Gut Trouble? Here's A 1-Day Detox To Get Your Digestion Back On Track

As an integrative medicine doctor, I often recommend a gut reset to my patients. It can help them get back on track in a way that addresses the root cause of digestive upset—without resorting to pills, tricks, or shortcut promises. This real-food, science-backed approach to resetting your gut is something you can do any time but is especially helpful to call upon over the next couple of months.

During your gut reset, you should be including foods from four major categories, including:

Vegetable fibers like those in broccoli and artichoke are essential for the gut. These types of plant-based fibers are actually food for the good gut bacteria. To make it easy on your stomach, make sure that when you eat these foods they are well-roasted or steamed.

Leafy greens like spinach contain fiber and are very easily digestible. They are also a great source of antioxidants to help neutralize free radicals from processed foods and sugar—which will likely find their way into your gut more than once in the next month.

Certain spices like turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon have been shown in medical studies to be anti-inflammatory and great for gut health. They also have calming effects after the frenzy of the holidays.

Other foods like healthy fats from avocado have also been shown to be beneficial for the gut1 both for their fiber content and fatty acid profile. 

So without further ado, here's exactly how your one-day gut detox plan might look. Feel free to adjust based on your activity level and personal health goals.

Wake up and drink one full glass of water, then go outside (barefoot for at least two minutes is best) and stretch in nature. Getting two minutes of sunlight in the morning can help reset your circadian rhythm and energize you for the day. A little later on, take 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar dissolved in water; it's been shown to have blood-sugar-balancing properties.

Break your fast after 16 hours with roasted or steamed vegetables and berries. At some point during the day, break a sweat. This can take the form of warm or hot yoga, a workout, or sitting in a sauna for 20 minutes. If you want to snack throughout the day, stick to fermented veggies.

You can do this gut detox as often as you'd like over the next couple of months. It should help mitigate the negative side effects of indulging a little too much, while still allowing you to live in the moment and enjoy the holidays and time with family and friends.