Love ya guts

A sponsored post for Activia for World Digestive Health Day 2014

How do you feel about your guts? Me?

Well there’s the stretch marks, the moles, the permanent creases, the spilling over the jeans, the scars from gall bladder removal and the fact that it sticks out further than it should, but I feel good about my gut. I do!

But how do you feel about your the INSIDE of your gut? Do you ever stop to think about what goes on in there? I always took things for granted when it came to my stomach and digestion until I had an ongoing problem with my gall bladder that was misdiagnosed as heartburn for months and months until I finally had an ER nurse work out what was going on, had some morphine immediately administered and a few days later my gall bladder removed. Fatty foods were the trigger for me that caused agony unlike anything I’d been in before (except of course for a crowning head out of my vagina. THAT hurt).

Healthy digestion is a hugely important part of your overall health. I suppose the reason that we rarely think about it is because it happens behind the scenes…while we go about our day, while we sleep, while we don’t think about it…and we only really become aware of it when things go wrong. When we eat the wrong kind of foods, over indulge in alcohol, eat foods that bloat or cause gas, when you go through stress – all these will let you know that something isn’t right in your guts.

For me, the older I get the more aware I am becoming of what is going on inside of my stomach. My stomach is the best barometer for what is going on in my body. Too much cheese or rich foods and my gut will tell me ENOUGH. Too much booze? Same thing. Certain foods? Bloated and just generally feeling blurgh? Something is up! Stress and worry will always sit in my gut and gnaw away. But if I keep my diet healthy and balanced, if I don’t starve myself and then gorge quickly, keep up water and if I keep up exercise and try not to get too stressed out, my guts are happy. And if I don’t have to think about it then I’M happy too!

Activia’s range of probiotic yoghurts encourage Australians to look after their digestive wellbeing and overall #GutLove with an exclusive probiotic called Bifidus ActiRegularis. This probiotic has been proven to survive in the stomach during digestion for up to 10 days – staying as a live culture that remains active despite attacks from strong stomach acids and works to improve digestive comfort.

World Digestive Health Day in Australia is on the 29th May this year, therefore Activia is encouraging us to look after our gut. World Digestive Health Day is a global initiative from the World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO).

In the lead up to the day I am going to be undertaking a bit of a #GutLove challenge by getting stuck into a daily tub of Activia Probiotic Yoghurt. Combined with my normal exercise, plenty of water and eating the right things I’m going to check in on the state of my gut and try and get it as happy as it can be.

I’m going to be sharing some of the details of the week challenge on social media as well as a post after the fact to share some of my triggers/problems experienced by my gut and of course let you all know how I go with the range of yoghurts that they have available in the Activia range. Let’s get some #GutLove happening this week! You can also check things out on Activia Australia’s Facebook page.

Do you experience any kind of digestive discomfort?
What’s some ways you find help keep things on track?
Ready to love ya guts inside AND out?