A comprehensive guide to maintaining gut health, which helps you live a happier and healthier life. Adding a quality probiotic supplement like Renew Life® Ultimate Flora™ Probiotics can help you live your best life.
This post is sponsored by Renew Life. All opinions stated are my own.
I am constantly asked what my "wellness routine" is. How do I maintain a healthy, balanced lifestyle? The simple answer is I do this from the inside out. I eat all whole foods, limit grains, sugars and gluten and take a probiotic daily. Maintaining proper gut health (the bacteria that lives in our digestive tracts) is crucial for overall wellness. It is also important for the absorption of nutrients as well as reducing toxins in the body and maybe even improve your mood. 70% of the immune system is in your gut. Therefore, good digestive health is a key part of maintaining your immunity and overall health so you can stay on-the-go this summer. Those are some excellent reasons!
Besides reducing occasional bloating, constipation and stomach discomfort, there are many other surprising benefits to maintaining proper gut health. There have been many studies showing the importance of gut health that also offer some other health benefits too.
A healthy gut helps boost your immune health by protecting against the bad bacteria. Probiotics and prebiotics help to support the immune system.
So here is the most important question... How do you improve your gut health? With just a few suggestions that I outline below, you can easily feel better and enhance your intestinal health.
- Sleep more. It's really that simple. Getting at least 8 hours of quality, uninterrupted sleep each night improves your overall health. Ironically enough, a healthy gut can actually help improve sleep.
- Eat the right kind of fermented food (prebiotics)- yogurts with live active cultures, fermented foods like kimchi, tempeh, pickles, sauerkraut and miso. Also, kombucha is simply fermented tea which is packed with natural probiotics.
This yogurt dip is packed with probiotics and is so simple to make! Just mix together 1 cup plain Greek yogurt, 2 cloves of garlic, ½ freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil and ¼ teaspoon sea salt. That's it! Dip anything you'd like in here!
- Eat more fiber which includes legumes and beans, berries, whole grains. Eat a variety of whole fruits and veggies to make sure you are getting enough fiber.
- Exercise regularly. Move your body to reduce stress and get your heart healthy!
- Eat fewer inflammatory foods like sugar, animal products, dairy and processed foods. Also, limit sugar free foods and gum because the sugar alcohols can cause stomach upset and bloating.
- Reduce alcohol and caffeine consumption. Everything in moderation, of course. I love wine and green tea just as much as the next person, but just be mindful of how much you are consuming.
- Be careful with antibiotics- these kill off both the "good" and "bad" bacteria and really can wreak havoc on your digestive system.
- Drink lots of water! Water helps to flush nutrients through our bodies and prevents constipation which also helps to get rid of that bad bacteria.
- Take a good, quality probiotic supplement. All probiotics are NOT the same. You need to look for one that contains more potent formulas with billions of live probiotic cultures in each capsule. Your probiotic should have multiple, scientifically studied strains that support digestive balance and harmony. They should require quality, purity and potency guaranteed through expiration. This is why I recommend Renew Life Probiotics.
Renew Life Ultimate Flora Probiotics deliver blends of multiple strains and billions of live cultures, which reflects the natural diversity in the gut.
Just keeping it real here. I am a busy, working mom of three and I would love to say that I am always eating a perfectly, well balanced diet. Some times, I don't sleep enough and don't always eat enough veggies. Taking a daily probiotic can help maintain the delicate balance of gut bacteria so you can avoid feeling uncomfortable. I've tried several other brands in the past and none of them made feel as good as Renew Life. It's amazing how a healthy gut, which a probiotic supports, really improves your energy and stamina.
Added bonus: Renew Life Probiotics are dairy and gluten free!
Kombucha (fermented tea), yogurt, berries and sliced almonds and a Renew Life® Ultimate Flora Probiotic is the perfect way to kick off my day.
Get more information about Renew Life® Ultimate Flora™ Probiotics here, and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
Tell me, how do you maintain a healthy gut?
Sarah Packer
My husband has been having stomach problems lately. I didn't know eating the right type of prebiotics like yogurt and kimchi could help your digestive system. I'll have to keep that in mind and take him in for a consultation if his pain continues!
lauren.kelly
I hope he feels better! Definitely look into probiotics!