Whileyour dietis important for managing and improving your gut health, other factors can come into play too. Your gut health can impact your body, fromaffecting your sleep cycleto poor gut health potentiallyincreasing anxiety and depression risk. And on the flip side, certain activities can have a positive impact on your gut and healthy digestion, according to a doctor.
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“You can breathe to improve your gut,” gastroenterologist Will Bulsiewicz, M.D., author ofThe Fiber Fueled Cookbook, said in arecent Instagram video.
In this new Instagram reel, Bulsiewicz goes on to explain how slow deep-breathing exercises can help improve your gut health. Here’s what he has to say and how you can start adding this simple activity into your routine.
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“They did a randomized controlled trial using a group of people that had constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome,” he said. “And basically what they did is deep-breathing exercises for 30 minutes five days a week. And they had incredible improvements in six weeks.”
Bulsiewicz explained that the study showed that slow deep-breathing exercises 30 minutes a day caused “less pain, less distention, more bowel movements, less IBS symptoms, better rectal sensation and a higher heart rate variability.”
Want to try out this gut-healthy deep-breathing exercise for yourself? Here’s the easy steps you can take to get started.
“It’s slow, deep breathing,” he showed in the video. “It’s a 10-second loop where you do six breaths in a minute, 4 seconds in and 6 seconds out. Try this right now and tell me how you feel.”
Bottom line: Taking the time for slow breathing can help support gut health and digestion. For more ways to help support healthy digestion, trythese easy food swapsthat your gut will thank you for.
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