5 things your gut wishes you'd stop doing!

Looking after your gut doesn’t have to mean following complicated routines or stocking up on every product labelled ‘good for your gut‘. In fact, sometimes, less is more! Getting the basics right is a brilliant place to start when it comes to supporting your gut health.

Adding fermented foods such as kefir, kimchi or miso introduces beneficial microbes and supports a more varied gut environment.

Fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds provide the fibre and other nutrients that gut microbes can use. But remember, eating a wide range of plant foods gives your gut microbes more of the nutrients they need than relying on the same few foods or a single ‘superfood’.

And drinking enough water also supports normal digestion and helps fibre do its job.

But here’s something worth remembering: good gut health isn’t just about what you add to your diet. It’s also about the everyday habits you can change.

From sitting for too long to letting stress take over, certain lifestyle habits can affect your digestion, bowel movements and gut microbiome.

The good news? You don’t need to change everything overnight. Let’s look at five habits to rethink, along with some simple ways to support a happier, healthier gut!

1. Relying on the same few foods

We all have our favourite meals, and there’s nothing wrong with having a few go-to options. However, eating the same foods day after day can limit the variety of nutrients and fibres available to your gut microbes.

Research suggests that dietary diversity plays an important role in supporting a diverse gut microbiome, which is linked to several aspects of health, including immune function and digestion.¹ The effect is worse if your diet consists of ultra-processed foods, sugars, or inflammatory oils. These inhibit good bacteria and allow the harmful microbes to thrive.

A varied diet gives your gut microbes a bigger range of fibres and other nutrients to work with. There’s no magic number to hit, but there is a link between greater variety of plant foods with a more diverse gut microbiome.

Variety can be as simple as rotating between different vegetables, trying another type of bean, or adding fruit, nuts or seeds to meals.

2. Sitting still whenever you can move

After a busy day, putting your feet up can feel like the best thing in the world. And rest is important! However, spending long periods sitting down with very little movement may not do your digestion any favours.

A general lack of physical activity or a sedentary lifestyle can have a dramatic effect on your digestion and overall gut health. Limited exercise decreases the variety and number of healthy bacteria that keep your gut functioning correctly and your immune system powering on.²

Inactivity also slows down the movement of food and waste through your digestive tract. When you sit or lie down for long periods, your entire digestive system slows down. Along with constipation, this can also trigger other uncomfortable symptoms, such as bloating and excess gas.³

But don’t worry: your gut doesn’t need punishing workouts to notice that you’ve got up and about.

Walking, cycling, dancing, gardening and household chores all count. If you’re not currently active, start with something comfortable and build gradually. Daily consistency is more useful than a burst of exercise followed by a week of being stationary.

3. Ignoring your body’s bathroom signals

We know it’s not the most glamorous topic, but let’s talk about poo!

Putting off a bowel movement repeatedly can make it harder to maintain a comfortable routine. It also leads to a build up of waste in your digestive system, and this causes the colon to absorb more water from the stool, making it painful to pass.

Constantly holding off on bowel movements can eventually lead to severe constipation, impaction or perforations.⁴

Paying attention to your body’s cues, allowing yourself enough time and having a relaxed, regular routine may help. Of course, bowel habits do vary from person to person, so ‘normal’ isn’t one exact schedule. What matters is what’s usual for you and whether things have changed.

Pooping too much? Too little? Find out what’s normal for your gut here.

4. Letting stress & poor sleep run the show

While gut symptoms can cause stress and disturb sleep, continued stress and lack of sleep can also effect your digestion and motility.⁵ This is because your gut and brain are constantly sending signals back and forth through nerves, hormones, and immune messages.

The gut-brain connection helps regulate digestion, mood, and your overall health. They work together to keep your body balanced and optimised. As the connection is so tightly linked, long term stress can disrupt your gut microbiome too.

Over time, stress disrupts the balance of beneficial gut bacteria, such as bifidobacterium and lactobacillus. This triggers inflammation, reduces healthy microbes, and promotes the growth of pathogens.

Of course, you can’t always eliminate stress from your life. But you can look for small ways to give your body more opportunities to rest and recover. A consistent bedtime, short wind-down periods, and walks or breathing exercise when things feel hectic. You don’t need to achieve perfect calm, but look for manageable ways to give your body a bit more regularity and recovery.

5. Smoking & alcohol

As well as the broader known effects on your health, smoking and alcohol can cause serious disruption to your gut!

Smoking can alter the balance of gut bacteria, reduce your gut’s natural defences and make inflammation more likely. It is also linked with a higher risk of ulcers and can increase symptoms for some people with IBS.⁶

Alcohol can irritate the lining of your digestive tract, change how quickly food moves through it, and interfere with the digestion and absorption of nutrients. Heavy or frequent drinking also disrupts your gut microbiome and weakens the barrier that helps keep unwanted substances from entering the bloodstream⁷

When these effects build up they contribute to digestive discomfort and inflammation, and place extra strain on the immune system, liver and other organs. The impact does vary from person to person, but reducing smoking and alcohol can support a healthier gut.

Remember, you don’t have to make major strides in a short amount of time. This can actually make it harder to adapt to healthier habits and stay consistent. Small and manageable changes are the best place to start!

If smoking or alcohol is part of your routine, small steps towards healthier habits can be worthwhile.

If you smoke, consider getting support to quit: A healthcare professional or stop-smoking service can help you explore your options.
Review your drinking habits: Consider how often you drink and how much you consume.
Try alcohol-free alternatives: If you’re looking to cut back, experiment with drinks you enjoy that don’t contain alcohol.
Focus on progress, not perfection: Sustainable changes are easier to maintain when they fit your everyday life.

Remember, you don’t need to change everything at once! Trying to overhaul your entire lifestyle overnight can feel overwhelming and make new habits harder to maintain.

Instead, pick one or two changes that feel manageable. Add another vegetable to your dinner, take a short walk during your lunch break or give yourself a little more time to unwind before bed.

It’s the small, consistent steps that count.

Looking for more ways to make healthy lifestyle changes? Check out these articles!

Any questions? Contact one of our Nutritional Therapists via live chat, weekdays from 8 am to 8 pm.