Dr Michael Mosley has revealed how you can improve your gut health every day - and the advice is simple to follow.
A huge advocate of healthy and sustainable weight loss, the diet guru and author of the popular Fast 800 diet books often posts his expertise on social media to help out those who are on their own weight loss journey, or who just want to be healthier.
Good gut health is a popular trend at the moment, and can be described as having a level balance between the "good" and "bad" bacteria and yeast in your digestive system.
Having an unhealthy gut may mean you're more likely to suffer from health issues like bloating and heartburn, which can be a real pain to deal with - especially if you're trying to live a healthier lifestyle.
To help people boost their gut health, Michael has shared five simple things you can do that aim to strike a better bacteria balance in your system and help you feel better.
1. Broaden your diet
In Michael's books, he often hails the Mediterranean diet as one of the most effective plans to stay healthy yet full after mealtimes.
This diet includes a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, oily fish, eggs and other proteins. Not only does this diet keep you satisfied and can be low in calories, but it can also improve your gut health.
Michael says that the genetic material that's in your gut, known as the microbiome, thrives and becomes more diverse when you eat a Mediterranean diet. This means eating plenty of healthy fats, non-starchy vegetables and legumes, and steering clear of highly processed foods.
2. Add more fibre to your day
Certain types of bacteria in the gut can digest fibre, which could prevent things like diabetes and some types of cancers, as well as preventing weight gain.
So it's important to eat a healthy amount of fibre every day if you can. Some examples of high-fibre foods include broccoli, chickpeas, asparagus, and small amounts of fruits like raspberries.
3. Increase intake of prebiotics and probiotics
Probiotics are foods which boost the growth of good bacteria in your gut, like fibre and carbohydrates, which the human body can't digest without certain species of gut bacteria.
Some examples of probiotic foods include onion, garlic, leeks, asparagus and Jerusalem artichokes.
Although they sound similar, prebiotics are something different altogether. These are living microorganisms (usually bacteria) than can be eaten to provide health benefits like improving your metabolism or immune system.
You can often find these in things like certain types of yoghurt, and in fermented foods.
4. Eat fermented foods
Fermented foods, like kombucha, kefir, yoghurt and sauerkraut, are all packed full of healthy bacteria.
Eating them often can reduce the amount of bad bacteria present in your gut, as they contain strains such as "Lactobacilli" which can be hugely beneficial to the body.
5. Get more sleep
Getting a better night's sleep and improving your overall sleep hygiene has been proven to boost your gut microbiome.
At the same time, studies have shown that poor sleeping habits have a negative affect on your digestive system - so it's worth trying to get into a good routine if you're struggling with bad gut health.
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