It’s THAT time of year when our thoughts turn to the holidays and celebrating the end of the old year and the start of a brand new one.
But this holiday season is unlike any other in recent memory, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
During the Thanksgiving break, the CDC asked Americans to stay put and not travel. So far, there are no indications that future advisories from federal health officials will change very much at least in the short term.
With families staying at home as much as possible and limiting their contact to very small groups of people — appropriately distanced, of course — the last thing you should be worried about is your gut health, right?
Wrong. Here are 3 reasons why you should be:
How are you sleeping?
The health of your gut (and your body) is affected by shifts in your body’s circadian eat-sleep-wake cycles.
Disturbing that schedule — anything from long work hours to getting to know your new PS5 — messes up those natural processes the gut performs on its own while you’re sleeping.
Getting the sleep you need and sticking with a schedule matters, along with eating enough prebiotics, a natural part of whole foods ranging from onions to almonds and jicama.
How are your emotions?
Because many of you are staying home and glued to your work desk (or that shiny new PS5 next to your TV), your emotions may be up, down or all around depending on your mood and the time of day.
It’s certainly understandable, given that we live for our human connections to the outside world.
Maintaining the vital connection that links your brain, intestines, and emotions — your gut-brain axis — helps you regulate those stressors naturally and effectively.
How’s your diet?
If you’re staying home a lot more, your once healthy and balanced diet may have fallen by the wayside, in favor of more highly processed foods full of sugar — real or artificial — and chemicals that disrupt the critical balance of good bacteria in your gut.
5 ways to protect your immune system
This trio of variables all leads up to one very serious problem: A disrupted immune system that can leave you very vulnerable to an array of health problems.
What’s more, a growing number of experts all over the world are coming around to the belief that gut health is the key, not only to stay healthy in the good times, but to reduce your risk of respiratory infections too.
With all of this in mind, here’s your updated gut-health protocol to help you and your family stay safe during this coronavirus holiday season:
- Keep the surfaces in your bathrooms and kitchens as clean as possible.
- Get on a sleep schedule and stick to it. (Put the PS5 in the closet when you’re not using it.)
- About schedules: Take breaks for healthy, balanced meals away from the TV or computer screens and get a little exercise. Even a short walk with your dog helps!
- Keep those hands clean with plain soap and water. No antibacterial soap necessary!
- Give your gut health a much-needed boost by taking a probiotic, ideally containing multiple strains of beneficial bacteria.
Although your gut is a diverse environment that requires an array of species to do countless things behind the scenes, lots of probiotics still rely on one strain of beneficial bacteria to do the heavy lifting. Simply, these single-strain probiotics just aren’t up to the job.
Our multi-strain probiotic, like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic, is fortified with 10 strains of beneficial bacteria from the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium families, plus a prebiotic (FOS) that feed the good bacteria in your gut.
Protecting your gut by following our updated protocol will help you stay healthy through the holidays and to a better 2021.
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