National Stress Awareness Month: 7 Lifestyle Stategties to Manage Stress & Support Gut and Metabolic Health
April marks National Stress Awareness Month, a time to shine a spotlight on the silent disruptor impacting millions: stress. In our go-go-go society, stress is often seen as a badge of honor—a sign of productivity or hustle. But behind the scenes, stress is doing far more than making us feel frazzled. It's influencing our gut health, metabolic health, immune system, energy levels, and even how our body stores fat, putting us at greater risk of illness.
Let’s talk about how chronic stress affects our gut-brain axis and what you can do to support your well-being—body, mind, and gut.
30 Plant Foods a Week: How to improve gut health with diet
The idea of consuming 30 different plant foods a week comes from the American Gut Project, which found that people who eat a variety of plant foods have a more diverse and healthier gut microbiome. This diversity can be achieved by incorporating a mix of vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, and herbs into your diet.
The good news is that even if we aren’t eating these foods, we have the ability to change our gut’s microbiome! Gut microbiota rapidly adapted in response to changes in a diet within five days of the new diet- how cool is that? The importance of dietary fiber for a healthy microbiome cannot be overstated!