Our gut health plays an essential role in our overall health. Living in our gut is a community of bacteria making up our microbiome. Our microbiome changes with every decision we make. The food we eat, the sleep we get (or don't get), our stress level and medications all play a part.
A healthy microbiome boosts immunity, aides in digestion and even helps reduce anxiety by assisting neurotransmitter activity. Some signs that your gut health needs looking after are bloating, diarrhea or constipation, gas, acid reflux and GI discomfort. Even if you are not experiencing these symptoms, being attentive to our microbiome is a good habit to have. Gut health may also impact hyperactivity in children.
So how do we improve our gut health?
Destress: We know, this is easier said than done but try to be intentional about taking time to reduce stress. Maybe that looks like waking up before your kids to drink coffee in quiet, maybe that means extra sleep. We love Magnesium Bath Bath Bombs at the end of the day.
Food: The food we eat can have both a positive and negative affect on our gut health. Foods like gluten, sugar, dairy, soy and fried foods can negatively impact our gut health while sauerkraut, kimchi, almonds, kombucha, peas, brussel sprouts, bananas, garlic and ginger can positivity affect it. Focus on whole foods and buy organic when possible. When visiting farmers markets, speak to the farmers. "Certified Organic" is an expensive label that many small farmers don't have but their practices are sound.
Probiotics: We hear a lot about them but it can be difficult to know which to choose. For adults, we like HAIOTB Probiotic and for kids we use 6 Billion CFU Kids / Children's Probiotics with Prebiotics. Probiotics can improve sleep by increasing serotonin and decrease cortisol.
Avoid "Anti-bacterial": There is a growing trending to kill all bacteria with anti bacterial cleaners, soaps and sanitizers and while we understand the tendency, we also know all of the good germ that are killed with the bad. Clean It Well is our go to cleaner for everything around the house and in our cars while our Foaming Baby Wash and Shampoo is perfect for hand soap in the kitchen and bathrooms. That leaves sanitizers. Our Hand and Surface Sanitizer uses stabilized oxygen which is great for killing the bad germs and keeping the good. It has officially been registered as a disinfectant with the EPA to combat SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19, Coroin) for surfaces!!