Infections, no one wants them but we all get them. At the beginning of the year I had a really bad one that put me in hospital overnight and on antibiotics for 3 weeks. It wasn’t a very fun time and it beat my body around pretty badly.
And then I learnt this insane fact: it takes just THREE days to change your gut bacteria for good OR for bad.
By going on a binge, enjoying a holiday a little too much, going through a breakup and eating a tub of ice cream every day, plus any other situation where our diet is a little loose, will change our gut bacteria in 3 days for the WORSE.
But the kinda cool part is that just 3 days of eating well can change everything for the better!!
If you think “why should I care what my gut bacteria are doing” well here is why healthy gut bacteria is important:
Affects energy levels
Affects food cravings (yes the type of gut bacteria you have can be causing you to crave that chocolate bar)
Enhances your immune function
Combats obesity, diabetes and colon cancer
Improves symptoms of depression
Unfortunately the number 1 killer of good bacteria is antibiotics, it is like an atomic bomb going off in your gut and can cause bloating, gas, change in food cravings, vomiting, nausea, diarrhoea and abdominal pain.
Right now though I want to focus on those 3 magical days that it takes to start building an amazing gut microbiome (your gut microbiome is what all your gut bacteria is called as a functioning unit). To improve this bacteria you can:
Eat a high fiber diet (fruit and veggies)
Drink plenty of water
Take probiotics
Avoid gluten and dairy
Avoid caffeine and alcohol
Avoid sugar and processed foods
Personally on the antibiotics I was heavily bloated and fatigued and I had to use several of the above point to try and combat that. These suggestions are a starting point but there are other things like acupressure points that help with digestion and immune function to fight infections. As we are all different some factors will be relevant for some people and other factors for other people, for example some people need to avoid dairy to help their immune system while other people need to avoid sugar to get their gut microbiome back on track. If you regularly get sick then kinesiology can help by determining which is the most important health factor for you to keep your immune system firing on all cylinders.
Final comment, look after your gut microbiome and those trillion little bacteria will look after you J
If you have any other questions please contact me at michelle@tigereyewellbeing.com or on 0401 639 067.