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January 2, 2025
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In my recent blog, How to Achieve a Healthy Gut, I discussed the importance of gut health in regard to hormone optimization, warding off disease, boosting immune function and supporting mental health. The blog also provided insight for healing leaky gut and gut dysbiosis, which have been linked to inflammation and related disease states. Achieving a healthy gut is critical for overall health but taking steps to maintain gut health is important, too.
What is eubiosis? Eubiosis refers to a state of balanced and healthy microbial communities in the gut. When you achieve a state of eubiosis, your gut contains a wide variety of beneficial bacteria that work together to support digestion, absorption of nutrients, immune function and overall health.
These beneficial bacteria also help prevent the growth and proliferation of harmful bacteria and other microorganisms, which can lead to gut dysbiosis and related health problems. Insulin resistance, obesity and other metabolic disorders, as well as autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative diseases (like Alzheimer’s dementia) and cardiovascular disease are all associated with gut dysbiosis.
Just as poor gut health (leaky gut and gut dysbiosis) can occur for a variety of reasons, we need to pay attention to several health-related factors in order to maintain gut health. Whether you have taken the steps necessary to achieve gut health or are blessed with a healthy gut at present, keep the following tips in mind.
Be mindful of what you’re eating and how you feel after you eat. If you feel bloated, gassy or are experiencing other digestive issues, your body is trying to tell you something.
For example, when I was younger, I loved eating bread, pasta, corn chips and spicy foods but felt bloated or had digestive issues afterwards. On the other hand, when I ate fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean meats, I felt fine. It wasn’t until years later when I went on a journey to heal my own gut that I learned what havoc inflammatory foods were unleashing on my body.
Plain and simple, inflammatory foods cause inflammation—the key trigger of all chronic disease processes. Examples of pro-inflammatory foods include processed foods like processed meat products, high-fat dairy products, foods laden with refined sugars and artificial sweeteners, and foods containing animal fats, saturated fats and omega-6 fatty acids, like seed oils (these known endocrine disruptors include soybean, canola, corn and sunflower oils, among others).
Steering clear of processed foods is a great way to reduce intake of inflammatory foods, and it’s also one of the best things you can do for your gut. A good philosophy to follow is this: If you can’t pick it, pull it or kill it, meaning it doesn’t come from a tree, the ground, the land or the sea (fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, poultry or fish), you probably shouldn’t eat it.
A healthy diet is the most important factor for maintaining gut health. Along with eliminating inflammatory foods from your diet, increasing your intake of fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats helps nourish the beneficial bacteria in the gut, thus supporting eubiosis. If you’re looking for a specific diet to support gut health, numerous studies have shown that the Mediterranean Diet provides the best health outcomes for most people compared to other diets. In fact, the Mediterranean Diet has been shown to promote healthy gut microbiota and reduce incidence of disease.
In addition, your healthcare practitioner may recommend nutritional supplements, probiotics and/or prebiotics, depending on your specific needs.
Why choose organic foods? In the United States, farmers regularly use pesticides and herbicides to get rid of pests and kill weeds in their crop lands. Glyphosate, an ingredient in an herbicide marketed under the brand name Roundup, among others, has been shown to significantly disrupt the barrier properties of cultured intestinal cells.
Modern farming practices, like the use of pesticides and herbicides, monoculture (growing only one crop in a certain area) and the use of genetically modified crops can also lead to a decline in nutrient content in crops over time. Conversely, farmers who grow organic crops don’t use chemical-laden pesticides and herbicides. Organic farmers also tend to use sustainable farming practices that prioritize the quality of water and soil used for their crops.
Questionable mass farming practices also extend to the farming of livestock and farm-raised fish. Choosing pasture-raised meats, cage-free chicken (and eggs) and fish that feed and grow in natural environments tends to be a healthier option than animals raised through mass farming.
Another benefit of organic foods? Along with being better for the gut, overall health and the environment, organic foods taste so much better than processed foods.
Most people don’t realize the inflammatory role that chronic stress plays in their bodies. As I discussed in my previous blog and my book “Hormone Havoc: Dispelling the Myths & Misconceptions about Hormones in Women and Men,”, the gut has a direct connection to the mind and vice versa (the Gut-Mind Axis). If you’re living with chronic stress, your gut will suffer as a result.
While work stress and everyday stressors are common (and normal), there are things you can do to minimize stress in your life. Start by reducing screen time on electronic devices (phone, computer, tablet, TV, etc.). The constant bright light from those devices and plethora of negative and stressful information spread from news and social media platforms can elevate stress and raise cortisol levels, which plays a key role in inflammation and gut health.
Next, dedicate more time to activities that relieve stress and bring you peace. For some people, that means exercise, yoga or meditation. For others, taking a long walk, escaping to a quiet, peaceful space or snuggling with a pet can work wonders. Whatever works for you—as long as it’s healthy—do it and do it often!
Relying on fattening food, alcohol, nicotine, or other drugs to feel better will only leave you feeling worse both physically and mentally. If you are struggling to modify your diet or give up other unhealthy habits, speak with your healthcare practitioner. He or she can help you create a plan to maintain your gut and overall health.
And above all, be sure to get enough sleep. Now, that may be easier said than done for many of us. However, you’d be surprised how much better you will sleep if you maintain your gut health, reduce stress triggers, and adopt healthy habits like eating well, exercising, and forgoing poor lifestyle choices.
Hormone imbalance and certain nutrient deficiencies can also cause insomnia and sleep disturbances. If you’re having trouble sleeping, your practitioner can perform lab tests to help determine the root cause then prescribe a treatment plan. Sleep is vitally important for overall health, so it’s important to take sleep issues seriously.
While you’ll find several tips for maintaining gut health here—as well as strategies for healing your gut in my previous gut health blog—it’s generally best to speak with a healthcare practitioner about your health concerns and goals. There are many factors that can affect gut health and a practitioner who specializes in integrated, functional medicine and gut health can explain the options that are available to you.
