Your gut health can actually influence the rest of your body, from immunity to anxiety and disease. So this long tube that starts at the mouth and ends at the back passage could be the key to good health. Did you know that 95 % of Serotonin, the “feel good” chemical that helps regulate mood for happiness and wellbeing is actually produced in the gut? Even your skin health can be improved by the gut. So keep the good times rolling with these five tips to help you improve your gut health.

Eat Probiotics From Fermented food

Probiotics can help your gut by restoring and balancing its microbiome, helping the digestive system with its role and preventing gut inflammation and other intestinal issues. Evidence even suggests that probiotics can improve your skin and keep it glowing. Some of the foods that contain a bunch of these probiotic goodies are yogurt, kombucha, kefir, kimchi, miso and pickles.

Eat Slowly

Eating slowly can prevent heart burn and indigestion. Therefore allowing the body to fully absorb nutrients and keep you staying fuller for longer. This may help you maintain a healthy gut.

Eat High Fiber Foods

According to University of Michigam researcher Eric Martens “fiber is the one component of our diet that directly feeds our gut microbiota.”  Unlike other substances such as some proteins, fiber ensures our gut microbes are well fed so they can be at optimal health. We can get fiber from different sources such as beans, avocados, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and fruit which contribute to good gut health.

Stay Hydrated

Its always important to remind ourselves that most of our body is composed of water. So we have to keep up drinking those 8 glasses a day to balance the body and gut bacteria for a healthy gut! Water also helps the body to digest food better and overall supports body function such as digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature.

Avoid Taking Antibiotics Unnecessarily

Although antibiotics can be beneficial sometimes and necessary to take to fight against bacterial infections, they can also kill your guts good bacteria and immunity. Often times they can be prescribed unnecessarily. Some research presents that even 6 months after their use, the gut can still lack multiple species of healthy bacteria. So it is important to be mindful of over consuming antibiotics for optimal gut health.