By Harshavardhan S
It’s officially the party season of the year! This time of the year is filled with gatherings and parties with family, friends, and colleagues or gatherings to celebrate the football World Cup. We often tend to go ‘off’ routine and indulge in treats and celebratory drinks thus bombarding our digestive system with sugars, carbs, and inflammatory toxins. This raises the acidity level of our stomach, throws the gut bacteria out of balance and bad gut bacteria consume sugar for energy. It also destroys the lining of microvilli which will not allow them to absorb essential nutrients. Thus, it can lead to chronic, systemic inflammation of our gut.
Our stomach and intestinal tract are more than just part of the digestive system. Our gut health is the center of the immune system. Moreover, the gut and the brain are linked both physically and biochemically and they communicate information back and forth continually. Therefore, a gut rest post-party is extremely essential.
Gut rest is commonly referred to as a “detox” or “cleanse,” which aims to restore balance in our gut microbiome and promote the removal of waste and potentially harmful toxins from our body.
After-party detoxification is very important because it cleanses the gut from the alcoholic and unhealthy foods that have been consumed. The liver is the body’s second largest organ which removes toxins from the blood, breaks them down into a water-soluble form, and then dumps them into the gut, where the large intestine filters them out of the body. When the liver and gut are not working properly, the whole process becomes more inefficient.
Options for gut rest include a three days detox and intermediate fasting diet. During detox days, it is very important to include negative calories foods such as vegetables, fruits, omega 3-rich (Mixed nuts), Iron-rich (Dried fruits), Electrolytes (Coconut water, lemon water, etc), and hydration. Consuming non-veg and dairy products usually induce inflammation and drinking tea and coffee leads to dehydration and increased stress. Therefore, it is better to avoid it.
It is important to include prebiotic and probiotic-rich foods. It keeps the gut healthy and prevents gut-related issues like bloating, acidity, flatulence, and constipation. Yogurt has a natural probiotic which contains Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. Fermented foods like Kefir and Kimchi are also beneficial to our gut during gut rest as they contain other strains of bacteria. In addition to this, prebiotic-rich foods such as onion, garlic, oats, root vegetables, bananas, or even prebiotic-rich chocolates help to cultivate a healthy microbiome.
These are some simple ways to support your health this celebratory season. Party hard, equally rests your Gut, and cleanse your body to get back to the normal routine.
(Harshavardhan S is the Co-Founder and CEO, Lil’Goodness. Views expressed are personal)
