Gut Health Plan Slider: Day 1 Facts

Picture your gut like a bustling city inside your body.

It houses trillions of diverse microbes (or “bugs”) including fungi, yeast, and bacteria. While these bugs sometimes get a bad rap, they’re actually essential to human survival. “They need us, and we need them,” says MyFitnessPal Scientific Advisor and gut health specialist Dr. Janese Laster.

That’s why there are so many. In fact, microbes living in and on the human body outnumber our cells by 10 to 1.

Just as each city is unique, so is each person’s gut, hosting a distinct population of these microscopic bugs that perform a myriad of important functions for digestion, immune system support, and hormone production.

These essential bodily functions? They have a direct impact on your focus, energy, mood, sleep, and weight.

Your gut and brain are in constant communication.

They’re like two friends texting each other back and forth all day. “The connection is called the gut-brain axis,” explains Dr. Laster. “Your gut and brain communicate through various signals, all of which can be impacted by your nutrient intake. When you eat well, your gut signals positivity to your brain.”

On the other hand…

A poor diet can trigger distress signals from your gut to your brain, leading to fogginess, mood swings, and sleep disturbances.

That’s why what you eat is so important. It not only influences your weight, but also your mood and performance.

Speaking of weight…

A diverse and balanced gut microbiome can help regulate metabolism and assist in the breakdown and absorption of nutrients from food. This is crucial for controlling body weight.

“When the gut is populated with a healthy variety of bacteria, it can more efficiently process food, extracting the nutrients it needs and eliminating waste,” explained Dr. Laster.

TL;DR: Gut health is essential to feeling better from the inside out.

As you learned, what you eat plays a huge role. And good news: you can develop better eating habits to enhance your focus, energy, mood, sleep, and weight. In order to do that, you have to pinpoint areas where you can make positive changes.

Click “Done” or the back arrow in the top left corner and get your first round of TIPS for improving your gut health.