5 Things I Do Daily To Support My Gut Health As a Functional Dietitian
A look into my personal routine, there might be some surprises here…
These are my daily non-negotiables that keep my gut health in check. After many years of deeper gut healing work, these are my maintenance supports that keep my gut happy (aka no bloat/acid reflux/constipation/etc)
Despite the busy of life, these things have felt sustainable. Spoiler Alert: None of these involve food eliminations, fasting or high intensity workouts (all of which I thought were healthy in the past).
I salt my breakfast generously to taste!
I love using Maldon Flaky Salt or Redmond’s Real Salt - both are an unrefined, high quality sea salt high in trace minerals.
5 Things I Do Everyday For A Happy Gut:
Salt - I mean generously salting my food (and some drinks)….because MINERALS. I know what youre thinking, “but isn’t salt bad for my heart health?” This article is from a trusted functional doc who discussed the weak evidence around this old school POV. Big picture: We SHOULD be working on reducing our intake of refined/processed foods, fast foods and refined white table salt. Instead: choose unrefined sea salt (like this brand) which is high in whole food sodium and trace minerals. Salt your food to taste, especially if you mostly cook at home! Quality sources of sodium ingested daily (raw carrots, fermented foods and dairy are also good sources) are incredibly important not only for your stress organs (adrenals) but also digestion!
But why salt for gut health? Digestion! Sodium is needed for optimal HCL aka stomach acid production. Stomach acid helps us optimally breakdown our food- most specifically, protein! Often times, those of us who struggle with bloat and acid reflux have a low stomach acid issue.
Morning sit - because calming your nervous system actively supports your body’s ability to better break down your food and creates an environment where it can heal. For me a morning sit = sitting silently in the AM for 10-20 min, focusing on my breath; either following a guided medi (I like Insight Timer) or a blending of my signature breath work for gut health.
But why a morning sit for gut health? Living in a chronic state of stress breaks digestion. Stress hinders everything from getting our brain involved in the digestive process to stagnating our digestive secretions like stomach acid, enzymes and bile flow and even hormones like insulin that help us appropriately use and breakdown our food. Slowing our bodies down daily teaches the nervous system how to recognize what it feels like to be SAFE. Safety supports optimal digestion and gut healing!
Bitters - because digestive bitters = the ultimate remedy for gut problems! It not only helps us reduce bloat by increasing digestive juice secretion, it also helps support bile flow and liver detoxification. More on all of the health benefits of bitters here. For me this means 5 drops on the tongue before meals and/or 2 dropperfuls in a mocktail pre-meal daily.
But why for gut health? If we’re not digesting our food, then we REALLY muck up the entire digestive system down the chain. It ALL starts with supporting the symphony of digestion and it works like a car wash - each step must happen before the next one otherwise the process is incomplete. Bitters help by starting the digestive process in the mouth with increased salivary amylase and then support each step along the way when it comes to digestive secretions that breakdown our food.
Gratitude - because it supports mindfulness. Mindfulness = the state of being conscious or aware. Gratitude pulls us into the present moment and helps with reducing our bodily stress load, a small daily practice like journaling your gratitude can have lasting neural benefits to the brain. For me this is writing down 1-2 daily gratitudes in my journal @ bedtime.
But why for gut health? Gratitude helps remind us to connect with what is going well in in our lives -in our bodies, relationships, career, community, family, etc. It brings us into a highr and more conscious vibration. For me (at times a worrier) this shift in vibration and focus on the present can be especially potent! As this practice supports mindfulness and calm, it hence supports the toning of parasympathetic nervous system ‘muscle’ - our rest and digest mode.
Mouth taping @ bedtime - because the mouth is the starting point for the gut microbiome. Your gut health starts in the mouth AND mouth breathing (especially while sleeping) can actively increase our risk of cavities due to overgrowth of ‘bad’ bacteria in the mouth. Studies have also supported that those who mouth breathe can have a higher cortisol and blood sugar level as well as a higher risk of insulin sensitivity. I use gentle medical tape and simply tape my mouth up before bed nightly!
But why for gut health? Optimal sleep each and every night is where our gut lining can really RESTORE & REPAIR. Sleeping with your mouth open hinders that process as it not only can disrupt quality sleep, it can set you up for mouth dysbiosis which can contaminate the lower GI tract. Healthy mouth = healthy gut!
PS: mouth breathing is a diuretic, sleeping with your mouth open can heighten your chances of peeing in the middle of the night. More on my IG here.
Have you tried any of these things too?
If this list feels new and different, start with one of these daily and see how it feels! You might notice, there’s no restrictions on here, this is about what you can ADD to support your gut health on the daily :).
PS: This is one of my favorite books to read daily with my morning sit. It’s a beautiful little dose of mindfulness - short and sweet!
FRIENDLY REMINDER: Gut health goes beyond just the food…the ENVIRONMENT we are putting the food and supplements into MATTERS, hence why creating a state of safety and calm in the body via stillness, breath and gratitude daily (especially if you have had gut issues for a while) will impact your ability to feel and get well!
