Digestion and gut health are very important. Have you noticed that when your digestive tract is on the fritz, your day just sucks? It’s because our gut and digestive system are far more important to the happiness of our internal ecosystem than what you’ve probably told yourself. Eating processed, microwaved, fatty foods and taking certain medicines, like antibiotics, simply wreak havoc on your gut. To put it into perspective, you’ve got billions upon billions of healthy bacteria living in your intestinal system. These little critters are there to help aid in digestion and nutrient absorption. But, when you feed your gut the wrong kind of nutrients, you’re killing off millions of small colonies of bacteria. Let’s face it, when we consume unhealthy foods and lead a not-so-healthy lifestyle, we’re causing major damage in our gut. That’s enough to make anyone feel terrible.

Aside from keeping them alive, why should the tiny bacteria in your gut be protected? Well, digestive health and gut well-being have been linked to things like mental health (heard of the gut-brain axis?), clear skin, immune health, energy, and the obvious one, regularity. Your gut is connected to every part of your body and usually plays a role, both small and big, in every major function in your body.

So, how can you make up for what you’ve done? First, say sorry to your body. You did a bad thing. Second, actions speak far louder than words. Start rebuilding your good bacteria and treating them right, it’s the least you can do. As you repent for your wrong-doing (and we hope you know this is all in good fun, you are not a bad person, and we love you), here are some steps you can take in the right direction:

Eat Enzyme Rich Foods: There are many different enzymes you should be incorporating into your diet. Enzymes help in countless ways, not just digestion. To put it simply, enzymes help speed up chemical processes in your body. One of these processes is breaking down larger molecules (food and its properties) into smaller compounds your body can absorb and utilize. Enzymes can be found in many different places, such as your own saliva, pineapples, meats, and kefir (to name a few). New Earth’s Enzymes and Enzymes+ offer a wide range of enzymes that you can incorporate into your diet.

Up the Probiotics in Your Diet: Remember that time you accidentally wiped out billions of colonies of bacteria in your intestinal tract? Well, this is how you get those back, by adding probiotics. Probiotics are living microorganisms and are similar to those that naturally inhabit your body. By adding probiotics into your diet, either by consuming fermented foods, yogurt, or supplementing, you can help rebuild the good bacteria in your body. The more probiotics you eat, the more you’ll be supplying your body. And, this isn’t just a one time deal, make probiotics a part of your daily routine. New Earth has three different probiotics, Acidophilus, Bifidus, and Spectrabiotic targeting the upper and lower intestinal tract.

Avoid Excess Sugars and Sweeteners: Research has shown that eating a diet high in sugars and fats can inhibit good bacteria from doing its job and can increase the activity of bad bacteria within your gut. Layman’s terms: You’re allowing the bullies to run the school.

Add More Spice to Life: Spices and spicy foods can have a positive effect on your digestion. Spices can help regulate your intake by making you feel fuller faster, help boost your metabolism, and some even help increase saliva production; which helps break down food. Fennel, ginger, and cayenne are all great spices to incorporate into your diet, these three spices are known to help produce saliva, stimulate gastric fluids, and help send enzymes to your stomach. You can find all three of these spices in New Earth’s Enzymes+ formula.

Manage Your Stress: I bet you didn’t know that your gut health is directly tied to stress. When you allow stress to consume your daily life, the tiny colonies of helpful bacteria pay the price…with their life. Research has shown that stressors such as sleep deprivation, environmental stress (like weather or noise), and psychological stress can disrupt the microorganisms in your intestinal system. Take time out of your day to meditate, relax your muscles, exercise, or just simply talk to someone (friend, professional, family–whoever you feel comfortable with) about the things that are stressing you out. This will help your mental health as well as your gut health.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways you can make up for what you did. It all starts with acknowledging how important your gut and digestive health is and making sure you’re supplying your body with healthy nutrients to help your digestive tract and build up the little critters that live within your gut.

Live the #NewEarthLife
Caring for your gut, it’s part of living the #NewEarthLife. And, we want to support you in your efforts. Join us in January 2020 for a 30 day Gut Reboot