Table of Contents
What should you do to keep your gut healthy and what can you do when your gut is struggling? My answer is simple: Eat and drink your way to a happy gut. Get back to basics. Nutrition and Hydration week in March is a great time to remind ourselves just what these basics are.
Hydration and the Gut
You probably already know how important hydration is for our survival. Water is a major part of most of the body’s cells and cushions and lubricates the brain and joints. It also helps to regulate body temperature and the fact is we just can’t live without it. No other nutrient is more essential or needed in such large amounts. We are 60 % water. Every cell in the body requires water and the gut is no exception.
Hydration also plays an important role in the digestion of food and the absorption of nutrients from the digestive tract. Not drinking enough will slow the digestive process and can cause constipation.
Water losses
The body loses around 2-3 litres of water every day. Breathing, urinating, defecating and perspiring all cause water loss from the bloodstream. The body monitors the amount of water it needs to function and thirst is a mechanism that signals the body needs more water.
Mild dehydration is common and is usually caused by not drinking enough fluids throughout the day.
Symptoms of dehydration?
Mild dehydration:
- Thirst
- Headache
- Weakness
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Feeling tired or lethargic
Moderate dehydration:
- Dry mouth
- Little or no urine
- Sluggishness
- Rapid heartbeat
- Lack of skin elasticity
Severe dehydration:
- Extreme thirst
- Altered mental state and cold clammy skin
- Require medical treatment
Drinking enough fluids throughout the day is important for physical and cognitive performance. Being thirsty can act as a reminder to drink, but unfortunately can’t be relied upon fully, because your body is already mildly dehydrated by the time you feel thirsty.
How much should you be drinking?
Water intake can come from different sources such as drinks (about 70-80%) and solid food (approximately 20%). In the UK, the NHS recommends drinking 6-8 glasses of fluid per day. A standard glass is about 250ml and an average mug is about 350ml.
As the body loses about 2-3 Litres per day, this is a good starting point, but it will depend on how active you are and how hot it is.
You don’t have to drink just water either. The good news is that ALL liquids count, including tea and coffee. Tea and coffee remain some of the most important sources of fluid in the diet, so if you are planning on cutting down on the number of cups of tea you have per day, make sure you replace these with another liquid. Caffeine can increase your need to urinate, so alternating between caffeinated and decaffeinated could be helpful.
Word of caution: Alcoholic drinks DO NOT count towards your fluid intake! Alcohol has a diuretic effect (so it can cause water loss) and high intakes can cause dehydration.
When should you drink?
Any time is a good time to have a drink, but there are 4 particular times where drinking is important:
- When studying
- When driving and it is safe to do so
- When doing physical activity
- Work
How do you know if you are drinking enough?
A couple of simple ways to tell whether you are well-hydrated:
- Urine is colourless or very pale yellow – if urine is turning darker, you need more fluid
- You don’t feel thirsty
My Top Tips to drinking more:
- Set a daily goal
- Set reminders on your phone
- Keep a fluid journal
- Carry a reusable water bottle with you
- Drink 1 glass of water before meals or when you feel hungry. Sometimes the body mistakes thirst for hunger
- Flavour your drinks. This can be diluted fruit juice, add fruit to your water or adding sugar free squash.
- Serve you drink in a nice looking glass
- Sip throughout the day
- Limit caffeinated drinks. Try decaf tea or coffee or even herbal teas
- Eat more foods high in water such as courgettes, lettuce, cucumber, fruit such as melon
What about eating for a happy gut?
The digestive tract is an amazing organ and spans 9 metres from the mouth to the anus. It is the barrier between the body and the outside world. As you can imagine, this is a huge responsibility and therefore the gut is lined with about 70% of our body’s immune cells.
Understanding Digestion:
Digestion starts in the mouth, so chewing your food well is really important. Our teeth break food down into smaller pieces and the enzymes in our saliva start to chemically break food down. When we swallow, food slides down the oesophagus and into the stomach.
The stomach physically throws food back and forth like in a washing machine and releases chemicals. These chemicals include the enzymes, stomach acid and hormones which all work together to transform the content to a smoothie-like consistency so that it is ready to move to the small intestine.
Most of the digestion and absorption happens in the small intestine, so it makes sense that it is the longest part of the digestive tract, reaching up to 7 metres when stretched out.
It can take up to 2-6 hours (depending on what you have eaten) for food to get digested and absorbed in the small intestine. After this the undigested food, mostly dietary fibre will move through to the large intestine.
Fluids and electrolytes get reabsorbed in the large intestine and the gut content turns from liquid to solid. The longer the content stays in the large intestine, the more water gets absorbed and the harder the stool gets. Waste gets stored in the last part called the rectum until it is ready to be passed out through the anus.
The large intestine is also home to trillions of microbes that make up the microbiome. These microbes help to digest the indigestible parts such as fibre. Amazingly, these little microbes communicate directly with the brain and can send messages such as “ stop eating, we are full”. Our gut microbes also help to reduce gut inflammation and so much more.
The large bowel works slow and steady. Undigested food can take around twelve to thirty hours to move through, despite it being about 4 times shorter than the small bowel.
We now know so much more about the microbiome and we understand that to keep our gut healthy, we should be nourishing these microbes. In the 20th century, fibre wasn’t thought of as important and was considered animal feed. White, refined bread and flour was considered a sign of wealth and prosperity and fibre-rich wholegrain was considered food for the Poor or even animals. Today, we know that fibre is very important to our gut health and is actually food for our microbes. These microbes play a key role in our health and dare I say, happiness.
The good news is that you do not need to give up all the food you love to have a healthy gut. You do not need a strict diet. It’s about being aware of the basics and creating a diet that is full of variety. Getting back to basics is where I always prefer to start.
So what are the basics?
To get you started on your journey to a healthy gut, here are my top tips:
- Start by slowing down when you eat and chew your food really well (applesauce consistency)
- Do not overload your plate and stop eating just before you feel full
- Make sure you stay hydrated throughout the day
- Do not randomly exclude food from your diet. Think instead what you can add to your diet. Variety is key
- Gradually add more plants and fibre to your diet.
- Get enough sleep
- Move regularly throughout the day
- Reduce stress if you can
What if you struggle with digestive symptoms?
First of all it is important to understand what is causing these symptoms. If you struggle with excessive bloating, change in bowel habit and abdominal pain, see your doctor in the first instance. Do so particularly if you are waking up at night to open your bowels or you notice blood in your stool.
Look at your lifestyle and current diet; are you going through a lot of stress, are you eating the same foods over and over, are you restricting your diet in any way, do you have a variety of plants in your diet, are you sleeping well and are you getting enough exercise? To help you with this, you can download this SYMPTOM AND TRIGGER tracker.
Excessive bloating, gas, diarrhoea and constipation may be signs of an unhappy gut, but understanding what is causing this can help you get back on track and enjoy your food again.
Sometimes, getting back to basics is all you need. When this does not help and there is no other medical reason for your digestive issues, then working with a Dietitian can be helpful to determine the triggers and help you get your gut back on track.
For more information, feel free to contact me at christel@christellyelldietitian.com or book a free introductory call.
My name is Christel. I am a Registered Dietitian with over 25 years experience. I specialise in gut health and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. My mission is to help people with digestive issues get their gut back on track so they can live with confidence again.
Valuable and practical information brought together and presented in a pleasing and attractive package. Well done!
Thank You!!
Thanks for the blog, gives me a better understanding regarding dehydration. So glad to hear coffee and tea counts!
You’re welcome! I am so pleased you found it useful!