World Digestive Health Day – 29 May 2025
Every year, the World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO) celebrates World Digestive Health Day (WDHD) with a global public health campaign to raise awareness about the importance of digestive health.
Nourish to Flourish
This year, the theme is ‘Your Digestive Health: Nourish to Flourish’
At Love Your Gut, we believe that gut health is the foundation stone for our overall wellbeing. It influences our physical health but also our mental wellbeing. The WDHD echoes this with their advice: “The digestive system absorbs essential nutrients that fuel the body’s functions and supports long-term health. By prioritising nourishing foods and making informed lifestyle choices, individuals can proactively maintain their digestive health, reduce the risk of gastrointestinal disorders, and improve their overall quality of life.”
Don’t make it complicated
Remember looking after your digestive health does not have to be complicated. Making small changes to your diet and lifestyle can make a big difference.
Our top tips
Increase your polyphenols
Polyphenols are natural plant compounds that are thought to be involved in the gut-brain axis – the connection between your gut and brain. Imagine your gut and your brain as two best friends chatting via a special phoneline. This phoneline is a complex network of nerves, hormones and biochemical signals that constantly exchange information between your gut and your brain.
Polyphenols help gut health by encouraging the growth of useful bacteria like Bifidobacterium strains and inhibiting the growth of “bad” bacteria such as C. difficile. Eating foods that are high in polyphenols (such as berries and dark chocolate) has also been shown to affect cognition.
Enjoy fermented foods
Try adding fermented foods such as fermented milk drinks and yoghurtinto your daily diet. These types of foods contain live microorganisms that can benefit one’s digestive health by improving the balance of bacteria in the gut. However, not all fermented foods are created equal. To make sure you’re getting the gut-friendly benefits from fermented foods, check the packaging to ensure it has ‘live cultures’/mentions the name of the bacteria strain”.
Take your time when eating
Don’t eat your meals on the run. Support digestion by relaxing, chewing thoroughly and allowing yourself time to enjoy your food. Make ‘mealtime’ an opportunity to step away from distractions and eat slowly, savouring each mouthful. Eating slowly can help you feel fuller more quickly and may prevent overindulgence, energy slumps and cravings for unhealthy snacks.
Sleep well
A lack of sleep can do more than just impact your mood. It can also have a negative effect on your bowel function, appetite and body weight, so it’s important to ensure you get enough. As a general rule, adults need one hour’s sleep for every two hours awake, so you need to aim for eight hours sleep a night. Your sleep will significantly improve if, within an hour or two before going to bed you reduce or cut out:
- consumption of fatty foods – as these are more difficult for your gut to process,
- alcohol – which can cause dehydration and disrupt your sleep cycle, and
- caffeine – as it can increase the activity of your brain and nervous system.
Manage your stress levels
Because of the unique link between the gut and the brain, mental stress can affect how your digestive systems functions. We’ve all had “butterflies” in our stomach before a stressful event and many people who suffer with IBS notice their symptoms getting worse if they are stressed.
That’s because chronic stress can alter the balance of hormones and signals that help regulate digestion. By practicing meditation, or any relaxing activity, you can reduce stress and help your gut get back to normal functioning again.
Keep hydrated
Having enough fluid with your food aids with digestion, helps your body process food, absorb nutrients and prevent constipation. Listen to your body and do not ignore a feeling of thirst. Aim to drink 6-8 glasses of fluid every day. Remember that water and herbal teas all count. In addition, eating foods such as watermelon, courgettes and cucumber can also support hydration due to their high water content. You can examine your urine as a guide – it should be a very light straw colour. Dark yellow to orange urine may indicate that you need to drink some more water.
Further advice
This World Digestive Health Day take some time out to think about what you can do to improve your digestive health and wellbeing. For information about how the gut fits into this, click here.