Healthy morning habits help you start your day on the right foot. Making the most out of each morning from the moment you wake up can open up a world of opportunities. From drinking lemon water to working out, the choices are endless.
The most important choice to make in the morning involves your gut health! By starting off the morning with a healthy gut, you can prevent many issues like poor digestion and lethargy.
7 Healthy Morning Habits To Support Your Gut Health
Supporting your gut doesn’t need to take up large amounts of your time. Ensuring a routine of healthy morning habits for your gut can help your body feel ready to take on the day.
Here are seven ways that you can boost your gut health in the mornings.
Make Sure Your Breakfast Contains Prebiotic Foods
As they always say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But it’s even more important with prebiotic foods.
Prebiotics are non-digestible carbohydrates that fuel bacteria in your digestive tract. Ultimately, the bacteria help support things like your immune system, your metabolism, and even your mental health.
To include prebiotics into your diet naturally, you should look for plant-based foods. These could be oats, barley, and rye. Try meals like banana and oatmeal or even cooked barley with apples and cinnamon.
Fueling your body with fiber and high-quality carbohydrates can help carry your gut and energy levels through the rest of the day. With more of these ingredients added to your diet, you have more of an opportunity to establish a consistent appetite.
Drink Some Water As Soon As You Wake Up
Staying hydrated is very important for your gut health. It is even more beneficial first thing in the morning. Try drinking water as soon as you wake up. Making sure that your body has enough fluids can help counter constipation.
Maintaining your hydration is key in helping your body feel good. It can be difficult to remember to drink water. Investing in a gallon-sized water bottle is helpful in having enough water with you at all times. This water bottle helps you keep track of how much water you’re drinking throughout the day. It even helps motivate you by indicating how much water you should drink within each hour.
On That Note, Try To Avoid Coffee Until After You Drink Some Water
It’s best to avoid caffeine until after drinking water. Caffeinated drinks, including coffee and sodas, can cause dehydration and the release of large amounts of acid.
If you don’t have any water in your system when you wake up, you’re pushing your body further toward a dehydrated state. Your body will feel worse throughout the day, especially if you have to play catch up.
Add Probiotics To Your Breakfast, Too
While you’re adding prebiotics into your breakfast routine, don’t be afraid to add in some probiotics too. Probiotics are considered to be the “good” live bacteria that help support your digestive system.
Yogurt is a probiotic breakfast option, but remember to include a number of probiotic foods. If you only eat yogurt, your body will only have exposure to that specific strain of probiotics. Foods like kefir, kombucha, and kimchi are also options to introduce to your breakfast routine.
Related: 6 Health Benefits You’ll Experience When You Restore Gut Health
Start Building Healthy Morning Habits By Exercising Daily
Physical activity in the morning not only helps you mentally, but it helps strengthen your gut too.
Research has shown that exercise can help develop the diversity and growth of bacteria in your digestive system. The more you move, the more your digestive tract does too.
Whether it’s walking, jogging, or working out at home or at a gym, your movement helps the production of good bacteria. This good bacteria can overall increase digestion. As a result, you are able to absorb more nutrients and overall feel good.
Give Yourself Ample Time For Your Gut To Process Food
Allow room in your schedule to digest your food. It may sound a little odd, but bowel movement is common in the mornings. It’s the time of day where your cortisol levels are at the highest. This means that your gut is more mobile.
Opening up time in your schedule for digestion and bathroom time can help establish more consistent bowel movements. This can help avoid constipation or upset stomachs.
Strive To Reduce Stress In Your Healthy Morning Habits
Stress affects us physically and mentally, in very different ways. It’s no different for our gut health either. Intense stress and anxiety can heavily affect your gut-brain connection, which could impact your digestive system.
Try to incorporate stress-relieving activities into your morning. Meditation or yoga are great ways to focus on self-awareness and inner peace. You can also practice breathing exercises or even do some journaling.
Each morning is the start of a new day. Creating healthy morning habits in every part of your life is important. And incorporating your gut health is one of them!
Focusing on these seven healthy morning habits for gut health can help you boost your digestive system. As a result, you’ll feel stronger and have more energy to carry you through the day.