Leaving for work in the cold frosty mornings, scraping the ice off your car then returning home in the dark wet evening can only mean one thing, yes, winter is upon us.
We all know that unfortunately with winter comes coughs colds and sniffles which form from bacteria in the damp air and blowing around, with the fallen leafs spiralling around with gusts of winds. Winter is when we are more sept able to be exposed to bacteria that causes illness in turn disrupting our lives.
We take out insurance for our homes and car, so why not invest in some insurance for our health and wellbeing. Investing in your health can provide many benefits such as better performance and less illness
One way of investing in your health is through the use of Fermented foods. Fermented foods have been in human diets for thousands of years and trace back to at least 300 bc in China and third century in Japan. In the east fermentation of foods has been part of life for thousands of years with known benefits for health. People from west generally started consuming more fermented foods after 1500 s after the compound microscope was invented and the microbes were studied and found to be living and have beneficial attributes to our health.
The Winter season is when we need a boost to our immune system more than ever. We are going to tell you one way to boost your immune systems strength with improving your gut health, with delicious fermented foods that you can eat every day and add into your diet and hopefully carry on all year round, making a stronger you.
Fermented foods help promote healthy gut bacteria, this is important as your gut which is also known as your second brain and has its own nervous system called the enteric nervous system and contains around 500 million neurons 5 times as many than in your spinal cord. Consequently, your gut can be extremely sensitive and having an imbalance of good/bad bacteria can leave your immune system weak but eating the right fermented foods for a healthy gut biome, will help boost your immune system and reduce the illness related to the cold weather.
Compounds in fermented foods help promote good bacteria, such as sodium butyrate, acetic and lactic acid to name a few. Good bacteria help to keep for example our intestinal lining healthy and strong. Without good bacteria our intestines can become weak and prone to damage and inflammation.
Acne, bad skin, headaches, bloating, acid reflux heartburn, constipation, diarrhoea, ibs, can all be symptoms of having an improper balance of gut flora bacteria (flora) which are even more reasons to invest in our immune system through fermented foods.
With most of us always on the go, without proper healthy habits formed and preparing meals and healthy snacks to take with us, it’s easy to pop to the vending machine for a chocolate and sweets and have hot drinks laden with sugar which help feed the bad bacteria and starts to diminish the good guys (good bacteria) and they find themselves outnumbered which starts a negative spiral for your health.
So let’s start by making that change and keep our immune system strong throughout winter and see the results for yourself, not just in winter but all year round.
