.
And while a few treats won’t sabotage you, your gut health may have taken a holiday hit. Maybe you feel a little bloated...have some heartburn...or are making a few more trips to the bathroom than normal.
Don’t worry—we have you covered with some easy tips to help you and your gut recover from the holidays.
The Importance of Gut Health
As Dr. Mark Hyman wrote, “having a healthy gut means more than simply being free of annoyances like bloating or heartburn. It is absolutely essential to your health. It is connected to everything that happens in your body.”
The health of your gut is linked to your whole body’s health. It determines what nutrients get absorbed. It also decides what toxins, microbes, or allergens are held at bay.
Your gut is home to 10-100 trillion bacteria that form a diverse ecosystem or “gut microbiome.” In order for you to be healthy, this ecosystem needs to be in balance. When in balance, your gut helps you digest food, regulate your hormones, produce healing compounds that keep you healthy, and get rid of toxins.
Your gut has a whole other slew of responsibilities. To name a few, your gut is:
Connected to your immune system and can positively or negatively impact it.
Provides nutrients and vitamins.
In constant talk with your brain. (Did you know your gut has even more neurotransmitters than your brain?)
Your gut is quite the multi-tasker. And each of its roles is crucial to your health.
Improving Your Gut Health Naturally
When your gut is out of sorts, you become more prone to infections, inflammation, and immune disorders. You can also feel more upset in your stomach, such as bloating, gas, constipation, or diarrhea.
Fortunately, small steps make a difference, and doing them can help you to start feeling the benefits. And many of these steps don’t involve a trip to the doctor—they can be done naturally and practiced anywhere. So, with that, let’s “eat, drink, and be merry” our way to a healthier gut.
Eat: Foods for Gut Health
What you eat or drink is closely linked to your gut health. Studies have even shown that changing your diet can impact your gut microbiome in as little as 24 hours. This means that you can start impacting your gut relatively quickly. Here are some ways to help do that:
Slow down and practice mindful eating. Enjoy your meal more by increasing awareness of each bite. Slowing your eating also helps you to hear your stomach when it’s full. This drops your chances of overeating.
Consider taking a prebiotic and/or probiotic. These supplements can help support your digestion, immune system, and your good bacteria. Not all prebiotics and probiotics are equal in quality, so be sure to talk with your doctor about what would work best for you.
Cut down on holiday sweets and processed foods. Eating low-fiber, highly processed, high-sugar, and high-calorie foods can feed the wrong bacteria or cause yeast to grow. One way to cut down your intake yet still enjoy is to choose between the cocktail or dessert instead of having both. Or consider choosing a mocktail over the cocktail.
Bump up high fiber or fermented foods. If you know you’re going in for a marathon of rich eating, consider ramping up on your probiotic intake or adding fermented foods to your diet. Taking a drink or two of kefir early on in the day can help line your stomach with good bacteria. This helps with digestion and also reduces unwanted bloating.
Drink: Staying Hydrated
Often during the holidays, we choose foods and beverages that dehydrate us. Salty snacks, alcohol, and caffeine are a few of the guilty culprits. We can also have our fair share of high-calorie indulgences (eggnog, anyone?). Not having enough liquids not only dehydrates, but it can also cause a dip in your energy and slow down your digestive tract.
To recover, make sure you load up on water (sparkling or flat). 100% vegetable juices are also a solid option. Chamomile tea is a great choice since it helps relax the gut, so you don’t feel as uncomfortable.
Be Merry: Improve Your Wellbeing
While diet is a large contributor to your gut health, here are a few other ways to lend your gut a helping hand:
Ditch the stress. It’s no secret that holidays can cause tension or anxiety. Remember how the brain and gut are closely connected? This means that when you feel stress, your gut also feels it. Increased stress can slow or stop the digestive tract so that the energy flows to where the body thinks the threat is. Try taking some deep breaths, meditating, or playing with your family’s pets—pursue calmness by finding what works best for you.
Take a walk. After your meal, hold off on napping (as tempting as it may be) and go for a short walk. Napping after a heavy, rich meal can increase reflux or indigestion. It also may not set you up for quality sleep since your body is focused on digesting instead of getting rest. So, grab your shoes and a loved one, and go for a stroll.
Don’t Let Your Gut Be a Grinch
The holidays can be a fantastic time of visiting family or friends and celebrating age-old traditions. Part of that is enjoying special treats or sneaking in a few extra cookies to hold you over until this time next year.
As you start to recover from this holiday season, try out a couple of these ideas to help get your gut health back on track. If you have any questions or want to talk through ideas or products that support your gut, give our office a call. We are here to support you.
We at Renew & Restore Wellness wish you a Happy New Year and a blessed 2020!
Sources
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