呵護你的消化系統(tǒng)

In Chinese，if we want to express somebody is brave，we say he has a heart of a bear or a gallbladder of a leopard.But in English,they say“have the guts”.It is not clear how this idiom originates,but from which we can see the importance of gut.

Gut is the commonly known name of our digestive system which is called the‘second brain’thanks to the millions of neurons that line the gut and release important chemical messengers.These allow the gut to keep in close contact with the brain and influence our moods and emotions.

Inside our body there live around 10-100 trillion microbes and most of them reside within the digestive track.When we hear of bacteria,we often thought which can bring us disease.But in fact there are bad ones and good ones.

Besides digesting our food,one of the major roles of our gut bacteria,is the regulation of our immune system.

The most common culprits that can affect gut bacteria include antibiotics,a poor diet(especially one high in sugar),stress,toxins and chemical exposure.

Eat more fruit and vegetables which are rich in fiber and very important for‘feeding’the good bacteria.Other high fiber foods include beans，wholegrain breads,,nuts,oats and so on.

We should avoid using antibiotics as possible as we can.If we have to,it is better for us to take some probiotic,which may help to reset the balance of bacteria.

If you feel stressed,you can do activities such as mindfulness or meditation to help you relax and reduce the impact on your digestive system.

漢語表達一個人勇敢，會說這個人“有熊心豹子膽”；而同樣的意思，英語則說“有內(nèi)臟”，這個諺語的起源不甚清楚，但可見內(nèi)臟的重要性。

內(nèi)臟，也就是我們的消化系統(tǒng)，還被稱為“第二大腦”。這是因為消化系統(tǒng)內(nèi)有成百上千萬的神經(jīng)元，它們把我們的五腑六臟排列起來并且釋放出重要化學信號。這些信號讓消化系統(tǒng)和大腦緊密聯(lián)系，從而影響我們的情感。

在我們的身體內(nèi)部生活著大約100億到1000億個微生物，而消化系統(tǒng)則寄存了大部分的微生物。一聽到細菌，我們就會聯(lián)想到疾病。事實上，細菌也有好壞之分。

除了消化食物，消化系統(tǒng)內(nèi)的細菌還負責調(diào)節(jié)我們的免疫系統(tǒng)。

影響菌群的幾大元兇包括濫用抗生素、不健康的飲食習慣（糖攝入量高尤甚）、壓力、接觸毒素和化學制品。多吃富含纖維的水果和蔬菜可以“喂養(yǎng)”有益菌，其他多纖維食物包括大豆、全麥面包、堅果和燕麥等也有利于有益菌。

盡量不用抗生素。如果必須用，可以補充一些益生菌，平衡一下菌群。

如果感覺壓力大，可以通過冥想、打坐放松身心，并減輕壓力對消化系統(tǒng)的影響。

Notes：

gallbladder膽；have the guts有膽量；digestive消化的；neuron神經(jīng)元；microbe細菌；bacteria細菌；immune免疫的；toxin毒素；culprit元兇（主謀）；antibiotic抗生素；probiotic益生菌。