The importance of gut health

Monday 22nd August marks the beginning of this year's National Gut Week, from the 'Love Your Gut' Campaign. Gut Week was created in 1999, to help people recognise the importance of gut health, and to encourage them to take control of their own digestive health.

Healthy Gut... Healthy Body.

The gut is not only where we digest our food, it is actually home to 70% of the body's immunity. The gut is where different types of bacteria interact, and the body learns how to respond to pathogens, thereby developing the immune system. The gut is where essential vitamins and minerals from the diet are absorbed into the bloodstream. If your gut is unhealthy, then your whole body may be affected. A wide range of health problems can be related back to the gut -including regular colds and flu, skin irritations such as eczema or acne, and low energy levels.

One key way to look after your gut is to ensure that you have a healthy balance of friendly bacteria (probiotics) over bad bacteria (pathogens). The human body is naturally host to both types of bad bacteria, but the trick is in keeping a higher amount of probiotics over pathogens.

How do we keep a healthy bacterial balance?

A healthier lifestyle creates favourable conditions for good bacteria to survive in the gut. Try not to eat too much sugar, additives and preservatives which can set the system off balance. Certain medications, such as antibiotics, also kill off the body's probiotics and hence disrupt the intestinal bacterial balance. Furthermore, stress will naturally diminish one's levels of good bacteria, so make sure you put your feet up from time to time!

The Bad News: - The bad news is that the adult body does not produce its own probiotics. And although leading a healthy lifestyle is important... it is almost impossible to avoid some of the factors which can have a negative effect on your natural microflora (antibiotics, stress, preservatives, travelling abroad etc.)

The Good News: - You can top up your body's levels of good bacteria with a natural probiotic supplement. Supplements such as capsules or powders tend to be much stronger than the probiotic content that one can find in foods such as yoghurts.

OptiBac Probiotics

OptiBac Probiotics is a UK based company that focuses solely on probiotics. The entire range is shelf stable, natural, and free from sugars, artificial colours or preservatives. OptiBac focuses on taking specific probiotic strains, and targeting specific health conditions - so if you suffer from bloating but your partner suffers from poor immunity, you can both find a solution that's specific to your needs. And last but not least, you need not break the bank. OptiBac Probiotics retail at about £10.20 for a month's supply - we think its well worth it for a healthy gut!

For more information, visit optibacprobiotics.co.uk.