A guide to supporting your gut health at Christmas
1. Don’t put any restrictions on food, or label them as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Enjoy yourself!
Christmas is a time of year when we can feel a lot of guilt around food, and this can take the enjoyment out of what should be a wonderful time of year. Rather than thinking of foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, enjoy everything you want in moderation, and take the pressure off when it comes to the way you think about food. As long as you are eating a balanced diet alongside the treats, then you’ll be doing just fine.
2. Take a good quality probiotic, to maintain a healthy balance of good gut bacteria
Probiotics help to provide beneficial strains of bacteria within our gut microbiome, such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, which aids in providing more diversity within our gut. If we have too many bad bacteria in our gut, this can cause dysbiosis (imbalance of bacteria) and lead to unwanted and uncomfortable gut symptoms, such as bloating, pain, and irregular bowel movements. Indulgent Christmas foods are not the foods that our gut bacteria need to work optimally, so by taking a probiotic during the festive season, you can help to keep things in balance while still enjoying yourself.
One of my favourite, affordable brands for probiotics for everyday use: Optibac
3. Be mindful of over-indulging. Don’t deprive yourself, but know your limits
We all overindulge a little at Christmas, and because it’s just one time of year, most of the time this doesn’t cause any problems or complications. If you’re overeating on fibre and veggies, then you’ll be just fine, but if you’re overindulging on processed foods, sweet treats, cheese, chocolate and alcohol, then these foods can cause issues within the gut, leading to slowed digestion, constipation, dysbiosis, and even inflammation (both within the gut and systemically, if there’s any leaky gut going on).
4. Aim for as many nutritious meals as you can, alongside treats and alcohol
It’s very easy to eat conveniently throughout the festive season, as we tend to be more busy and eat out more with friends and loved ones, but if you can make time to eat nutritious, homemade meals inbetween all the fun, then you’re providing your gut and all its microbes with all the nutrients to support it through this period.
5. Take time to relax, around socialising. A state of ‘rest and digest’ will improve symptoms
While food is of most importance when it comes to our gut health, how we look after ourselves also has a huge impact on out gut. When we are busy, rushing around and overdoing things, our body can get stuck in ‘sympathetic dominance’, which is our fight or flight mode. When we are in this state, our digestion can slow down (meaning our digestive system because sluggish and we get constipated), or it can speed up (meaning food moves too quickly and we’re unable to absorb important nutrients). By relaxing and taking time for yourself, you can put your body into a more ‘parasympathetic’ state, which is our rest and digest mode, enabling us to digest effectively and for your gut to work at its best.
6. Add veggies to every plate, to keep your bowels moving and your gut bacteria happy
Veggies are full of fibre, and the benefits of fibre on the gut is extensively researched and proven to improve our gut health. Fibre is a type of carbohydrate that is found in plant foods, and cannot be broken down by our digestive systems, so it passes through our gut and into our colon, where it supports regular bowel movements (both softening and bulking, depending on the need). It also provides excellent fuel for our gut microbes, encouraging the proliferation of beneficial bacteria strains. Some great fibre sources are beans and legumes, grains, nuts and seeds, fruit and veg. You may want to be careful with beans and grains if you suffer from any gut symptoms, and you can soak these beforehand to increase digestibility.
Read my Instagram post on the benefits of fibre, for more information.
Lastly…
ENJOY YOURSELF and BE MERRY!!
