October 16, 2023
How To Optimise Your Gut Health With Nutritionist Asha Dillon
Our gut health plays a major role not just with our skin but our overall health. We spoke with our friend and Nutritionist Asha Dillon to find out how we can optimise our gut health.
What are the top causes of gut issues, and how can this impact skin health and aging?
The top causes of gut issues are stress, alcohol, medication and eating inflammatory foods. It is really important to avoid inflammatory triggers and understand what foods your body is sensitive to. For example, if you have a gluten sensitivity and continue to eat gluten, you are causing inflammation over time that can lead to conditions such as leaky gut. I always recommend trying an elimination diet or doing food allergen testing, so you understand what foods work for you.
What is the number one piece of advice you recommend to patients to maintain healthy gut health?
My favourite quote is “Your health is affected by what you do everyday”, and this couldn’t be more true. It’s really important to find daily rituals that can help with optimising ultimate gut-health. Many of the common foods we eat and drinks we consume contain inflammatory ingredients such as, preservatives, sugar, wheat, soy and gluten. It’s important to look after your gut by reducing the amount of inflammatory foods and introducing daily rituals.
Some great daily habits to support gut health are:
Adding Kimchi, greek yoghurt (full-fat, no sugar) and sauerkraut
Adding a probiotic or gut healing supplements such as l-glutamine
Adding a probiotic or gut healing supplements such as l-glutamine
Adding pure collagen to your daily tea/coffee
Eating slowly and mindfully. When you eat whilst stressed or on the go this can cause poor digestion.
What products and treatments do you recommend to maintain optimal gut health?
When you consider the gut-brain axis and how much stress/anxiety and being in fight or flight can disturb your digestion and gut health, it's really important to look after both body systems.
For the mind: i recommend meditation (the Calm app has great 3 minute ones), massages, phoning a friend or family member and reminding yourself to take rest and don’t feel guilty if you do a full day in bed with netflix, it's important to rest.
For the Gut: I recommend Collagen, L-glutamine, Slippery Elm, fulvic minerals and clinically trialled turmeric to reduce inflammation.
How can collagen aid in improving gut health and slowing down the aging process?
Gut Health: a. Intestinal lining support: Collagen helps maintain the integrity and strength of the intestinal lining, also known as the gut barrier. A healthy gut barrier prevents the passage of toxins, undigested food particles, and harmful bacteria from entering the bloodstream, reducing the risk of gut-related issues like leaky gut syndrome.
Anti-ageing through supporting skin health and elasticity: Collagen is a major component of the skin, providing structural support and elasticity. As we age, the natural production of collagen decreases, leading to wrinkles, sagging skin, and reduced elasticity. By supplementing with collagen, you can support the health and appearance of your skin, reducing visible signs of aging.
What is your favourite way to consume PEARL?
My favourite way to consume PEARL is by adding it into my long black in the morning, it has zero taste and dissolves beautifully.
How can someone start to care for their gut health today, and to slow down the aging process?
I’d recommend introducing gut supporting supplements such as probiotic, collagen, bone broth and L-glutamine. By supporting the body with collagen rich foods and compounds such as amino acids, you can reduce ageing by supporting your skin health, gut health and joint health.
Shop PEARL Unflavoured Marine Collgen Superpowder HERE