02 Mar, 2022
Listening to your gut with Equi London
We believe in the power of plant-based food, we know that greater diversity in what we eat can have a profound effect on our gut health and in turn our overall health. The purpose of good gut health and optimal digestion is to turn the food you eat into fuel for your body’s cells. Poor digestion is very common and makes us normalise feeling fatigued, foggy, bloated, unable to lose weight, with low immune function and hormonal imbalances - the list goes on. Our gut does so much more than just break down food. A healthy gut needs a good balance of healthy bacteria. Your gut holds trillions of bacteria that help process your food, produce nutrients and fight disease. When the gut is happy, we flourish.
HealthWhich is why we have designed a 10-Day Gut Cleanse, a programme built specifically to support a gentle reset and rebuilding of a healthy, happy gut. All our dishes on our delicious, gut-friendly menu have been created in accordance with our nutrition philosophy which puts fresh, whole foods at the centre of the plate and to foster good bacteria and support a good gut environment. There are many other possible health benefits from doing the Cleanse too:
- Improved digestion
- Efficient detoxification
- Increased energy
- Improved skin
- Mental clarity
- Better sleep
- Boosts immunity
Included is also a collection of regenerative gut-focussed supplements, provided by Equi London. As well as a mindful wellness journal, to encourage mindfulness around your journey to building a stronger gut, and to make these healthy habits stick so that you can feel amazing for life, not just in the short-term!
Facts about a gut cleanse that you might not know:
- A cleanse should follow a whole-foods diet. Forget what you know about cleanses being only liquid-based. We provide a combination of food and drink that supports an intermittent-fasting plan to allow your digestive system a break whilst feeding your gut microbiome with lots of fibre and protein-rich foods that foster friendly bacteria.
- You’ll feel amazing. Though you may feel a little run-down at the beginning whilst your body is working hard to rid itself of all its toxins, and perhaps a bit bloated from adopting this new way of eating, these symptoms will pass after a few days and you will hopefully be left feeling lighter, brighter, with a resurgence of energy you never knew you had!
- The benefits will last in the long-run, not just as a quick fix. Our programme will show you the wonders of plant-powered food, and how delicious it can be; we want to show you how the healthy option can also be the easy and more enjoyable option. We hope to provide the ultimate toolkit to encourage these healthy habits to stick.
To really benefit from the cleanse, we recommend really tuning into your bodily intelligence and really listening to what your gut is telling you. We speak to nutritional therapist and co-founder of Equi, Alice Mackintosh, about mindful eating, and how to practice this.
Alice suggests starting with these simple steps:
- Ask yourself if you're hungry before you eat, and note the difference between fancying something because you're tired, bored or emotional, and actual stomach growling hunger. This can take time to work out because many of us are programmed to eat when we often don't really need to. Getting used to recognising real hunger pangs is an important step to learning better eating habits.
- Slow down, put that screen away, acknowledge and appreciate your food before you eat it - chew your food for longer than you are used to, breathe deeply between bites. These habits may seem unnatural at first, as I’m sure we are all party to the lunch-al-desko culture. However, they are all sustainable ways to appreciate and enjoy the nutrient-rich food on your plate as well as helping your digestion.
Science shows that when we eat mindfully we not only eat less, but may even absorb more of the important vitamins and minerals from our food, which of course has benefits throughout the body. Slowing down, focussing on what you are about to eat (the smells, tastes, colours and flavours) and chewing properly triggers the parasympathetic nervous system via the vagus nerve, which puts our gut into digest mode. Signals are sent from the brain to the gut to release acid into our stomach and enzymes into our intestine, which together ensure we break our food down properly. This in turn discourages indigestion, bloating, gas or changes to bowel movements that can be uncomfortable and sometimes even debilitating.
All of this makes us more sensitive to the way our food makes us feel rather than just whether we enjoy it, strengthening our intuition around food that uplifts us. Not to mention, the longer you take to eat your food, the more your body is likely to benefit from what you’ve eaten.
Click here for more information about our 10-Day Gut Cleanse. Check out more about Equi London, and their range here.
