Bacteria, fungi, and viruses are found in your body and these comprise the microbiomes. It seems that nothing can be culled from these three but health troubles. They might have sent you panicking as they’re commonly known to cause diseases.
These microbiomes or microbes are present inside and outside our bodies, most notably in the intestines and the skin. It may sound weird, but they’re an integral part of maintaining good health and overall well-being, provided that they remain balanced.
In this article, you’ll discover what a gut microbiome is and how we can manage its levels to keep ourselves healthy.
What Is Gut Microbiome?
Microbes are located in the large intestine, known as the cecum, and these are collectively called the gut microbiome. Bacteria are the most studied microorganisms and they’re also voluminously present in our bodies–at 40 trillion–as compared to only 30 trillion human cells.
How Does It Impact Our Health?
While bacteria are associated with sickness, they can help us remain healthy, too. In fact, one’s gut health is related to how better your immune system, mood, and mental health is. Also, autoimmune diseases, endocrine disorders, skin conditions, and cancer are linked with your gut’s health.
Depending on how it impacts our bodies, bacteria can either be good or bad. For instance, bad bacteria cause you to get sick by upsetting the body’s natural balance, and the good bacteria fight them to restore balance and regain health. Moreover, having a wide variety of good bacteria in your gut improves immune system functions, ease the symptoms of depression, helps manage weight, among other numerous other benefits.
How To Keep Our Gut Microbiome Healthy?
What you eat does not only define who you are. It can also impact the diversity of your gut biome. This means that it can either help you become healthy or sickly. If you’re curious to know how healthy or bad the microbe levels in your gut are, you can check the services of My Psomagen.
In addition to that, here are a few tips to keep your gut microbiomes teeming with good bacteria:
- Increase your consumption of probiotics and fermented foods – Good bacteria or probiotics can help promote your health. Fortunately, there are probiotic supplements available in various forms that you could take, visit Healthcanal to read product recommendations. Fermented foods, such as kimchi, can also help improve your gut health.
- Get familiar with prebiotic fiber – Fibers are generally known to promote digestive health and prevent constipation. Prebiotic fibers are non-digestible carbohydrates and probiotics feed on them, increasing the proliferation of good bacteria in the gut.
Asparagus, banana, garlic, onions, and whole grains are few of the foods packed with this type of fiber.
- Reduce sugar intake – Sugar can upset the balance of gut microbes and may lead to dysbiosis. A diet that’s high in sugar and fat is responsible for this imbalance, which can negatively impact a person’s brain and mood functions.
- Manage stress properly – Chronic stress can impact a person’s overall health and may aggravate the risk of serious health problems. It can also affect the gut microbiomes, upsetting its balance.
Managing the impact of stress through various forms of meditation, regular exercise, and a healthy diet can help.
- Wine and dine more – Polyphenols are broken down by the gut microbiome in order to kick start healthy bacterial growth. Red wine, green tea, dark chocolate, olive oil, and whole grains are rich in polyphenols.
- Regular exercise – Working out can contribute to cardiovascular health and reduce the risks of serious diseases and obesity. A regular exercise for adults means a moderate physical activity for at least 150 minutes every week, with muscle-strengthening activities for at least two days.
- Have some quality shuteye – Like exercise, sleeping for at least seven hours can improve your health and help your gut microbiome, too.
- Avoid antibiotics – The human body has its own line of defense against foreign bodies that cause diseases. However, if a specific bacterial infection is serious, a patient has no choice but to take antibiotics. Still, unnecessarily taking these medications or for long periods can prevent beneficial bacteria from growing in your gut.
- Eat your vegetables – Not only does eating vegetables contribute to overall health and well-being, but it can also help improve your gut microbiomes. In fact, a study of the gut biomes of vegetarians and meat-eaters showed significant differences, with the vegetarians showing a smaller number of disease-causing bacteria, as well as an overall healthier gut microbe balance. That said, tame your inner carnivore and try to cut back on the red meat.
Signs of An Unhealthy Gut
In addition to knowing how to keep your gut healthy, it’s also equally important to know when to suspect an unhealthy gut. Although a particular disease can cause various symptoms, a gut imbalance may typically appear through the following:
- Upset stomach: Digestive issues that indicate difficulties in processing food and eliminating wastes may indicate an imbalance in the gut.
- Inflammation: A common symptom of various diseases, inflammation is also a sign of gut microbiome problems set off by too much sugar. An imbalanced gut can impede nutrient absorption and blood sugar regulation.
- Autoimmune diseases: Apart from contributing to inflammatory processes in the body, a problematic gut is also said to negatively impact immune system functioning, which may lead to autoimmune diseases. An autoimmune disease is a condition where your immune system mistakes healthy cells for foreign bodies and attacks them as a result.
- Sleep deprivation: Your sleep and mood hormones–serotonin–is generated in the gut. In case of gut problems, serotonin production is also impaired, reducing your ability to sleep soundly.
- Eczema and other skin conditions: An impaired gut can cause certain types of proteins to leak, leading to skin problems like eczema.
Summary
Maintaining a healthy balance of gut microbes contributes to a better brain, immune system, digestive, and mood functions. To achieve the desired balance that favors beneficial bacteria, a few lifestyle and diet tweaks may be necessary.
A fiber-packed diet with less sugar and meat, keeping yourself active, and getting enough sleep are few of the main changes for you to have or keep a healthy gut.