Our digestive system allows us to take in the the nutrients that we need and absorb it into our blood. Our GI tract is a tube that is about 30 feet long and runs from our mouth to our anus allowing us to do this. With the GI tract being so long it's common for people to run to health issues like irritable bowel syndrome or gastroesophageal reflux disease. These are symptoms of disturbances in gut health. When there are disturbances we tend to have malabsorption of our food which means we aren't getting the benefits and nutrients from what we eat.
There are so many factors that can play apart in the the condition of your gut, such as genetics, how you manage stress, and what you eat. Our gut is home to a microbiome that contains more bacteria than we have cells. They aid in many processes in the body ranging from helping with digestion of our food, the production of neurotransmitters which play a HUGE roll in cell communication and our immune system response. This is why it's very important to support our guts with what it needs in order to flourish.
Processed foods are very harmful to our guts along with food that contain emulsifiers that prolong shelf life. Staying away from those and adding in more natural forms of probiotics like yogurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, and other fermented foods. If it's not possible or you happen not to enjoy these foods supplementing with a probiotic is a great way to go! Gut health is so IMPORTANT to maintain because we need it to function correctly for us in order to get the nutrients we need!