Southern Indiana Living Magazine - July/August 2024

Real Life Nutrition
Go with your Gut
Have you ever given much
thought to your gut health?
If you haven’t, it might be
time to start! Gut health
affects many aspects of the body, including
sleep; digestion; allergies; the
immune system; mental health; autoimmune
diseases; and the risks of diabetes,
cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
There are about 200 different species
of bacteria, viruses and fungi that
live in your large intestine and are
known as the microbiome. They help
to break down and digest food for your
body. There may be both good and bad
bacteria in your gut. The diversity of
the gut microbiome can indicate overall
health.
Symptoms of poor gut health can
include gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea,
heartburn, fatigue, trouble sleeping,
anxiety and frequent illnesses.
The gut microbiome can be affected
by things we cannot control, such as
environment, age and the circumstances
of our birth. However, it can also be
affected by things within our control,
such as stress, limited sleep, inactivity,
smoking, alcohol use and antibiotic use.
How could you improve your gut
health? Try eating a healthy diet, including
fibrous fruits, vegetables and legumes;
getting exercise; reducing stress;
getting adequate sleep; avoiding antibiotics
as preventative care; and increasing
water intake. (Refer to Southern
Indiana Living magazine’s November/
December 2023 issue, where dietitian
Bailey Lankster discusses ways to add
fiber to your diet.)
Probiotics and prebiotics are
supplements growing in popularity to
help improve gut health. Prebiotics are
a nondigestible food ingredient that
promotes the growth of beneficial microorganisms
in the intestines and can
be found in foods such as legumes, oats,
bananas, berries, garlic, onions and asparagus.
Probiotics are live microorganisms,
such as those found in yogurt,
kefir, sauerkraut and other fermented
foods. Due to the wide variety of prebiotics
and probiotics found in food,
supplementation is not always necessary.
Consult a health professional prior
to beginning any supplements.
No matter which route you take,
paying attention to your gut health
could be beneficial to your long-term
health!
•
Do you have a food, nutrition or cooking
question you’d like answered by one of our
experts? If so, send your query to katharine.
perkins@bhsi.com. It may be answered in a
future issue!
About the Author
Kate Perkins, MS, RD,
LD is a clinical dietitian
at Baptist Health Floyd
in New Albany, Indiana.
She graduated from
University of Kentucky
and completed her internship
in Lexington,
Kentucky. Although she has practiced in a
variety of settings in the past 11 years, she
finds most joy in clinical nutrition applying
evidenced based practices to improve patient
care. In her spare time, she loves reading,
staying active and trying local restaurants.
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Southern Indiana Living • July/Aug 2024 • 27