By: Tayler Glenn
Just thinking about all of life’s obligations and deadlines can leave your stomach in knots — and for good reason. Too much stress directly affects the delicate balance of your microbiomes! A lifestyle overhaul isn’t always an option for those of us with busy lives, but there are ways to adjust your diet to support a healthy gut!
Stress + Microbiomes
It’s no secret that the American diet consists of more than its fair share of overly processed foods. What you might not know is that this negatively affects the microorganism balance in our systems! An even lesser known fact is that stress can have the same effect on your body, maybe worse, creating a recipe for an unhappy digestive system.
New research shows that daily stress can negatively affect the healthy bacteria in your gut. When elevated stress levels cause your brain to enter a state called flight-or-fight mode, and this impacts the blood flow to your gut. This is why you might remember poor digestive and immune health during periods of your life when you’ve been overly stressed!
The Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology also published a study showing that long-term, consistent stress can reduce the amount and diversity of your gut flora. A healthy balance helps maintain the barrier that keeps unhealthy intruders at bay and when these microbes are weakened, you’re more susceptible to illness, exhaustion, and nutritional deficiencies.
Enzymes Defined
First, we cover the basics. Enzymes are simply proteins made up of amino acids. These proteins are powerful catalysts that assist in every chemical reaction that goes on in our body from our muscles and bones down to the cellular level.
There are two types enzymes in the body: digestive, which help us utilize the nutrients in foods; and metabolic, which are responsible for bodily reactions such as energy production and detoxification. Since we’re here to focus on digestive enzymes, here’s a quick breakdown:
- Proteases: aids in digesting protein
- Amylases: aids in digesting carbohydrates
- Lipases: aids in digesting fats
Digestive Enzymes + Gut Health
To break down food, your body needs a sufficient supply of these digestive enzymes. But, over time, the gut becomes less efficient. This can be due to age, stress, or poor diet. We begin to produce fewer digestive enzymes causing our bodies to miss out on many of the nutrients it needs to stay healthy! So, what can you do?
Eat for Your Microbiomes
There are a number of foods that can help maintain a healthy gut! Check out our favorites below:
- Kimchi
- Saurkraut
- Kombucha
- Bananas
- Blueberries
- Cruciferous Vegetables
- Tempeh
- Miso
Science-Based Supplementation
You could commit to living a completely stress-free life and eating a perfect diet every single day and your gut would definitely thank you! But how realistic is that? The truth is, we’re all busy. We’re all going to end up eating on-the-go (probably too quickly!) and overwhelming our schedules because there simply aren’t enough hours in the day! Thankfully, there are a few products that can help:
- Digestive Enzymes
Isotonix offers a number of great products, among them being the Digestive Enzymes with probiotics! Not only can you enjoy the isotonic delivery, but you’ll be secure in knowing you’re gut health is in good hands with a product trusted around the globe. - TLS ACTS
We can’t escape stress, but we can help our bodies manage it more efficiently! The unique formula of ACTS supports your stress-response system, breaking the stress-weight gain cycle.
What tips do you have for keeping your gut healthy?
Tell us in the comments below!
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