I have a deep and long standing love affair with food. My daughter and I will plan trips around the availability of specific restaurants that we love. That being said, in recent years I have had to change my way and my awareness of eating significantly, and not by choice. I became very gluten intolerant five years ago. I won’t get into all the crazy details and glamorous symptoms, but when I finally omitted gluten from my diet, the quality of life changed drastically. If you are gluten intolerant, your gut will become inflamed, which leads to a long list of terribleness. A good measure is really checking in with your body. Being bloated, dehydrated, or having headaches after a meal is not what a normal healthy gut should feel like. Quite often we ignore what our body is telling us instead of listening to it intimately. While gluten free choices are becoming more mainstream, the issue doesn’t stop there. The strength of your intestinal lining determine the health of your gut. Cleaning up your diet is the best way to starve off the bad bacteria and feed the good guys, which equals a much happier existence.

If you battle with bloating, joint pain, moodiness, fatigue, weight gain, and skin. issues, fairly consistently checking the health of your gut is a vital measure to be taken. When your gut bacteria is out of balance, your body isn’t able to digest food well, which can lead to many serious conditions. If you suspect you have imbalances, check out Viome, to trouble shoot what may be happening.

I am not saying that you should give up everything you love but we truly are what we eat and we are all unique. If you make one change to improve your gut health it should be quitting sugar. Bad Bactria love sugar and feed off of it. Sorry, I love it too, but I love not being bloated and achey more ! Choose a variety of foods rich in a diverse mix of good bacteria. Focus on veggies, high quality protein and omega-3 fats. Be cautious with antibiotics, which western doctors love to over prescribe because they wreak havoc on the intestinal lining.

Enjoy your life and your food with just a touch more awareness. A happy belly makes for a happy everything !