Happy Gut = Happy You

Uncategorized Mar 14, 2023

Good Morning!

Even though winter is still going strong in New England, we’re starting to see glimmers of spring if we look very closely. It’s still light out at 5pm, the sun is up and shining by 6am… the world is starting to open up again! As the natural world starts to shed its winter layers, I find myself craving a “spring awakening” of sorts, too.

I’m ready to jump full fledged into spring cleaning mode – emptying drawers, reorganizing, and purging the clutter. Are you feeling that itch too? But what about spring cleaning from the inside out? What about deep diving into resetting, rebalancing, and refreshing the thing that literally keeps us moving… our gut?!

Millions, yes, millions (!) of Americans suffer from poor gut health. It seems everyone I know is plagued with something that can be traced back to an imbalanced gut: poor sleep, chronic fatigue, anxiety, mood swings, gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and heartburn… the list goes on and on.

In the spirit of spring cleaning, we’re going to spend the month of March focused on simple ways to identify common gut-related issues and provide you with lifestyle changes that will have a positive impact on you and your gut.

My goal is always to empower you with knowledge to make the best choices you can make in order to promote a healthy and happy lifestyle. So many women share with me how they're not feeling their best each and every day, and my hope is that by sharing knowledge, we can become better advocates for our own health and wellbeing.

Here are some ~sneaky~ indicators your gut might need some TLC and some ways your own habits might be contributing negatively to your gut health:

Your sleep is a mess.

As the CDC explains, your circadian rhythms are internally driven cycles that time your “internal clock” throughout the day – and your gut follows them, too. It's all connected.
As a 2019 research review highlighted, changes to your circadian rhythm also directly affect your gut. When you change your eating and sleeping schedule, for whatever reason, it can disturb your gut bacteria, leading to sleep loss, insomnia, and other issues.
So, when you aren’t sleeping well, your gut is directly affected. And then when your gut is affected, it makes your sleeping even worse. Double thumbs down.

The winter blues just won’t go away.

If you live in a cold weather climate, it’s normal to feel down in the dreary winter months. But what happens when you just can’t shake those feelings, even when winter is long past?
Isadora Baum of Eating Well, explains that serotonin is made in the gut. So if you're not getting enough from poor gut health, you also might feel like you’re doubling down on the blues a little bit extra.
Sam Presicci, M.C.N., RD, LD, CPT, lead registered dietitian at Snap Kitchen, says, “While poor gut health is only one reason for anxiety and depression, it's an important one.” So if you feel like you just can’t shake your anxiety and depression, a visit to the doctor or therapist is imperative, but your gut health might also be a factor.
Improving gut health can boost your mood, since your body is better able to produce and utilize serotonin. Three cheers for gut HAPPINESS!

You’re feeling plagued by tiredness and fatigue.

Unless there’s a specific life event that is causing excessive fatigue—like you have a new baby or your partner snores—this is a cue from your body that something isn’t quite right.
A 2021 study found a relationship between patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and dysbiosis, a condition that happens when gut bacteria become imbalanced. This imbalance leads to other digestive disturbance symptoms, including diarrhea, cramping, constipation, bloating, and indigestion.
One of the keys for restoring your energy is taking care of your gut!

Just one of these steps forward can have massive impact on your gut health. Choose the one that resonates with you the most and take it from there!

~ Coach D. xoxo

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Happy Gut = Happy You

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