{"id":120860,"date":"2025-10-14T06:45:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T06:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/120860\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T06:45:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T06:45:17","slug":"doctor-shares-vital-eight-part-checklist-to-do-every-morning-to-improve-your-gut-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/120860\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor shares vital eight-part ‘checklist’ to do every morning to improve your gut health"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Harvard-trained doctor has revealed eight things he does every morning to look after his gut health.<\/p>\n

Dr Saurabh Sethi, a gastroenterologist, from California<\/a> in the US, regularly shares advice to his more than 1.3 million followers on Instagram.<\/p>\n

In a recent post <\/a>that has amassed 1,469 likes he revealed things he does that he’d recommend others start doing too.<\/p>\n

The first thing he does, he says is ‘drink water before coffee’ because it ‘rehydrates after sleep and kick-starts digestion’.<\/p>\n

Getting morning sunlight in the first hour of waking, is the second thing he does, which he wrote, ‘resets your body clock and boosts serotonin for better digestion.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

The body clock, also known as circadian rhythm, is the internal system that regulates sleep, temperature and hormone release.<\/p>\n

Previously a study <\/a>found daylight in the morning led to an improvement in circadian rhythms of cortisol a stress hormone released when the body’s in ‘fight-or-flight’.<\/p>\n

Other research has shown <\/a>higher cortisol levels causes inflammation which can cause gut problems like irritable bowel syndrome.<\/p>\n

\"In <\/p>\n

In a recent clip, Dr Saurabh, a Harvard-trained gastroenterologist shared eight daily habits to improve your gut health<\/p>\n

Dr Sethi also does ‘two to three minutes of deep belly breathing before breakfast’ which he explained ‘activates the vagus nerve and calms the gut-brain axis’.<\/p>\n

The vagus nerve sends signals from the gut to the brain, and the gut-brain axis is the connection between the two.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While he didn’t specify what type of deep breathing he does, it typically involves slowly expanding your abdomen rather than your chest when inhaling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fourth habit he hailed is eating foods that contain prebiotics like slightly green bananas and oats for breakfast.<\/p>\n

Prebiotics are compounds found in foods that help healthy bacteria grow in your gut microbiome.<\/p>\n

A healthy gut microbiome has the right types of bacteria thriving together to support digestion, the immune system and even mental health.<\/p>\n

Green bananas are rich in starch and pectin, two types of fibre that act as prebiotics, helping promote a health gut microbiome.<\/p>\n

The fifth thing he does is include ‘protein and fibre’ in his breakfast, which ‘balances blood sugar and fuels gut microbiome’.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The leading gut health expert revealed he eats Greek yoghurt with berries to get healthy protein and fibre<\/p>\n

He does this by eating ‘Greek yogurt with berries, chia or flax’ and ‘eggs with veggies and kefir\/lassi drink’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kefir, a type of milk and lassi, a type of yoghurt, are both fermented drinks that contain probiotics which are good for your gut.<\/p>\n

His sixth habit is to ‘eat without screens’ which he says he does because ‘eating activates the parasympathetic system and scrolling triggers the sympathetic system’.<\/p>\n

The parasympathetic system, is behind what is known as ‘rest-and-digest’, which calms the body down to allow digestion.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the sympathetic system is responsible for the ‘fight or flight response’ which can be triggered by screens.<\/p>\n

According to the NHS these are two different branches of the nervous system, so we cannot be in both at the same time.<\/p>\n

Previously Chinese researchers also found screen use while eating lowers intuitive eating\u2014the process of listening to your body’s cues like hunger and fullness.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, he also takes a walk after breakfast each morning ‘to help aid digestion and reduce post-meal bloating’\u2014It ‘makes makes a difference’, said Dr Sethi.<\/p>\n

\"In <\/p>\n

In the recent post, he said to carry out a stool check daily, which can tell a lot about your gut health<\/p>\n

Dr Sethi also checks his stool each day, looking at ‘colour, shape and ease’, he explained.<\/p>\n

He uses the Bristol Stool Chart, which classifies stools into seven types depending on form and consistency, to assess bowel movements.<\/p>\n

The chart, which can be found online was developed in the UK by NHS medics in order to help doctors identify digestive or bowel issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Type one refers to hard difficult refers to hard, difficult to pass stools, while type seven to liquid or watery bowel movements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Aim for Bristol three to four,’ advises Dr Sethi.<\/p>\n

As a final tip, he suggests picking two to three of these daily habits to start with before adding more in over time.<\/p>\n

Just last month, in another post, Dr Sethi urged<\/a> people to spend less time on the toilet to avoid a painful health condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He explained: ‘Extra sitting time increases pressure on the rectal veins, which means higher risk of haemorrhoids\u2014so keep it to less than five minutes.’<\/p>\n

This unfortunate complication, also known as piles, is when lumps grow inside and around the anus and rectum.<\/p>\n

However, many social media users commenting on the video ironically said they were watching it while on the toilet.<\/p>\n

One user wrote, ‘I scrolled to this vid while on the loo’, followed by laughing emojis, while another wrote ‘me watching this in the washroom’.<\/p>\n

But it’s no laughing matter\u2014earlier this month a study confirmed that using a smartphone on the toilet can almost double your chance of haemorrhoids.<\/p>\n