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How to Prepare Your Gut For a Month of Mince Pies!

How to Prepare Your Gut For a Month of Mince Pies!

The mornings are getting colder and getting out of bed is becoming more difficult, but at least its nearly Christmas and after the year we’ve all had we definitely deserve some festive joy!

While we don’t know exactly what normality’s we’ll be allowed to enjoy this Christmas, we certainly know that our diets will go out the window and we’ll be eating and drinking everything in sight!

Annoyingly, your gut doesn’t enjoy the festive period quite as much as you do and has to work overtime to keep your microbiome healthy.

An unhealthy gut can really impact your ability to enjoy yourself this Christmas, with weight fluctuation, upset stomach, skin irritation, lack of sleep and fatigue all symptoms of an unhealthy microbiome.

So to not spoil your party spirit, we’re going to tell you how you can prepare your gut for a month of mince pies!

What can you do?

Sleep!

It’s mentioned a lot but it cannot be overstated, sleep is extremely important for all aspects of health and gut health is no different.  

Inadequate sleep causes a stress response that changes the balance of your microbiome and negatively impacts overall gut health.

As you probably know, you should be getting 7-8 hours’ sleep daily and sticking to this will keep your gut happy!

Hydration

Similarly with sleep, we all know that we should drink enough water because it’s good for us but unfortunately many of us do not.

Water aids with digestion and drinking sufficient water helps promote good bacteria within the gut!

Being hydrated is one of the simplest methods of preparing your gut for this festive period and you should be drinking 2.5 – 4 L daily.

Eat Slowly

If you’re a fast eater or simply in a rush, its likely that you’re not providing an optimal situation for your gut.

By consciously slowing down your eating and chewing your food properly, you’ll improve your absorption of nutrients and aid with digestion.

This will also reduce any digestive discomfort & promote gut health – helping you beat the bloat this Christmas!

 

Food Choices

We know that as we enter this festive period we’re probably going to be eating large amounts of sugar and fat.

Unfortunately, these high sugar and processed foods decrease the amount of good bacteria within your gut and therefore impair your gut health.

Now we’re not saying to avoid these foods entirely as that’s what Christmas is all about! But you could start being more conscious regarding your intake of these foods now, ensuring that your gut is ready to deal with the month ahead!

On the other hand, you should increase your dietary fiber intake as this can massively improve the health of your gut.

Stress

Unfortunately most of us encounter stress daily for a number of different reasons, but this can decrease your gut health and cause unwanted complications as you simply do not digest food very well when stressed.

It is easier said than done, but lowering your stress levels will have a positive impact on your gut health and there are a number of ways to do this.

First and foremost is physical activity and this can take many forms. Actual exercise is of course beneficial but activities like nature walks can also have a huge impact on your stress levels.

Yoga, meditation and speaking to friends and family (Socially distanced of course) also aid with stress which in turn improves your overall gut health!

Pre / Probiotics

While the previous tips are more lifestyle changes, you can go a step further with supplementation.

Prebiotics can be taken to promote the growth of good bacteria within the gut whereas probiotics are live bacteria that help improve the balance of your microbiome.

Taking either of these daily will improve the overall health of your gut and should help prepare you for the feast that is the festive period.

The Take Home

With the joy of Christmas alongside the current events around the world, your gut health during December might be pretty low in the priority list.

However to ensure that you can properly enjoy this month you should be taking some steps now to promote your gut health.

You can mostly do this by ensuring you maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle, but you can also supplement with pre/probiotics.

With these tips, you should be able to go forth and enjoy a month of mince pies!

 

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