5 Ways to Help Your Microbiome Flourish

Did you know that your body has more bacteria in it than human cells? Before you get grossed out and imagine your skin crawling, you should know that most of the bacterial cells in our bodies are allies that help us without which, we would die. This community of bacteria is called our microbiome.

Our microbiome and body live in symbiosis and struck an ancient agreement to work together, rather than against each other. This mutually beneficial relationship not only protects us against colds, but also influences our energy level, mood, hormones, digestion, metabolism, and the list goes on. There isn’t one function in our body that is exempt from the influence of our microbiome.

Like how a city revolving around downtown, good health starts in the gut. Through our intestinal tract, our immune system, hormones and energy levels are regulated. Supporting our microbiome with foods and activities that help good bacteria flourish and kill bad bacteria is easy and necessary.

Here are some things you can do and eat to keep your gut happy for a long and healthy life.

1. Probiotics and Prebiotics: Probiotics are live bacteria that eradicate bad bacteria in the gut and multiply good bacteria. Prebiotics are a fiber found in many fresh fruits and veggies that act as a fertilizer to probiotics so they can flourish.  
   
   Add it to your life: You can take probiotics in pill or liquid form, which can be found at any health food store. Prebiotics are found in many fruits and vegetables such a apples, bananas, rhubarb, onion, garlic, artichoke and all beans.
   

    

2. Fermented Foods: The art of fermenting food has been around for thousands and thousands of years. Fermented foods are full of probiotics.
   
   Add it to your life: Kombucha, sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi, tempeh, pickles, yoghurt, and many more are all types of fermented foods that you can easily add to your diet.
   

    

3. Go to Nature: The microbes found in soil, air and water help our immune systems be more resistant to intrusion.  
   
   Add it to your life: Get outside for a 20-minute walk once a day. Open the windows in the house and car. Garden and get your hands dirty. Mother Earth gives you what you need for good health. Just open your heart and accept it.
   

    

4. Belly Button Healing: This revolutionary method focuses on the gut and stimulates the organs by increasing blood flow and mindful attention to the entire body. By stimulating the abdomen through the navel, you essentially give your intestines a massage which helps rid excess waste and toxins from the body as well as clear energetic blockages.
   
   Add it to your life: You can perform a daily internal workout for total body health - click here to learn more.


5. Eat Clean, Live Clean: Your diet is probably the single most important factor in good health next to a healthy mindset. If you are eating processed foods, genetically modified anything, factory farmed meat, sugar or wheat on a daily basis, then you are actively weakening your good bacteria. Exercise your power of choice and eat clean to live clean.
   
   Add it to your life: A simple diet change can have real and lasting effects on the body. You don’t have to go all out right away, but an elimination diet is a good way to get on the road to a better diet. Eliminate one thing at a time and observe how your body changes and adapts to the new status quo.

A major key to lasting health is keeping the level of good bacteria high and mindfully eradicating the bad bacteria.

Try some of these tips and let us know what changes you experience.