Tag: digestive health

What Exercise Has to do with Gut Health

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Exercise isn’t all about the physical. It goes far beyond muscle tone and calories burned. Exercise affects your whole body, including your gut. Professional athletes show a much more diverse micro biome than their non-exercising counterparts of similar age and weight.

Moving your body helps stimulate the lymphatic system, the system that helps your body to remove toxins and maintain a healthy circulation. Other ways to stimulate the lymphatic system include massage and dry brushing, but exercise is highly effective and has other benefits like boosting mood and cardiovascular health.

Exercise helps gut flora by modulating it and increasing diversity. It helps with detoxification and increasing oxygen levels which can help boost energy, a common issue with anyone trying to repair their digestion. When the powerful mood boosting effects of exercise meet those of a healthy microbiome, something amazing happens. We take back our power and realize that feeling food is in our hands.

But let’s face it, when you’re suffering from digestive distress, it’s not exactly enticing to go to the gym or workout really hard. That’s fine because all that’s really needed is a brisk walk, a swim, just something to get your blood flowing and your heart rate up. The most important thing is just to move in a way that makes you happy and your gut will be happy too.

Add all ingredients to your blender and process until super smooth.

If you’re seriously interested in getting healthy, restoring your digestion and boosting your energy then check out my new comprehensive program Restore your Gut Health. In the program you get a ton of delicious satisfying recipes as well as strategies that will help rebuild your intestinal flora.

Or join me on my Facebook page and/or my Facebook group where I’ll be sharing more information, tips and recipes to help you live a happier, healthier life.

To your wellness,

Shaline

Fall in Love with Digestive Enzymes

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Why I Fell in Love with Digestive Enzymes

When I started learning about all the toxins I was putting into my body through years of eating processed food, I was horrified. I started to ask myself, how can I help my organs to get rid of these toxins more effectively? How can I help my gut to repair itself so that I don’t have bloating and gas for the rest of time? The answer wasn’t far away. The answer in part, for me, was digestive enzymes, especially in the beginning of my gut health journey. In the beginning of my journey to rebuild my gut after years of acid reflux, I was advised by a physician that both digestive enzymes and probiotics are beneficial for gut health.

How Enzymes Work

Our organs produce digestive enzymes and different enzymes work on different foods. There are specific enzymes for starches and carbohydrates, proteins and fats. As we age, we don’t produce as much of these enzymes as when we are young.

We can also access enzymes from external sources like raw fruits, vegetables, cold pressed oils and raw dairy. Yet when these foods are heated, the enzymes quickly denature and our organs are forced to carry the whole load. This is stressful to our bodies, and a lot of work. Mostly humans have had access to a certain percentage of raw foods but in the last 50 years we’ve transitioned into a highly processed=cooked diet.

By incorporating digestive enzyme supplements and eating more raw foods, I quickly went from bloated and uncomfortable most of the time to energized and light. Giving my body exactly what it needed to break down and easily assimilate the food I was taking in made all the difference. Because when your body has to pour all it’s resources into breaking down the food you’re eating, there isn’t much space left for anything else.

Digestive enzymes were a simple addition that helped me so much in the early repair stages. Now that I’ve got my diet figured out I don’t supplement with them as often as I did but I think they’re a great short term solution to digestive issues. Just remember, a big raw salad a day keeps the doctor away.

Check out my favorite digestive enzymes here.

Add all ingredients to your blender and process until super smooth.

If you’re seriously interested in getting healthy, restoring your digestion and boosting your energy then check out my new comprehensive program Restore your Gut Health. In the program you get a ton of delicious satisfying recipes as well as strategies that will help rebuild your intestinal flora.

Join me in my private Facebook group where I’ll be sharing more information, tips and recipes to help you live a happier, healthier life.

To your wellness,

Shaline

PS Check out the Ultimate Guide to a New You!

8 Tips to reduce inflammation to improve gut health

Published on by wellnessadvocateLeave a comment
Maintaining a healthy digestive tract involves what you put into it…specifically what you are eating. If these foods you eat are inflammatory foods, they can cause havoc on your digestive tract.

Food allergies such as allergies to gluten, wheat, and dairy to name a few, contribute to inflammation in the digestive tract as well as other parts of the body. Food allergies are known to cause digestive health problems such as stomach bloating, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, flatulence, acid reflux (GERD), Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s Disease, and ulcerative colitis.

Eight suggestions to reduce inflammation to improve your gut health.

  • Eating more foods that are ant-inflammatory.
  • Eating more cold water fish (salmon is a good choice and contains omega-3.) Avoid farm raised fish which contains pesticides.
  • Adding more herbs such as ginger and turmeric to your meals
  • Eating more raw foods (vegetables and fruits.)
  • Eating more whole grains such as brown rice and quinoa. Quinoa can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
  • Eating foods containing fiber.
  • Adding generous portions of dark green leafy vegetables to every meal.
  • Adding flax seeds or flaxseed oil.

Many foods and herbs such as blueberries, green tea, turmeric, ginger, oregano, and garlic contain bioflavonoids and polyphenols that limit free-radical damage or toxins in your body.

Reduce or eliminate foods containing wheat, gluten, dairy, eggs, animal products, soy, and fried foods for a short period of time and see how you feel.  To avoid going into food withdrawal, gradually crowd these foods out of your diet by consuming more foods that are anti-inflammatory.

Avoid nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and eggplant) which contribute to inflammation.

Below are some recipes to try.

Breakfast

Vegetable Smoothie (makes one serving)

  • 1 cup spinach, kale, celery, and carrots
  • 1 scoop Vegan protein powder (Hemp, brown rice, and pea)  optional
  • 5 ice cubes
  • 12 oz cold water
  • 1 slice lemon

or

Berry/Mango Protein Smoothie (makes one serving)

strawberry smoothie2

  • 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
  • 1/2 banana
  • 1/2 cup pineapple chunks
  • 12 oz mango/passion fruit blend
  • 1 scoop plant-based protein powder
  • 5 ice cubes

Pineapples, mangoes, and bananas are alkaline foods which can aid in reducing some of the acidity in your body.

Lunch or dinner

  • Brown rice or quinoa
  • Salmon with lemon-garlic seasoning
  • Organic mixed greens topped with your favorite berry, almonds or walnuts, and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

Instead of adding water to cook brown rice or quinoa, add an organic vegetable or chicken broth.

Snacks

  • Raw carrots and celery with hummus
  • Kale chips
Hugs.