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Embracing Less on National Simplicity Day

Each year on July 12, we celebrate National Simplicity Day and take a moment to pause, reflect and reconnect with the essentials that make our lives meaningful. The day honours the birthday of Henry David Thoreau, a philosopher and author best known for his book Walden, in which he advocated for simple living and embracing the outside world.

In our busy world, simplicity offers a refreshing alternative helping us to declutter not only our physical spaces but also our minds and lives.

Love Your Gut

When thinking about our gut health we can take inspiration from Thoreau and simplify our approach to our gut.

The gut is one of the most important organs in the body and keeping it healthy is vital to our overall health and wellbeing. It can be easy to take it for granted, but this special organ deserves to be looked after.

The gut does more than just digest the food we eat. It contains 150 million nerve cells1 and is home to trillions of bacteria which play a vital role in providing essential nutrients, training the immune system and even communicating with the brain.

Supporting our immunity

There is a strong link between gut health and the immune system. The bacteria in our gut ‘teaches’ our immune system what is harmful and what isn’t. This helps make sure the immune system doesn’t overreact when exposed to antigens and keeps inflammation in check 2

There is a strong link between gut health and the immune system. The bacteria in our gut ‘teaches’ our immune system what is harmful and what isn’t. This helps make sure the immune system doesn’t overreact when exposed to antigens and keeps inflammation in check 2

These important bacteria thrive when we eat plenty of plant fibres, exercise, sleep well and manage our stress.

Gut-brain communication

The gut and the brain ‘talk’ to each other on a regular basis using special chemical messengers produced by the bacteria that live in our gut. Among these messengers are dopamine and serotonin – also known as the happiness or ‘feel good’ hormones.

Although gut-brain axis communication is two-way, over 80% of the messages are sent from the gut to the brain. Stress can trigger the production of the stress hormone cortisol, which can disrupt these communication pathways 3   and impact our mood and emotions.4,5

Top tips

The good news is that it isn’t hard to show your gut some love. Our Love Your Gut top 3 tips for good gut health this National Simplicity Day are:

  1. Eat the rainbow

Our gut is home to a range of helpful bacteria that help train our immune system and digest food. To keep them thriving, you need to feed them well.6 Fibre-based foods are perfect for this so eat plenty of plant foods such as vegetables (as many colours as you can find), beans and wholegrains.

  1. Keep hydrated

For food to move through the digestive system and bowels, it needs to be well-lubricated and this simply means drinking enough liquid – at least 6-8 glasses per day. In addition to water – milk, squash and herbal teas also count, as do water-rich foods such as cucumber, watermelon, courgette and strawberries.

  1. Get outside

Being in nature can nurture a healthy gut. Nature has its own microbiome, and when we encounter these different microbes, it supports our overall health and wellbeing. Plants, soil, animals and green spaces all have beneficial bacteria, so get out into your local park or into the garden. Boosting your exposure to these good bacteria can, in turn, improve your own gut microbiome and wellbeing.7

For further information see: https://loveyourgut.com/getting-gut-healthy/

 

References

  1. Raj K et al. (1996) The Brain and the Gut. NEJM Vol. 334: 1106-1115
  2. Belkaid, Hand (2014), Role of the microbiota in immunity and inflammation. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4056765/pdf/nihms579635.pdf
  3. Konturek PC et al. (2011). Stress and the gut: Pathophysiology, clinical consequences, diagnostic approach and treatment options. Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology: an Official Journal of the Polish Physiological Society. 62. 591-9.
  4. Mayer et al. (2022). Ann Rev Med, 73: 439–453.
  5. Margolis et al. (2021). Gastroenterology, 160(5): 1486–1501
  6. David LA et al. (2014) Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome. Nature 505(7484):559–563 doi:10.1038/nature12820,
  7. Prussin & Marr (2015). Sources of airborne microorganisms in the built environment. Microbiome, 3(78). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4688924/