DIGESTION

What few people understand is the holistic side of nutrition. It is easy to look at problems, and even solutions, in isolation with little consideration for other elements at play.

To look at it from this perspective often starts with the gut. 'The gut' being your digestive system and how your body breaks down and utilises food.

After all, it's not "You are what you eat!" it's more like "You are what you absorb and digest."

That means that you can eat great food, but if your body doesn't absorb it, you are just flushing it down the toilet.

We want to just look at the real simple factors that will allow you to look after your gut and ensure that our food is absorbed and utilised.

Many elements can have a detrimental effect on your gut, common factors are:

- Poor quality, difficult to digest food sources.

- Stress.

- Food intolerances.

- Antibiotics and other medications.

- Alcohol.

- Illness.

Absorbing your nutrition correctly has a great many benefits. Think about all the great food you have been eating recently, you want to make the most of it right! We want to take on all the positive effects that great nutrition brings so that we can feel better, perform better and look better. So whether you want a stronger deadlift or clearer skin - gut health is something you need to consider.

If you still aren't sold - think about sleep, your greatest tool for recovery. Because if you can't break down and utilise your food well, you will struggle to regulate your energy levels, making it harder to wake up feeling fresh.

STRESS AND YOUR GUT

When we are stressed out, digestion takes a back seat as our focus goes into regulating the stress. This isn't just with emotional or work stress, but also with physical stress.

Training is very much based around stressing your body. This will also put stress on your gut. The effect of this will vary based on the intensity of your training and the exercises that you do. When the gut is stressed, it has a harder time digesting food.

This means we need to be considerate of what we eat in times of stress. It takes time, but as we improve gut health we increase our ability to break food down so that this process becomes easier.

POO!

A great indicator of gut health is what you leave in the toilet! It's not pleasant to talk about, but necessary.

If our gut isn't working properly and isn't breaking down the food in a way that the body can't process - then it comes out the other end and not in the form of the ideal (solid, comfortable to pass) stool! This isn't great for your work, training or social life, and can be uncomfortable and embarrassing.

WHAT WE CAN DO TO HELP

Quick tips and tricks to help with your digestion.

1.) Ensure fibrous vegetables are part of your diet.

Fiber is the indigestible portion of a plant.

Think of it as 'natures internal cleanser.’ Due to being only partly digested, a source of fiber will add bulk to the contents of your digestive system and speeds the transit of food through. This results in healthier digestion! 

2.) Cut down on caffeine

Caffeine is a natural laxative. So if you drink loads of coffee, you can reduce the stress on your gut by cutting it down.

3.) Hydration

If you are dehydrated, then the functions of your body don't work as well as they could. The gut is part of your body, so you had better stay hydrated!

There can be many factors at play so you will likely require more specific solutions to your problems. if you have any questions, please let us know.