The intestinal environment has various effects on the body, such as constipation and rough skin.
・We often hear the term “intestinal environment,” but what does it really mean?
・What should I do to improve the intestinal environment?
I think there are many people who think that way. I've heard the word "intestinal environment" before.
I think there are some people who often hear about it, but don't really understand it, or why it's becoming such a hot topic.
In fact, the intestines are said to be the second most important part of the human body after the brain. It is said to be the second brain, and it is said that if the intestinal environment deteriorates, it will affect the entire body.
In this article, I would like to introduce what happens when the intestinal environment improves, and ways to improve the intestinal environment.
Role of the intestine
Do you know the role of the intestines? As mentioned earlier, the intestines are so important that they are called the second brain.
The intestine has three main roles.
1) Digest food and absorb nutrients
② Absorb water and make stool and excrete ③ Protect yourself from foreign enemies
In order to live, we need to eat food and convert that nutrition into power. The intestines play a major role in absorbing nutrients.
If your intestines become unhealthy, you will not be able to absorb nutrients properly.
You can see that the intestines play an essential role for us humans to live. You can now understand why intestinal disorders can affect the entire body.
So, what exactly is the intestinal environment?
What is the intestinal environment?
First of all, what is the intestinal environment? We often hear the term "intestinal environment," but what exactly does it mean? I would like to explain this.
The intestinal environment changes depending on the 100 trillion to 1,000 trillion intestinal bacteria living in the intestines. Many bacteria live there, and there are as many as 1,000 types of bacteria, but these types can be broadly classified into three types.
good bacteria |
・Have a positive impact on people ・Improves immunity and activates intestinal activity |
bad bacteria |
・Causes odor and has a negative impact on people ・Creates harmful substances |
opportunistic bacteria |
・Neither good nor bad bacteria - Become an ally of dominant bacteria |
Adjusting the balance of these three bacteria will improve the intestinal environment. At first glance, it may seem like we only need to increase the number of good bacteria. You may think this, but in reality, it is not good even if only good bacteria increases.
The key is balance, and the ideal ratio of good bacteria: bad bacteria: opportunistic bacteria is said to be 2:1:7.
Looking at it this way, the percentage of good bacteria is not as high as I thought. There is a high proportion of opportunistic bacteria, and these bacteria are friendly to good bacteria when good bacteria are dominant, and are friendly to bad bacteria when bad bacteria are dominant.
So what happens when you adjust your intestinal environment?
What happens when the intestinal environment improves?
By adjusting the intestinal environment, you can improve your health and enjoy various benefits.
① Increases immunity
A good intestinal environment has the benefit of increasing immunity. This is because one of the roles of the intestine is to protect oneself from external enemies.
By improving the intestinal environment, the intestines can demonstrate their original strength.
In fact, it is said that about 70% of immune cells are concentrated in the intestines. If the intestinal environment is poor and immune cells do not function properly, approximately 70% of immune cells will not function properly.
The intestinal environment is important.
② Increases metabolism and improves metabolic syndrome
Bad bacteria increase due to constipation, and when the intestinal environment worsens, waste products in the intestines increase. This makes it difficult for nutrients to be absorbed from the intestines and turns into fat. When bad bacteria break down waste products, harmful substances are created, and when they are absorbed into the blood, the blood becomes sticky.
When bad bacteria increases too much, these disadvantages occur.
③ Increased stress tolerance
The intestinal environment is deeply related to the autonomic nervous system. The intestines are active when the parasympathetic nervous system, which is part of the autonomic nervous system, is dominant. In order to increase your stress tolerance, you need to improve your intestinal environment.
How to adjust the intestinal environment
The intestinal environment can be improved by adjusting the balance of the three bacteria, but what should we do? Here we would like to introduce ways to improve the intestinal environment.
There are four approaches to improving the intestinal environment.
①Improvement of diet
② Exercise ③ Sleep ④ Cestose
I will explain each one one by one.
①Improvement of diet
The intestinal environment is greatly influenced by diet. If bad bacteria is increasing due to an unhealthy diet, you need to increase the number of good bacteria.
When some people hear about good bacteria, they may think of the word "lactic acid bacteria."
You may have a vague idea of it, but yogurt and natto contain a lot of it.
If you eat only meat or have an unbalanced diet, bad bacteria tend to increase, and conversely, good bacteria are few and the intestinal environment becomes unbalanced.
Therefore, if you consume foods that contain a lot of lactic acid bacteria and other foods that contain a lot of good bacteria, you can expect to improve the intestinal environment.
②Exercise
Exercise is also said to be good for improving the intestinal environment. Moderate exercise improves blood flow, balances the autonomic nervous system, and improves the intestinal environment.
Try some light exercise such as stretching, doing sit-ups, or going for a walk. The key is to be able to continue without straining yourself, and excessive exercise can be stressful and have the opposite effect.
It's important to find an exercise that feels good and makes you sweat.
③Sleep
It is known that sleep time and quality are greatly related to the intestinal environment. For example, some people may have experienced stomach pain when they were nervous or stressed.
This is because the brain and intestines are deeply connected.
If the brain doesn't get enough rest, it will have a negative impact on the intestinal environment.
④Kestose
Have you ever heard of the word kestos? Kestose is a type of oligosaccharide that is said to be good for the intestinal environment.
Improving the intestinal environment may sound simple, but it is quite difficult as it requires changes to your lifestyle, such as changing your diet, getting into an exercise routine, and getting enough sleep.
However, Kestose is an easy approach to improving the intestinal environment that can be taken even now. Kestose, which increases the number of good bacteria, is an approach you can follow every day by adding it to your coffee or cooking.
It looks like sugar and has a slightly sweet taste, so you can also sprinkle it on yogurt.
Even if you are busy and don't have enough time to eat or get enough sleep, you can start using it right away, so give it a try.
Improve your intestinal environment and get a healthy body!
When the intestinal environment improves, immunity increases and metabolism also improves. If you have been diagnosed with metabolic syndrome during a health checkup or are suffering from constipation, please try to improve your intestinal environment.
Improving basic things like diet, exercise, and sleep will have a positive effect on your body.
Even if you are very busy and don't have time to sleep or exercise, you can easily improve your intestinal environment by adding kestose to your meals. Please try by all means try.