🥑 8 Gut Health Hacks

You ever feel like your gut has a vendetta against you? Like it wakes up every day and chooses violence? Yeah, been there. But what if your bloating, gas, and midnight bathroom marathons aren’t random?

Welcome back to The Wellness Pit, where we turn nutrition into common sense.

🤔 What Is the Gut?

Your gut isn’t just your stomach, it’s the whole digestive highway, starting at your mouth and ending at your, well... exit door.

Along the way, food gets broken down by enzymes, churned by acid, absorbed by your small intestine, and cleaned up by your colon.

Each stop has a job such as breaking down food, extracting nutrients, and eliminating waste.

It’s also home to 70% of your immune system and trillions of microbes that affect everything from mood to metabolism.

In short: your gut runs the show and when it is off it can create chaos in every system in your body.

1. Do an Elimination Diet

If your gut's acting like a moody teenager, it's time to take away its toys.

This step is a MUST and first step if you have serious gut issues.

There are many ways to do this but generally the most successful ones are the most restrictive: Styles like Carnivore, Low FODMAP, Autoimmune Protocol (AIP), among others.

Elimination Diet Example Of What Can Eat: Unprocessed Meats, Fruit (except citrus fruits), Vegetables (except nightshades), Rice, Oil (Olive, Coconut, Avocado), Water, natural herbs and spices but if you can keep it to just salt, do that initially

Do this for at least 4–6 weeks (8–12 if things are real rough). Add foods back one at a time…sloooowly. One wrong bite can reignite the fire and set you back days.

If a food seems fine for a few days, add the next food. If it causes symptoms, eliminate and calm down for a few days and re-test or test another food and take a journal note of the symptoms with each food

2. Fluid Intake

Water with meals can dilute stomach acid, weakening digestion. You can have sips if needed but try an limit to at least 30 mins before/after meals on water intake.

Cold water? Can shock your gut and slow things down. Hello soups and bone broth.

Warm water with lemon 15–30 mins before a meal can boost enzymes and prep your gut to break food down. If low stomach acid is your issue, this could help.

Barbara O’Neill on Drinking Water With Meals

3. Walk It Off

A 10-minute post-meal walk improves digestion, blood sugar, and helps prevent bloating.

4. Chill Before You Chew

If you're stressed, your body says, "Now's not a good time to digest."

So right before chow down…Breathe. Pray. Laugh. Meditate. Think happy thoughts. Don’t eat while doomscrolling or arguing about who should’ve won The Bachelor.

6. Prebiotics vs. Probiotics

Your gut is an ecosystem, not a fast-food dumpster.

Keep it thriving by feeding the good bacteria a healthy diverse diet that is void of junk that wipes them out (sugar, alcohol, preservatives, fried food).

• Prebiotics = food for your microbes (Fiber is Key)
  Chicory Root, Dandelion Greens, Leeks, Garlic, Onion, Banana, Oats, Apples

• Probiotics = the live bacteria
  Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Yogurt, Kefir (unsweetened), Tempeh, Natto, Miso, Cottage Cheese

Go slow with fermented foods: 2–4 servings a day is plenty. No need to turn your gut into a kombucha brewery.

Try the natural way before you turn to the supplement route here.

7. Use the Squat Method

Squatting is the bodies natural, anatomical position to poop. That’s why the Squatty Potty exists.

It’s how we’re built to go; sitting adds a kink, squatting opens the exit ramp. Less strain, less bloating, fewer hemorrhoids.

Squatty Potty Commercial: Hilarious & Informative

8. Stop Eating Late at Night

Your digestive system clocks out at night. Late meals = poor digestion = reflux + bloating + trash sleep.

Final meal should be 2–3 hours before bed. Your gut wants rest, not overtime.

Bonus Tips

• Take smaller bites and chew thoroughly before swallowing

• Move more, sit less

• GERD/Acid Reflux: avoid laying down after meals, elevate top end of bed if having issues at night

• Trouble Digesting Fat: Try adding “Ox Bile”

• Gut Lining Healers: L-Glutamine, Slippery Elm, and Aloe Vera Juice (Inner Leaf)

• Fruit is great, but avoid overload (especially citrus)

• Relax: have some type of program to calm you down during the day: breath work, meditation, NSDR, etc

• Poop check: aim for type 3–4 on the Bristol stool chart

• Wash/rinse your produce to avoid gut irritants such as pesticide residue, bacteria, parasites, mold, fungus

• Constipation: more water, fiber, movement, magnesium, and/or less stress

• Sneaky Hack: Warming pad on your belly increases blood flow to gut and relaxes smooth muscles promoting digestion

🧠 Final Thoughts

Your gut is smart. Treat it right, and it’ll return the favor with better sleep, mood, digestion, and yes, even better skin and energy.

And if you fart less in public? Bonus.

Last weeks newsletter: 🥑 Shoulder Pain? Let’s Un-Shrug That.

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