Your gut health is a precursor to your overall health and well-being. According to statistics, millions of people across the world have digestive conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, acid reflux, chronic constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, and hemorrhoids – all of which are extremely discomforting and painful. While many of these conditions need to be treated through medication and possibly even surgery, a lot can significantly improve if you make a few daily tweaks to your lifestyle.

Even if you are not experiencing any GI symptoms at the moment, certain daily habits can help ensure your gut stays in tip-top shape. A few of these include:

To promote a healthy gut, you need to make better food choices which involve eating a balanced diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables. These foods provide the fibre needed to build good bacteria and guard gut health. In general, choosing whole foods over processed foods will promote healthy digestion.

Also, according to gastroenterologists, it is important to eat at the right time, along with consuming the foods mindfully – taking time, chewing slowly, and being present at mealtimes – so that the food gets digested properly without causing any discomfort.

According to experts, the best way to maintain good gut health is to pay attention to changes in your bowel movements – which include the frequency, consistency, color, and ease of passing stools.

Doctors say these variations indicate if you suffer from any digestive issues that can be evaluated and treated by doctors well in time. Slight changes usually are not a big deal, but major ones can signal that you need to adjust some parts of your lifestyle to live healthier.

Exercising and workouts are among the most powerful ways you can boost your gut microbiome. Regular exercise improves your gut health because it improves gut movement, boosts blood and oxygen circulation, tones your digestive muscles which become stronger and more efficient, and keeps your metabolism running- to help with digestion and better balance in your gut.

Since the benefits of exercise for gut health are impressive – you do not always have to join a gym or follow a strenuous program to get results. You can do regular brisk walks, jogging, cycling, swimming or even run up and down the stairs regularly.

Drinking lots of water daily helps increase the diversity of bacteria in the gut – thereby regulating digestion and your overall health. According to studies, people who drank more water had less of a type of bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal infections.

Staying hydrated also benefits your overall gut health and helps prevent constipation.

According to experts, drinking alcohol severely affects your gut health. Doctors say alcohol changes the balance of bacteria in the gut microbiome leading it to go from a state of homeostasis where everything is happy and calm into a state of dysbiosis where things start to go out of whack. Metabolites also harm the microbiome causing toxicity.

And so, it is important to limit its intake. According to guidelines, it is important to either quit it totally or have just one or two drinks occasionally.

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