15 Gut Health Tips, 3 Strength Tests And A Rejig of My Subscriber Community
Look after your health and it will look after you.
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How To Have A Healthy Gut
A simple food that I love and eat every day is one that the experts praise for its amount of protein and healthy bacteria: Greek yoghurt. They named it after the method of making the yoghurt, not the country. It has half the sugar and carbs of other yoghurts and twice the amount of protein; this is created by removing the whey.
In doing this other nutrients are lost, but if you don’t eat meat, like me, then the extra protein it provides makes up for that. I have a dessertspoonful on my porridge every day, along with some blueberries and nuts. In the summer, I add more berries, my favourite being raspberries.
If it’s labelled ‘live cultures’ it will be good for your gut health as it will contain probiotics which are beneficial to your gut, like all fermented foods. Make sure when you buy it that it does not have added sugar. It has a natural tart taste and should not be sweetened, and sugar may have a detrimental effect on the bacteria in your gut. Also, retraining your taste buds to enjoy non-sweet foods is important for healthy eating.
Scientists are finding out more about the importance of gut health for our overall state of wellbeing. Research shows us that the health of our gut can affect every organ in our body. It impacts digestion, immunity and brain function, so we must ensure we do all we can to have a healthy gut.
We have thousands of different bacteria in our intestines. Too many unhealthy microbes can lead to disease. So how do we do our best to ensure a healthy gut to support our immune system and keep our brain and digestive system healthy? Here’s some tips on how to do that:
15 Tips for a Healthy Gut
Eat a diverse range of foods. This can lead to a diverse microbiome, which a healthy gut needs.
Eat fermented foods, like yoghurt, sauerkraut and kefir.
Try eating a plant-based diet or increase the plants you eat, as those who eat a plant-based diet have been found to have the most diverse, and therefore healthy, gut microbiome, in studies.
Take antibiotics only when absolutely necessary. They kill many good as well as bad bacteria in the gut and lead to antibiotic resistance.
Take a probiotic supplement when you’ve had an illness or a course of antibiotics.
Eat smaller meals, more often.
Eat more fibre.
Drink plenty of water and fluids.
Chewing your food thoroughly and mindfully can ease the digestive process.
Manage your stress levels.
Eat prebiotic foods such as bananas, artichokes, asparagus, oats and apples.
Avoid sugary foods as sugar can increase the number of unhealthy bacteria.
Avoid artificial sweeteners for the same reasons.
Avoid foods containing unhealthy fats. Too many saturated fats may cause an increase of disease-causing bacteria.
Eat nuts and seeds as they contain healthy fats, which increase good bacteria. I have sunflower seeds, flax seeds and pumpkin seeds, blitzed in my smoothie maker, which I then keep in a container and add 2 dessertspoonful to my porridge every day. Seeds are easier to digest in powder form.
3 Ways To Test Your Strength
It’s important in the second half of life to build and maintain muscle strength. Regular exercise is crucial for this. As we get older, there’s a natural decline in strength, which, if left to continue, can lead to a loss of independence. Science is also finding a link between lack of exercise and dementia, so keep active, people, to live a fully engaged life in your older years!
I read an interesting article in The Guardian recently on this subject, it gave eight tests to see where you are with your body strength. Here are three of the tests and there is a link to the full article below:
Wall Plank: Upper body strength is vital for so many every day chores that it’s important not to allow our muscles to weaken. Wall planks are good precursors to the traditional along the ground plank. To test your strength in a wall plank stand at arm’s length from a wall and put your hands against it at shoulder height.
Bend your arms until your nose is almost touching the wall. Hold this position with good form and a straight body for as long as you can. 30 seconds or over is great and under 10 shows you need to work more on it.
To improve start doing regular wall planks. Begin with 3 sets of 5, until you’re up to 3 sets of 15, then you can practice on lower and lower items until you’re competent on the floor.
I tried this and can just about do it for 30 seconds.
The Step Pistol Squat: Lower body strength is so important for mobility. Squats are a good test for lower body strength. This test, however, checks if you have one leg weaker than the other. Sit on a low step or bench, lift one foot off the ground extending the leg straight in front of you. Push through your standing leg to stand up, keeping your arms at your sides, or out in front of you, then lower yourself back to the seat with control.
Repeat on both sides to test both legs, for about 5 times. If you can’t do this, try working on your single leg strength with lunges or split squats - take a big step forward then bend your front knee until your trailing knee almost touches the ground. Repeat a few times and do the other side. Do this once or twice a week.
I was shocked at how badly I did with this test. I need to practice!
The Sit-to-Stand: This is also to test lower body mobility, essential if you fall and need to get back up. You need to get up from the floor without using your hands. There are many ways to do it. I wrote about it in my book, and I included this method in it. Kneel on the ground in a high kneeling position. Move one leg forward and place your foot squarely on the ground. Without using your hands, push up onto that leg into a standing position and bring the other leg alongside it.
Then reverse the position, lower one leg, followed by the other until you’re in a high kneeling position, then get back up as before, with the opposite leg. You may need to place your hand(s) on your thigh when you first start practicing this, but as your legs strengthen and you get more confident, you should be able to do it hands-free. I can do this method, not very gracefully, I may add, but I can get up (and down) this way without using my hands. I need to practice it more, though.
The Second Half Collective
I’ve recently made some changes to my subscriber community. I’m no longer referring to my paid subscribers as ‘paid subscribers’, they will be Members of The Second Half Collective.
For free subscribers, at the moment, there is no change. They have access to:
Newsletter posts: essays, articles, reviews, recommendations, some in-depth, some shorter, every Sunday
Podcasts, usually a reading of that week’s post, but sometimes something different
An occasional video
A monthly activity challenge for everyone who wants to improve their physical health. The challenge at the moment is 4,000 steps and 2 Exercise Snacks daily, but they change monthly. Members, including me, log their efforts in the daily Chat thread for the challenge group.
SHC Members have access to all the above, plus:
An occasional post especially for SHC Members
An occasional video. There are several in the SHC Members’ Content.
An occasional podcast, ditto above. They currently have one called A Morning Meditation, and in the most recent I tell them about my family tree and genealogy, one of the subjects of my next book. The podcast is called How I Uncovered the Truth About My Great Grandad’s Murder.
I’m planning to record chapters of my published book on how I maintained health and fitness as I aged. Access to the podcasts will be only to Members of the Second Half Collective. The first chapter will be available next week.
All paywalled posts, including archived posts, podcasts and videos.
A monthly chat on the last Tuesday of the month
A Two Week Plan for a Healthy Way of Life pdf download to print out, now for SHC Members only (in the SHC Members’ Content tab on the Home Page). There’s one soon to be added: A Guide to Living A Positive Life, and more in the pipeline.
My gratitude for their support in helping me in my work to grow this community and help change the social narrative around ageing.
Founding subscribers will now be known as Members of The Inner Circle. They will receive all of the above plus copies of books I’ve published. At the moment that’s one, but I have two almost ready for publishing this year. Also, a monthly one-to-one with me on health and ageing matters. Although I do have paid subscribers, I do not have a Founding one.
I appreciate all of my 4,000 plus members. Many of you engage with the content I produce. That makes me feel that my mission to help change the negative social narrative around ageing, and spread the word about taking control of our healthy ageing progress, is a shared project.
COMMENTS
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Excellent article. Thank you