Gut Health: Building Function and Resilience
- stacydavis14
- Jul 23
- 2 min read
If you know me well, you know I love to offer information to better our health. Small things lead to bigger changes. In a culture that is flooded with so much messaging on eat this, DON'T eat, who said coffee was bad, now I can't have it? Well what this olive oil craze? Have you heard of GLP-1 meds? What does sleep hygiene have to do with potential Alzheimer risk?
Yeah, all this out there. By the way, the last one mentioned I just saw an article today, Wednesday, 7/23, of a possible link with this. Has to do with REM duration. Anyway, some of this messaging (okay, a lot of it) can be overwhelming when you are simply trying to feel better and eat healthier. Am I alone?
So going back to sharing information. I offer my clients the guidance to try 1-2 new things and stick with it for at least 2 weeks (longer is better, as long as no adverse effects). Then, after the 2 weeks, we revisit to either add or eliminate or keep on the same trajectory. Manageable, right? Well, with this in mind, I came across email from a gentleman I follow that had some simple, gut-health strategies to implement in your own life. Here it is: --------
Today’s Gut Health Practice:
Add one plant-based prebiotic to your day. These are foods that feed your beneficial gut bacteria — think of them as fuel for the good guys.
Top options:
Cooked + cooled potatoes, lentils or rice (for resistant starch)
Onions, leeks, garlic, or asparagus (high in inulin)
Green bananas or plantains
Try this: Add 1 tbsp of cooked, cooled lentils to your salad or dinner Or sauté some garlic and onions into your next meal
Your microbiome will thank you.
Gut Resilience: Anchor Yourself in the Present
One of the hidden enemies of resilience is mental time travel — worrying about the future or ruminating on the past.
When life gets busy or overwhelming, simple present-moment anchors can help calm your nervous system, shift your mindset, and restore clarity.
Today’s Resilience Practice:
Try the “5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Reset”
Step outside (or near a window) and name:
5 things you can see
4 things you can hear
3 things you can touch
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste or are grateful for
This quick reset calms your mind and activates your prefrontal cortex — the part of your brain responsible for problem solving, focus, and resilience.
Do this once today when you feel scattered, tired, or overstimulated. It takes just 2 minutes — but creates space to respond instead of react.
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I will jump in with you and feel free to hold me to this. I will start adding lentils to my salads, starting 1-2 times a week, for two weeks. My next grocery order will have lentils in the cart. And second, I will commit to the mental challenge of resetting as well.
What's yours? Let's chat next time we see each other OR drop a comment on a post in social media.
Here's to healthier living,
Stacy Davis, MSc., PFT
P.S. The above strategies are curiosity of Damian Geleyns, https://legendlifeafter40.com/
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