Upset stomach, diarrhea, and a general uneasiness in your gut are a sign that something needs to be adjusted. Listen as Carolyn Dean MD ND discusses gut health, common causes of gut disturbances, and what you could do as a next step to improve your microbiome. And continue reading for 4 basic nutritional guidelines you can follow to improve your overall gut health.
1) Start Low and Slow
As you introduce new dietary supplements as part of expanding your wellness, you may temporarily experience loose stools. For some nutrients, you might cut the amount of formula you are using by half in the beginning and allow your body to acclimate. Once your body acclimates to this lower amount, slowly increase your dose until your body is comfortable with the dosing recommended on the label. Using less product and increasing slowly helps your body adjust.
2) Stay Hydrated
Are you drinking half your body weight in pounds in ounces of water with 1/4 tsp of sea or Himalayan salt in every quart/liter of water you drink? The hydration and sea salt are important because you want to support the body and optimize cellular performance.
3) Adjust Fiber Intake
Adding fiber to your menus will significantly decrease loose stools. The Daily Reference Intake for fiber (since there is no RDA) ranges from 19-30 grams per day. If you find increasing your fiber intake would improve your gut health, you might want to research food sources of dietary fiber or using psyllium seed or husk powder, according to the label instructions.
4) Listen To Cravings
Until you eliminate sugar, wheat, and dairy from your diet you may mistake sugar cravings for hunger signals and they are not the same. In fact, when you supplement with the essential vitamins and minerals the body requires much less food. Consider eliminating those foods in exchange for more green vegetables to your nutritional plan (as one choice you can make after reading about food sources of dietary fiber), perhaps even eating one serving at each meal. Coincidentally, it will be easier to reduce the amount of simple carbohydrates in your diet (fruit, processed grains, etc.).