0
0
Your cart is currently empty
Shop Here

Month: August 2020

Natural Remedies To Help Aid Digestion

Posted on by flourishweb

An unbalanced gut microbiome can lead to all sorts of digestive problems, including constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating, IBS and even depression. When it comes to rebalancing your gut, it’s all about supporting it with the right nutrients.

While whole food, plant-based prebiotic supplements like our Prebiotic Blend may help to aid digestion, there are a number of other natural remedies that can also work to get your bowels moving again.

It all starts in the mouth

A very simple but effective way to aid your digestion is by chewing. The average Australian chews their food 5-6 times before swallowing.

Interestingly, digestion begins with the brain, by first smelling, looking and breathing deeply before a meal.

Rather than 5-6 times, you should actually be chewing each piece of food 15-20 times, which then allows the digestion-brain feedback loop to kick in.

Activating this feedback loop causes a cascade of hormones and enzymes to be released and allow for proper digestion of your food.

Try chewing each mouthful food 15-20 times. Alternatively, if you really want to, try chewing until the food is liquid before swallowing.

Up your fibre intake

Fibre is good for your digestive system because it helps add bulk to your stool and keeps your bowel movements regular. If you’re looking to increase your fibre intake, start by incorporating a variety of fruits, vegetables and nuts to your diet.

By eating foods high in inulin fibre – a soluble type of fibre classified as a prebiotic – you’ll feed the probiotics in your gut and help to balance the bacteria living there.

Chicory root

While it’s probably not the most readily available food on the supermarket shelf, chicory root is a great source of inulin fibre. Try adding it to your diet by switching out your morning cup of coffee with a chicory alternative instead.

You can also get your inulin fix from our Prebiotic Blend, a natural health supplement that’s packed with plant-based whole foods to load your gut with only the good stuff, including chicory root, green bananas and cinnamon.

Drink lots of water

To make sure that your bowels are moving regularly, it’s important to stay hydrated. Not drinking enough water makes you more likely to experience constipation. Often caused due to a dehydrated colon, constipation can be prevented by simply increasing your daily fluid intake.

Drinking water (and other non-caffeinated fluids like herbal tea) will help to keep your colon hydrated and make using the bathroom a much more pleasant experience.

Get your body moving

Regular exercise is good for you in so many different ways. Not only can it help with improving your mood, increasing your energy and facilitating weight loss, but moving your body on a daily basis can also help with digestion.

Studies have shown that moderate daily exercise can help to speed up the digestion process and get food moving through the body faster.

Natural health supplements

We believe that prebiotic supplements should contain only natural, plant-based whole foods – just as Mother Nature intended. That’s why our Prebiotic Blend is made with only natural ingredients and nothing else.

Specifically formulated to aid digestion and feed the probiotics in your gut, our Prebiotic Blend harnesses the power of chicory root and 8 other plant-based whole foods to balance your bowel for the better.

Help your body to help itself

By taking care of your body, your body will take care of you. If you’re having digestive problems, start looking at how you can provide your body with the nutrients it needs to better digest the food you’re putting in it.

Help your digestive system with our Prebiotic Blend

Foods To Fight Cold & Flu Naturally

Posted on by flourishweb

Not only is food the main source of energy, but it can work as a natural medicine, too. When you’re fighting a cold or the flu, eating the right foods will help you exponentially on your road to recovery.

We’ve listed 5 of our favourite healing foods that help to relieve the symptoms of cold and flu and shorten its overall duration.

Turmeric

The health benefits of turmeric go far beyond the anti-inflammatory properties that the golden spice is known for.

Turmeric’s curcumin is not only a natural anti-inflammatory, but it also has anti-infective properties that can help to fight viruses, bacteria and fungi – including those that result in a case of the common cold.

By taking our Turmeric Blend daily, you may lower your body’s inflammation levels and give your immune system the boost it needs to keep you in optimal health throughout the winter season.

Vitamin C-rich fruits

Everyone knows that you should eat oranges and lemons when you’re sick, but many of you might not actually know why. Fruits like lemons, oranges, grapefruit and limes all contain vitamin C, which helps to reduce the severity of the common cold, as well as it’s duration.

Capsicum and kiwifruit are also a wonderful source of vitamin C, which you can easily add into your stir frys, salads or smoothies.

One of our favourite go-to drinks for soothing cold symptoms contains just 3 ingredients: honey, lemon and hot water. Simply mix a teaspoon of honey with some freshly squeezed lemon juice in a mug of hot water, and add a lemon slice or two to garnish.

Manuka honey

Native to New Zealand, manuka honey makes a marvellous home remedy for a sore throat due to its antibacterial properties – properties that traditional honey does not contain.

The antibacterial and antiviral properties in manuka honey help to reduce inflammation in the back of the throat while also fighting against the bacteria that cause you to feel pain in that area.

After sipping on one of our favourite lemon and honey drinks, you’ll notice that your throat feels soothed and less raw. This is because manuka honey doesn’t just fight harmful bacteria – it also coats the inner lining of the throat, relieving the pain you experience there.

Garlic

Like turmeric, garlic contains natural anti-inflammatory properties. However, what makes it such a powerful flu combatant is the sulfur compounds it forms after being chewed, crushed or chopped.

Not only do these compounds help to reduce the duration of colds, but they also help to prevent you from getting sick in the first place. Get your daily garlic fix with our favourite pasta alternatives.

Ginger shares manuka honey’s ability to relieve sore throats, as well as turmeric and garlic’s natural anti-inflammatory properties.

However, what sets this spice apart from the rest is its antimicrobial properties. These properties make ginger a food primed to help fight infections – including those like the sore throat-causing cold and flu.

Rest and recover

While there are many beneficial foods that can help to relieve the symptoms and shorten the duration of the common cold, the most important thing to do when you’re sick is to rest, stay hydrated and sleep.

Move away from the screen, put your work aside, curl up in bed and let both your mind and your body rest. Allow your body to focus on fighting the infection and healing, and not on anything else.

Put it all together as a preventative by making an oxymel. An oxymel is a herbal tonic used as natural medicine made from a mixture of honey and vinegar – though it can include other ingredients, too.

Making your own oxymel at home is easy. Simply take some manuka honey, add crushed ginger, garlic, grated fresh turmeric and a little finely diced capsicum. Crush these ingredients together to form a paste and then add it to lemon juice and warm water. Drink up!

Prepare your body for the flu with our Turmeric Blend

The Connection Between Gut Health and Liver Health

Posted on by flourishweb

Just like the gut-brain axis, the liver and the gut have a unique connection where one has the power to influence the other. While research on the subject is still in its relative infancy, recent studies are beginning to show just how significant the gut-liver connection really is.

Keeping both vital organs healthy is about eating the right foods and providing them with the right nutrients, like chicory root and natural prebiotic supplements for the gut, as well as beetroot powder for the liver. A liver cleanse could also go a long way in maintaining optimum overall health for your body.

How gut bacteria influence the liver

We already know that gut bacteria have a hand in influencing your brain and your mood. Some 90% of all of your serotonin – the feel-good hormone – is created by your gut microbes. But what about these microbes’ influence on your liver?

The reality is that the bacteria living in your gut microbiome can be just as influential on your liver as it is on your brain. Every two and a half minutes, 1 gallon (4.5 litres) of blood passes through the liver, about 75% of which comes from the intestinal tract.

If the gut microbiome is unbalanced with unhealthy or pathogenic bacteria, these can flow back to the liver via the portal vein, causing the liver all manner of problems.

In order to defend the rest of the body from any toxins arriving from the intestinal tract, the liver has to breakdown, filter and excrete them. This process can prove difficult when the body is already overloaded with toxins created by pathogenic bacteria.

Alcohol-producing gut bacteria

Surprisingly, gut bacteria can turn pathogenic. They can go through the same fermentation process as alcohol, producing high blood alcohol levels in your body even when you haven’t had anything to drink. This is known as Auto-brewery syndrome.

Emerging research has found there to be a connection between alcohol-producing bacteria and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study shows that 60% of participants – all with NAFLD – had the alcohol-producing bacteria present in their gut.

Because the alcohol being produced by this specific strain of bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae) in the gut filters through to the liver in much the same way as when you actually consume alcohol, it can cause fatty liver disease even in those who don’t drink.

With a healthy lifestyle comes a healthy gut-liver connection

Not only can bacteria in the gut cause NAFLD, but it can also produce a compound called phenylacetic acid that can help to identify the early stages of NAFLD. Preventing and reversing NAFLD is about making healthy lifestyle choices.

A plant-based diet paired with chicory root-based prebiotic supplements for the gut and beetroot powder for the liver will pack your body with the natural nutrients it needs to ensure optimal health.

The connection between the gut and the liver is a strong one. Our Prebiotic Blend and Daily Detox can help to keep both organs working together in healthy harmony.

Try our Prebiotic Blend and Daily Detox for your gut-liver health.

Probiotics and Prebiotics for Gut Health

Posted on by flourishweb

The relationship between probiotics and prebiotics is a close one, with each being a popular topic in their own right in today’s nutritional conversations.

While the two sound similar, it is important to understand their differences when embarking upon your new health journey and choosing between probiotic or prebiotic supplements.

The difference between probiotic and prebiotic supplements

Probiotic and prebiotic supplements perform two very different tasks within the body.

Probiotics

Probiotics are the healthy bacteria that live in your gut and make up your gut microbiome which, much like a fingerprint, is unique to each of us.

Today, we know there are almost 1500 different probiotic species that call our gut microbiome home. We each have unique levels of bacteria in our gut, and the probiotic species’ that need topping up through supplements will vary.

Most probiotic supplements only contain a small number of probiotics – which means that by taking one, it is unlikely you will replace the specific species in your microbiome that needs to be restored.

When you take the same probiotic day after day, it is also very easy to overpopulate a species and throw the gut microbiome – and the healthy bacteria that live there – out of balance.

Prebiotics

Probiotics need food to survive, but they don’t eat just anything – and that’s where prebiotics come in. Prebiotics are the food that probiotics eat.

With over 1500 different species of probiotics in the gut, it can be hard to know which are running low and need topping up. By taking prebiotic supplements, you can rest assured that every species will be fed – and not just some of them.

There are many prebiotic whole foods you can eat including chicory root, green bananas and garlic that will all help to replenish the probiotics in your gut.

For a tasty treat your gut will love, try our Gut Blend Bliss Balls. Combined with 2x heaped teaspoons of our Prebiotic Blend, they make a sweet snack for you and an even sweeter snack for your microbiome.

Chicory root: a prebiotic whole food

Eating foods that your gut loves will help you to maintain a healthy balance of probiotics within it. Chicory root is one of those foods, and because of the inulin fibre it contains, it’s the key ingredient in our Prebiotic Blend.

The health benefits of chicory root are numerous, but the main reason we love it is because it’s a tasty source of food for the probiotics in your gut.

Caring for your health means caring for your gut

Emerging studies are showing that the gut is more important than we ever believed it to be. There is a significant connection between our gut health and mental health, and who knows? Maybe someday soon science will surpass folklore in telling you to listen to your gut.

Improving your gut health is imperative to improving your overall health. Our Prebiotic Blend will feed the probiotics in your gut to ensure a healthy, happy and balanced microbiome – and a healthier, happier you!

Improve your gut health with our Prebiotic Blend