Here to help

Independent health store advice on gut health

Looking for advice on natural health and wellbeing? Your local independent health store can offer a wealth of expertise. This month we talk to Sarah Hagen, the owner of Healthy Indulgence in Cowes on the Isle of Wight

Our gut health is like a barometer of our overall health. The better our gut health is, the better our general health is. If someone is experiencing gut problems, my approach is to tackle the cause first through food intolerance testing, work on healing the gut, and then build on strengthening the microbiome.

Variety – the spice of life
One of my main tips for good gut health is variety. A lot of people tend to eat the same foods all the time, so I try to encourage them to rip up the rule book and experiment with different foods. The more variety you get in your diet, the better your gut will be. If you have one selection of veg one week, then try a whole different selection the next. Try incorporating different colours into your diet as this can bring other nutritional benefits. For example, try black rice instead of white, and red kidney beans instead of chickpeas.

There is a lot of talk about eating 30 different plants a week. This can be a useful exercise to try, but if someone is living on their own then it can be quite difficult. I advise people not to be too tough on themselves as they can end up getting stressed about trying to follow the advice perfectly.

Supplement suggestions
I do recommend that people eat fermented foods, but sometimes the body isn't ready for them, for example if they have an intolerance to yeast. Again, variety is important. So people should aim to have a variety of fermented foods, such as kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi and miso because they all bring different bacteria to the microbiome.

I'm a big fan of probiotics and I take them every day. A good quality multi-strain probiotic can really help to support the health of the gut. I take them at bedtime because that's when the body is healing and at rest. I recommend Molkosan by A.Vogel. If a person is struggling with gut issues then there are some products that can help the symptoms. Silicolgel, for example, really helps to soothe the gut and takes the inflammation down. Aloe vera juice can also help in a similar way. But most importantly, we try to work with people to get to the root cause of their symptoms and then heal the gut.

Soothing stress
Sometimes I find that if we can help people to manage their stress and anxiety then this has a beneficial effect on their gut health. Natural remedies like ashwagandha and magnesium can really help to calm the body down. Another great product is A.Vogel's Passiflora Complex spray, which I think is a real game-changer for anxiety. Ultimately, people have busy lives, so my aim is to work with them to find simple, manageable solutions to improve their health and get to a place of healing.

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