The Gut-Friendliest Way To Start The Day : Gut health: the latest buzzword in the health space. From professional athletes to those looking to ease their digestive issues, it appears that everyone is embarking on a gut health journey. And there are good reasons to, our guts are closely linked to our brains and our heart, so the benefits of putting more time into your gut can be felt in many different areas.
As many of us look to reset our gut, considering how we start the day is crucial, and there are many gut-friendly ways to start the day. From sleep to food, here are some gut-friendly habits that you should be looking to introduce into your morning routine.
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Wake After A Solid Night’s Sleep
Your morning routine starts before you wake up. In fact, it should start around eight hours before you wake, as this is the recommended quantity of sleep. Securing eight hours of quality sleep will benefit you in a number of ways, but according to studies, one of these is gut health. When it comes to sleep quality, consider how you can change your bedtime routine to allow your body to fall into a more peaceful night’s sleep. This includes things like limiting screen time, ensuring the room is at the optimal temperature, and even participating in breathing exercises to relax your body before sleep.
Just like gut health, sleep is also closely linked to what we eat and drink. Consuming caffeine in the afternoon or evening has been proven to keep our bodies awake and alert, which can prevent us from getting a good night’s sleep.
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Practice Morning Mindfulness
It may come as a surprise to some, but there is a close link between our minds and our guts. As a result, it’s important to consider mental health when trying to improve gut health. One of the best ways you can do this is by introducing a bout of morning mindfulness into your daily routine. This could come in the form of yoga, meditation, journaling or anything that helps you feel calm in the morning. The beauty of this is that it should create a virtuous cycle with a healthier gut contributing to a healthier mind, and a more settled mind contributing to a more settled gut.
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Consider Physical Health
As you’re probably gathering, various areas of your life contribute to your gut health. And along with considering mental health, your gut will thank you for putting time into your physical health. That’s because there are many links between exercise and our guts, including reduced inflammation and improved nutrient absorption. When it comes to sticking to an exercise plan, we all know it can be difficult to find the motivation after a long day at work. That’s why the mornings present the perfect opportunity to fit in a daily workout. You’ll find fewer things get in the way of your workouts in the morning, and you’ll also feel the benefits throughout the rest of the day.
Consider how the mental benefits of training can also improve your decision-making. You are far more likely to resist the urge to indulge in sugary foods if you’re training regularly, which has obvious implications for your gut.
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Opt For A Gut-Friendly Breakfast
While your gut is linked to sleep, mental health and physical health, nothing will have a bigger impact on your gut health than the food that you consume. Seeing as breakfast is the first meal of the day, it’s your first opportunity to put some gut-friendly food sources into your body. When deciphering whether a food source is gut-friendly or not, consider the following:
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- Fibre content
- Probiotic levels
- Fermented bacteria
- Level of processed additives
As a general rule of thumb, whole foods are good for your gut while processed options are seen as far less gut-friendly. Foods that can be eaten either in their natural state or close to it are considered whole foods, and they’re often higher in fibre, which is good for gut health.
Recently, there has been a rising interest in fermented foods like kefir, kimchi and miso. Fermented foods are high in probiotics, which can be thought of as food for the good bacteria in our guts.
Consider the ways in which you can introduce fermented foods into your breakfast. For example, switch out your white bread for sourdough bread or add a kefir yogurt to take advantage of the latest trend in the world of gut health.
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Conclusion
While everyone is talking about gut superfoods, it’s important to understand that many different areas contribute to gut health. As discussed throughout this article, sleep quality, mental health and following an active lifestyle will all have benefits for your gut, all of which can be addressed through your morning routine. As always, it’s important to find a routine that works for you, so feel free to experiment and find a gut solution that works for you.