When people think of improving their fitness, they think of making changes such as joining a gym, going for morning walks, eating fewer calories, and getting more sleep. However, what many people fail to consider is their gut health. The thing is, your gut plays a larger role in your overall health and fitness than you may realize.
The gut is so closely related to our health and fitness that it has been nicknamed “the second brain” of the body. It breaks down food in our body, absorbs nutrients, eliminates toxins, regulates mood and hormones, and even influences how energetic we feel or how we think.
If you want to improve your overall fitness, then you should actually start your fitness journey with a focus on your gut. If you improve and heal your gut, you’ll feel better, perform better, and actually be better.
Let’s take a look at a few ways healing your gut can actually jumpstart your fitness levels. You’ll be surprised at just how closely related the two are.
A Healed Gut = More Nutrients = Better Performance
If your digestive tract is not operating as optimally as it should be, then chances are it could affect your performance in the gym and in everyday life. A great training session begins in the gut.
Nearly 99% of all nutrient absorption is done in the digestive tract. So if your gut is not working as efficiently as it should, your nutrient intake will be impacted as well. This means that not all of the vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and supplements you ingest are actually being used, resulting in wasted resources that would otherwise fuel your body for peak performance.
One great way to improve your gut health is to build up a healthy community of bacteria in your gut, called probiotics. Try a supplement like Organic Super Greens + Digestion, which is rich in probiotics and enzymes to aid your gut in digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Unhealthy Gut = More Stress = Poorer Performance
Your brain and gut are directly linked through the central nervous system (hence the term “second brain”). Stress begins in the brain, usually due to environmental changes (such as busy traffic and being late to work). When your brain is stressed, this stress transmits to the gut as well, causing your gut to work sub-optimally and not function properly. So as you eat your food, your gut will most likely feel uneasy and upset. This stress is then transmitted to the brain in a sort of continuous circuit, keeping you in a state of stress.
While working out is definitely a great cure for stress, workouts done when you’re in an energetic and positive mood are definitely more effective.
Improving Gut = Better Muscle Building
When you’re working out more and lifting weights, you’re most likely going to be consuming more protein in your diet. After all, you’ll need the protein to fuel your muscles for optimal growth.
The thing is, protein is broken down and absorbed by the body beginning in the stomach. If your stomach’s pH levels are off-balance, protein may not be absorbed as efficiently as it should. Improving your gut health will result in greater muscle growth over time.
