How Can A Woman Improve Her Gut Health?

Taking care of your gut is much more important than you may initially realise as poor gut health is the reason for many health issues that can persist and worsen over time if not treated. It is just as important to know why your gut should be healthy as it is to understand how to make sure it stays that way. Therefore that is what we aim to cover in today's post; how a woman can improve her gut health and when she will be able to notice her gut health improving… 

How can a woman get a healthy gut?

Everybody needs to have a healthy gut. For women, it is especially important as an imbalance of good gut bacteria can drastically affect a woman's hormones and menstrual cycle. Maintaining a healthy gut is important and with the help of a combination of natural solutions, it can be easier than ever to ensure the gut is looked after properly. 

Probiotics are one of the most popular aids in gut health, as they can help pump the body with natural and stable bacteria that will neutralise the gut and help balance out any bad bacteria. Probiotics are not the only solution, of course, improving stress levels, sleep per night, diet and even checking for any unexpected food allergies, can all help improve a women's gut help. Although, there is evidence to suggest that a Vitaflora probiotic can work in as little as a couple of weeks. It is not essential to find just one solution that will work the fastest when implemented but we can understand why that is a popular question; so let's now explore the ‘fastest’ ways to improve gut health… 

What is the fastest way to improve gut health?

There are many ways to improve your overall gut health, with no one solution considered faster than the other, but all can help increase the levels of good bacteria in your gut relatively quickly. Here are some of the ways you can help improve your gut health that can begin working pretty quickly:

• Implement a high-fibre diet! How much of your diet is concentrated around processed, sugary, and high levels of fatty foods? If the answer is the majority of your diet then, you should try to decrease the number of sugary foods and increase your fibre intake as it can contribute towards a healthier gut microbiome. 
• Getting a good night's sleep. Just like your mind needs rest each night for rejuvenation, growth and repair; so does your gut! If you can get in around 7-8 hours of sleep regularly, you should begin to feel less pain and discomfort in your gut. This rest time can help it heal and rebalance to avoid bacteria imbalances that could lead to further health concerns.  
• Natural prebiotic or probiotic supplements. Not just a quick way to boost your gut's good bacteria levels, but also a very simple method of improving gut health. Prebiotics provide a ‘food source’ meant to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria for the gut, whereas probiotics are the good live bacteria themselves. 

No solution will work overnight, a high-fibre diet, improved sleeping patterns and supplements will take their time to work but you can be sure that these methods can be implemented quickly to allow for results to occur sooner, but not guaranteed to work miracles overnight. 

How do you know your gut is unhealthy?

It can be a little difficult to determine whether your gut is considered unhealthy if you do not know what makes it unhealthy. For instance, when we say an unhealthy gut, we are referring to one that is causing you a significant amount of pain and discomfort that can also affect other bodily functions. 

For instance, If you struggle with irregular or painful bowel movements, this could be a sign of an unhealthy gut; a gut with insufficient good bacteria to balance out the bad bacteria. Unfortunately, the list can go on. Frequent stomach aches, pains, bloating and even flatulence issues can all be a sign of an unhealthy gut! 

A whole chain of digestive as well as hormonal health concerns can arise from an unhealthy gut which is why taking care of your gut and understanding how to is so important for your health! For women especially, an unhealthy gut could be the source of increased PMS symptoms, irregular periods and unbalanced hormonal activity. Re-balancing your gut bacteria will be the best way to ensure you are not contributing to any further stomach upset that could be kickstarting further health concerns for you to experience later down the line. This is what we all want to work to avoid! 

What are the 3 signs of an improved and healthy gut?

So let's say you have been implementing a high-fibre diet, regularly getting a good night's sleep and also started taking your daily probiotics; what are the signs that your gut is becoming healthier?

1. You should experience regular and pain-free bowel movements that might not have been as frequent or painless before you started working on improving your gut health. 
2. A regular and consistent amount of energy lasting during the day subsequently allows you to feel more proactive and awake.
3. Improved food transit time and how long it takes food to pass through the body is a sign that your gut is not being overworked or rushed to process your food. 

There are other signs that your gut is improving and getting healthier like pain-free pooping and less stomach bloating. You can expect long-lasting improvements to take some time for you to notice or feel any drastic change so do not lose hope if it takes a couple of weeks for your gut to feel better.