Can These Winter Nutrition Habits Set You Up for Spring?
Winter often brings comfort foods, cozy routines, and—sometimes—less-than-healthy habits. That said, this slower season is the perfect time to re-focus on building healthy habits, so when nice weather returns, you’re ready to get back outside and enjoy your favorite activities while feeling your best.
Focusing on gut health is a great place to start, as the gut microbiome—a community of over a trillion microbes in the large intestine—influences so many aspects of our overall health. “Gut microbes have a role in nearly all of your bodily functions, such as immunity, inflammation, appetite hormones, digestion and absorption of nutrients, mood, weight, cognition, and more,” says Meggie Connelly, MS, RDN, LDN, dietitian and owner of Be Balanced Nutrition Services. “Gut microbes may be the root cause and solution for many health troubles.”
Jeanne Hendricks, RDN, registered dietitian and certified sports dietitian, agrees, adding, “In fact, 70% of the body’s immune cells are housed in the gut and 90-95% of serotonin is produced in the gut, which can influence mood and emotional regulation.” Plus, this important microbial community can support metabolic health and keep many chronic illnesses like cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes at bay. With this in mind, there are plenty of easy ways to improve your gut health this winter! Here are eight of them, according to registered dietitians.
Excerpted from Real Simple
