Ingredients:
3 apples
1 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tsp coconut sugar (optional)
1 Tbsp crushed nuts or seeds
Directions:
What was the last thing that you ate?
Will what you ate help feed the “good” bacteria in your gut …
Or the bad bacteria that lives in there?
Last week I talked about why your gut is SO important to your health, because it impacts everything from your digestion to your brain to your heart and even your mood!
In the wake of the corona pandemic, it’s even more important than ever to focus on your everyday wellness routine – and that includes your diet and your gut health.
Today I want to dive in a little deeper and explain exactly why it’s so important to eat REAL, WHOLE foods.
So many times we just focus on how what we eat affects our weight.
But there’s SO MUCH MORE at work here! And it’s all interconnected.
The “good” bacteria that live inside your gut need to eat, just like you do.
They love to nibble on insoluble fibers (aka “prebiotics”) that are tough enough to survive the trip through your stomach.
Meanwhile, the “bad” bacteria inside your gut thrive in a low-fiber environment with sugars, processed foods and grains, additives, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and fillers.
Experts theorize that when there’s not enough food for your good bacteria, they physically starve.
This gives the bad bacteria a chance to get a foothold, which can cause some major problems!
It all hinges on the lining of your gut.
This lining is actually a super important part of your immune system, because it forms a barrier between the food you eat and the rest of your body.
When this lining becomes too permeable (when the bad bacteria begin to take over) …
Toxins, bacteria, and even partially digested foods can “leak out” of your digestive system and make their way into your bloodstream. (this is called Leaky Gut!)
This can lead to inflammation and even trigger an immune system response. And you definitely don’t want that!
Over time, this can cause a whole host of problems like chronic fatigue syndrome, migraines, auto-immune diseases, skin conditions and more.
This is why we always talk about eating whole, “clean” foods. Because when your gut is happy, it makes the rest of your body happy.
Like I mentioned earlier, the key to a healthy gut microbiome is BALANCE (including exercise, sleep, diet, stress, and more).
Now more than ever, balance is SO IMPORTANT to keeping you (and the people you care for!) healthy and strong.
REFERENCES:
Ingredients:
Directions:
Hi everyone, hope you are all doing well during these unprescedented and trying times! In the midst of the Coronavirus right now, having a strong and healthy immune system is more important than ever!
There are steps you can take to make yourself healthier, and I’ve got a great series that focuses on a super important part of your immune health: your gut!
There has been a LOT of buzz about “gut health” lately … and for a very good reason.
Your gut health doesn’t affect just your digestion (although that’s super important) … but also your heart, your brain, your immune system, and even your mood.
And with a global pandemic happening, it seems like a good time to focus even more on our overall wellness!
You have about 100 trillion (!!!) microbes living in your gut right now. And there are about 1,000 different species of known gut bacteria.
(Fun Fact #1: if you were to weigh all the bacteria in your gut, they would weigh over 4 lbs (2 kg))!
Some of these bacteria are your personal army of helpers, digesting your food, making energy, and keeping your immune system strong.
And others are not-so-good, linked with digestive upset, inflammation, obesity, and even conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and asthma.
As you can imagine, you want to make sure your gut stays in balance, with more of the good guys than the bad guys!
YOU have the power to do just that with your food and lifestyle choices!
But now for fun fact #2 … your individual gut microbiome is like your fingerprint.
No one else’s is exactly the same.
All of us share about one-third of the same microbiota makeup – but two-thirds of your microbiota “fingerprint” are unique to YOU!
Even though we all have our own unique gut microbiome, the basic guidelines for keeping it in balance work for nearly everyone!
I’m going to be sharing a LOT more info about all of this in the coming weeks, but here’s a quick gut health checklist to get you started:
It’s amazing how everything works together, isn’t it?
Speaking of working together … you can still schedule a phone/online consult!
Now more than ever it’s a good time to DIG IN and stay focused on our health!
I love this week’s challenge because it puts everything into perspective … and I think you’ll love it for that reason, too.
Each night before bed – or each morning when you wake up – take a few minutes and write down 5 things you’re grateful for.
It doesn’t have to be a fancy or “profound” list. Just the simple act of thinking about the people, events, and things that you appreciate in your life can be a very powerful exercise.
Love your Egyptian cotton sheets because they make you feel like you’re sleeping on a cloud? Write that down. Love the way your dog looks at you when he gets up from a nap? Journal it! Had a great conversation with a family member today? You know the drill….
Gratitude brings a LOT of benefits into your life, including improved mental and physical health, self-esteem, better sleep, and mental strength.
A while back, I went to an amazing restaurant in San Diego called the Cafe Gratitude (100% vegan & organic) If you find yourself in California, look them up ~ I so wish we had one near here!! The picture above is my breakfast burrito ~ don’t you just love the plate!! All of the menu items are given a name (ex. coffee is referred to as “couragous”, the burrito I had was called “nurtured”). When ordering, they prefer that you say “I Am” followed by the name ~ what a great concept, instead of “I want”, my order was “I Am Nurtured”. My clients will tell you that at the begining of any program they come up with an “I Am” statement for themselves. This is specific to each person, so it can be whatever they like ~ my suggestions are to keep it relatively short and to the point and of course POSITIVE.
Do you regularly keep a gratitude journal? Are you on board with this gratitude practice this week? Let me know in a comment below! 🙂