Keep Your Gut Health in Check for a Happy Holiday Season

 

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” So many parties to host, turkeys to roast, and endless hours shopping for everyone on your list.

Oh bah, humbug!

Getting caught up in the to-do’s of creating holiday cheer can leave us feeling grumpy and overwhelmed. We may even find ourselves expressing a little scrooge-like behavior.

Holly jolly holiday

Your gut’s happiness has a huge influence on your mood. In fact, your gut is responsible for 90 percent of your body’s serotonin—a hormone linked to happiness. When serotonin levels are low, your mood can become gloomy.
This holiday season, take a moment to think about your gut health. Stress, poor nutrition, antibiotics, and high sugar consumption can all affect its happiness. Your gut needs nutritional support to get rid of unwanted substances and promote a healthy balance of good bacteria that can help elevate your happy holiday attitude.^1,2

Add a little holiday cheer

The holidays can be rough on our gut as we’re tempted by an assortment of holiday fixings that leave us bloated, uncomfortable, and unhappy.
Fight off the negative influences that upset your gut and mood during the holiday season. Plexus TriPlex^TM is a happy holiday answer for your gut, as it helps remove harmful microbes, replenishes the gut with five beneficial probiotics, and rebalances how your body feels. The TriPlex combo includes Bio Cleanse, ProBio 5, and Slim to support a healthy gut, joyful mood, and overall wellness.^*

Scope out the party food

When we stress during the holidays, we’re more likely to binge on not-so-healthy food choices that leave our gut and mood out of whack. Before you load up on tempting holiday foods, think about how you’ll feel after eating two slices of pie, three servings of artichoke dip, and four cups of eggnog. . .okay, that may be a bit exaggerated. But your body will thank you if you consider healthy food choices and portion sizes.

Probiotics, please!

If you’re cranky, add probiotics. Probiotics are good microorganisms that provide health benefits to support gut health, overall wellness, and your mood. These awesome microorganisms are packed with health benefits.
Your gut health is directly related to your cognitive health and mood.^3,4 Add in plain yogurt for a probiotic-packed breakfast or take a probiotic supplement—ProBio 5 anyone?—to make sure your gut flora is in check through the holiday season.^*

Sleep like you mean it

It may be the busiest time of year, but find time to sleep. If you’re short on sleep, you may feel grumpy, anxious, and find it difficult to cope with stress.^5,6 To add fuel to the fire, sleep deprivation can lead to greater cravings of unhealthy foods that upset your gut. . . and aggravate a sour mood.^7,8
No matter what comes your way this holiday season, don’t let the winter blues and holiday stress turn you into a scrooge! Keep your gut healthy and your happiness will feel elevated too.

References
1 Logan AC, Katzman M. Major depressive disorder: probiotics may be an adjuvant therapy. Medical Hypotheses. 2005 Dec 31;64(3):533-8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15617861
2 McKean J, Naug H, Nikbakht E, et al. Probiotics and Subclinical Psychological Symptoms in Healthy Participants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2016 Nov 14. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27841940
3 Dinan TG, Stanton C, Cryan JF. Psychobiotics: a novel class of psychotropic. Biological Psychiatry. 2013 Nov 15;74(10):720-6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23759244
4 Steenbergen L, Sellaro R, van Hemert S, et al. A randomized controlled trial to test the effect of multispecies probiotics on cognitive reactivity to sad mood. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2015 Aug 31;48:258-64. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889159115000884
5 Riemann D, Berger M, Voderholzer U. Sleep and depression—results from psychobiological studies: an overview. Biological Psychology. 2001 Aug 31;57(1):67-103. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11454435
6 Talbot LS, McGlinchey EL, Kaplan KA, et al. Sleep deprivation in adolescents and adults: changes in affect. Emotion. 2010 Dec;10(6):831. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21058849
7 Simon SL, Field J, Miller LE, et al. Sweet/dessert foods are more appealing to adolescents after sleep restriction. PloS One. 2015 Feb 23;10(2):e0115434. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2570686
8 Leone V, Gibbons SM, Martinez K, et al. Effects of diurnal variation of gut microbes and high-fat feeding on host circadian clock function and metabolism. Cell Host & Microbe. 2015 May 13;17(5):681-9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25891358