Recognize stress management, adequate sleep, and regular movement as fundamental pillars for overall health, including gut health.
Understand that while genes are unchangeable, the gut microbiome can be influenced, offering a powerful tool to improve overall health.
Focus on how you feel every day—your energy, mood, and cognition—as the primary indicators of your health, rather than solely preventing future illness.
Adapt all health advice to fit your unique life and lifestyle, focusing on what makes you feel good and aiming for consistent practice “most days” rather than rigid perfection.
Frame self-care as nurturing your gut microbes, treating them like a “Tamagotchi” that needs looking after, which will consequently make you feel better.
Aim to consume 30 grams of fiber per day, as it’s crucial for feeding your gut microbiome and overall health, and most people are significantly under this recommendation.
Actively seek out and consume prebiotic fibers found in foods like beans, onions, garlic, leeks, and asparagus, as they feed your gut microbes, leading to beneficial anti-inflammatory molecules.
Make “BGBGs” (Beans, Greens, Berries, Grains, Nuts & Seeds) an everyday or most-day part of your diet, as these high-fiber foods provide an easy and consistent fiber boost for your gut microbes.
Aim for half of your plate at meals to be filled with vegetables or fruit, a simple and practical way to increase fiber and nutrient intake without overthinking.
Focus on filling half your plate with non-starchy vegetables for satiety, fiber intake, and managing weight or insulin resistance; sweet potatoes can be included for their polyphenols.
Include a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables (a “rainbow of foods”) to get different polyphenols, which feed your gut microbes and support overall health.
Prioritize incorporating affordable foods known to support a healthy microbiome, such as onions, garlic, and black beans, to make impactful dietary changes accessible.
Avoid overcomplicating gut health; focus on simple, practical core principles like adding onions/garlic to meals or sprinkling herbs, nuts, and seeds on food, as these make the biggest impact.
Aim to consume all your meals within a 10 to 12-hour eating window each day, as this practice is associated with a more diverse microbiome, improved mood, better energy, and enhanced cognition.
Try to eat dinner earlier, ideally not within an hour or two of bedtime, to align with your body’s natural clock, improve sleep quality, and potentially lower stress hormones.
Ensure adequate hydration for gut and brain health, checking your hydration status by observing your urine color, which should be a pale lemonade hue.
Try to include fermented foods, particularly kefir, in most of your days, as emerging research suggests a connection between fermented foods and improved relational memory.
View breakfast as a key opportunity to boost gut health by ensuring it’s rich in fiber and micronutrients, as skipping it can make it harder to meet your daily fiber goals.
Include surprising high-fiber foods like avocado (8g fiber/avocado), dark chocolate (11g fiber/100g, 70%+ cocoa), and rye pumpernickel bread (7g fiber/slice) into your diet. Regularly use nuts and seeds.
Use meal prepping on weekends and embrace leftovers as a health tool to make healthy eating easier and more convenient, especially for facilitating earlier dinner times.
Regularly check your stool in the toilet bowl as it provides a simple, free, and effective way to assess your gut health, often more informative than expensive microbiome tests.
Aim for bowel movements between three times a day and three times a week, with a smooth sausage or cracked sausage appearance and a brown color, as these indicate a healthy gut.
Strive for bowel movements that are easy, quick, pain-free, require no pushing or straining, and leave you feeling completely evacuated.
Avoid distractions, especially when going to the toilet, to pay attention to and respect your body’s urges, as ignoring them can worsen issues.
Prop your knees up with a “poo stool” when on the toilet to straighten your back end, making bowel movements easier and more efficient.
Incorporate two kiwis into your daily diet, as they are rich in fiber that helps smooth bowel movements.
Understand that a small amount of bloating within an hour after a meal can be a sign of a healthy, active gut microbiome feeding on fiber and polyphenols, producing gas as a natural byproduct.
If you experience bloating, go for a walk afterward, as movement can help ease discomfort and is generally healthy.
Recognize that most problems with bowel movements like constipation or diarrhea can often be resolved through simple diet and lifestyle changes.
If you observe blood in your stool (black or red), consult your doctor immediately as it is a red flag that requires medical investigation.
Pay attention to any significant changes from your usual bowel movement frequency or consistency, even if still within the “normal” range, as this could signal a problem.
When assessing gut health, combine objective signs like stool appearance with subjective feelings such as bloating, lightness, heaviness, or fullness.
If you choose to drink alcohol, opt for red wine in small amounts (maximum one glass a day) as it is rich in polyphenols and linked to a more diverse microbiome compared to other alcohol types, but note that it’s not recommended to start drinking for health benefits.
Explore AG1 as a daily health drink, as it contains five strains of gut bacteria shown to enrich the gut microbiome by increasing beneficial bacteria.
AG1 contains plant-based compounds and botanicals that serve as food sources for beneficial gut bacteria, making it a smart addition for influencing gut health through daily nutrition.
For first-time subscribers, get a free AG1 flavor sampler, AGZ sampler, vitamin D3 and K2, and a welcome kit with your first AG1 subscription order by visiting drinkag1.com/livemore.