We’re learning more about how important it is to look after our gut. More than just feeling the odd tummy pain, or a bit bloated, this long tube that winds from our mouth all the way though our bodies is more than just about what happens when the food goes in and the food comes out. Here’s why;
- 70% of our immune system is in our gut. It has been referred to our 2nd brain. That means when we feel stressed, emotional, angry or tired our gut is involved, even if we don’t notice any specific symptoms there.
- Infections or being run down may also impact our gut function even if we aren’t really aware of any changes. We are all familiar with what havoc a tummy bug can cause, but just because we aren’t having horrible diarrhoea or vomiting doesn’t mean that being laid low with a viral illness doesn’t have an affect on how our gut functions. When you are feeling better from your sore throat or cough it often takes the gut longer to restore itself too so this can be part of the reason we pick up other bugs so quickly when we are just getting over the first one
- Microbiome- our gut contains more bacteria and virus cells than it does human ones. These types of bugs are usually helpful for our gut but can be affected by illnesses or things like taking antibiotics. Needless to say we want to support the good guys (bacteria) as much as possible.
- Eating lots of different colours of vegetables, drinking more water, avoiding drinks with artificial sweeteners, increasing the amount of fibre you eat are day to day ways to help the healthy bacteria in our gut as well as it several function.
Dr Clara Russell co-founder, Noggin The Brain People