Digest Greens

How to Make Time for Wellness—Even on Your Busiest Days Life can get busy, but wellness shouldn’t fall by the wayside. Wellness isn’t just a luxury—it’s essential to feeling your best and managing stress. Research shows that carving out time for focused activities and wellness can have measurable impacts on health and happiness. Here are some ways to incorporate wellness into your daily routine, even when time feels scarce. 1. Prioritize Mini Moments of Self-Care Self-care doesn’t require hours; small, mindful moments throughout the day can make a difference. A recent study by Saha and Iqbal (2023) found that scheduling focus time not only boosted work engagement but also reduced stress and increased satisfaction among workers. Try breathing exercises while your coffee brews or stretching between meetings. These small breaks can keep you grounded and connected to your wellness goals. 2. Meal Prep for Success Healthy eating is foundational for wellness, but it can be tough to cook daily. Spending a bit of time over the weekend to prep healthy snacks and meals will keep you energized all week. Scheduling regular wellness visits is another way to prioritize health—research by Tong et al. (2021) demonstrated that such visits in primary care not only help manage wellness but also facilitate early diagnoses and preventive care. 3. Incorporate Movement into Your Day Exercise doesn’t have to mean hours at the gym. Fit in activity where you can—take a walk during lunch, do squats while folding laundry, or stretch with your kids. Studies also show that engaging in these short, focused periods of movement can improve both mood and energy levels. For instance, Mannino and Caronia (2017) highlighted the importance of time perspectives in healthcare work, suggesting that structured wellness time can enhance engagement and focus. 4. Support Your Health with Supplements When life is busy, it’s easy to miss key nutrients. Supplements can bridge the gap, ensuring your body gets the support it needs. Whether you opt for a multivitamin, probiotics, or collagen like Organika’s Enhanced Collagen, these can support your wellness journey, helping you stay balanced and healthy no matter your schedule. Prioritizing wellness doesn’t have to be complicated. Small, intentional actions make a big difference, helping you feel more energized and ready for anything. At Organika, we’re here to support you in your wellness journey, so you can make time for health—even on the busiest days. References https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Focus-Time-for-Wellbeing-and-Work-Engagement-of-Saha-Iqbal/066cb31929d91b459b8dcac276af32e35c796817

The short answer, yes. Collagen plays a role in gut health. As you age all body functions start to decrease or slow down. This includes digestion for some. The muscles of the digestive tract may become weaker. The production of key digestive enzymes may decrease, but also the lining of the gut may become more permeable (easier to attack or get through). When your gut is unhealthy it can lead to various symptoms: mood disorders, decreased immunity, weight gain, just to name a few. Here's why you should take collagen supplements to help heal your gut or increase its strength. How does collagen help improve gut health? Collagen has a rich amino acid profile, many of which have been studied to support gut health by reducing inflammation and healing the gut. Collagen is high in Glutamine, which helps build connective tissues and heal the gut’s lining. This has been shown to be helpful in those with compromised intestinal permeability (leaky gut). Glutamine has been linked to improving the gut’s microbiota which helps to keep the digestive tract running smoothly and makes it stronger to avoid injury, wounds, or damage under stress. Glycine and proline, also found in collagen, work to help seal and heal the gut lining whenever there is damage. This improves digestion. Arginine is another amino acid involved in wound healing in the gut. Because collagen contains all these essential amino acids, a hydrolyzed collagen peptide supplement daily can help build a stronger and healthier digestive tract. Is collagen more important than gelatin – or is it the same? Gelatin is essentially the cooked version of collagen. They both provide the same amino acids and provide the same benefits. However, collagen, like our Enhanced Collagen Original, is hydrolyzed (broken down into smaller peptides), whereas gelatin is not. It's better to take collagen to ensure you are obtaining all benefits. Your body can skip the step of having to break it down, making collagen much easier to absorb. Collagen also easily dissolves in water and is a lot more convenient to use. Should I take collagen powder or bone broth for gut health? Either or both. Collagen powder can help support gut health (described above due to its amino acid profile). With that being said, bone broth contains collagen and gelatin. So, you can heal your gut with Organika’s Bone Broth Powder as well. The bonus of bone broth is that it contains additional essential minerals that also work to heal the gut’s intestinal lining and reduce inflammation. Bone broth is a highly beneficial source of nutrition. Both collagen and bone broth are great options, so the choice really depends on your preference. Organika does have an option to maximize this: Full Spectrum Collagen 1,2,3. This product combines chicken bone broth, bovine collagen, and marine collagen – making it a mix of all types of collagens.

Tips for keeping your digestive tract happy. “You are what you eat and what you digest.” So much of gut health has to do with what you put inside your body. Safe to say how you digest the food you eat ultimately get absorbed at the gut level. It’s important to take care of your gut by providing it with nourishing and healing foods and supplements. We asked our Registered Holistic Nutritionists to weigh in on how to improve gut health and keep it healthy. Eat a diet full of fibre and probiotics Fibre is a plant-based carbohydrate (do not panic at that word) that helps to reduce the risk of many diseases of the heart, digestive system, and more. The two types (soluble and insoluble) are beneficial. It works to stimulate the growth of healthy gut bacteria, it helps to slow down the absorption of glucose, and helps to carry out wastes from the body. Probiotics are healthy gut bacteria that can be found in fermented foods such as yogurt, kimchi and kombucha. Probiotics help keep the gut happy by supplying the beneficial bacteria that helps keep everything calm and balanced. Healthy gut bacteria is linked with less inflammation, irritability, and digestive issues. Learn more about protecting your microbiome here. Safe to say ensuring you are eating a diet with root vegetables, fruits, green leafy vegetables, as well as whole grains (if you do consume grains), along with fermented foods will help improve your gut. Take gut health support supplements Collagen and or Bone Broth Collagen has amino acids that support gut health by reducing inflammation and healing the actual gut. Particularly bovine collagen has been shown to be specifically helpful for gut health. You can also go beyond collagen and take bone broth. Bone broth includes collagen, gelatin as well as other ingredients that may help with tissue healing and calm the inflammation of the gut’s lining. Gelatin is essentially the cooked version of collagen. They both provide the same amino acids and provide the same benefits. Want to have both? Full Spectrum Collagen 1,2,3 combines both collagen and bone broth! Probiotics We talked about the essential role probiotics play in gut health. To be sure you are getting the gut bacteria your body needs, it’s often suggested to take probiotics supplements daily. Providing your gut with these daily will allow the digestive system to be prepared. Probiotics + Prebiotics is a winning combination because it not only provides the beneficial gut flora, but also offers food for the beneficial bacteria (prebiotics) to thrive. Enzymes Part of gut health is the ability to digest the foods you eat. If you feel sluggish or bloated, you can take digestive enzymes that speed up the breakdown of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Full Spectrum Plant Enzymes are good for digestion which in turn will help with gut health.  Move your body Getting exercise daily will help to build your gut health. How? Essentially the muscles involved in digestion strengthen with exercise, this in turn helps with peristalsis (moving digested food throughout the gut). Exercise also plays a role in promoting healthy bacteria in the gut (which we always need a good balance of). In fact, studies have suggested that exercise has the potential of altering the gut flora and promoting wellness. It literally feels good to move! Limit Your Alcohol and Coffee Intake The gut’s bacteria don’t particularly like heavy alcohol consumption. Excessive drinking can lead to digestive upset, but also inflammation of the gut’s lining. When this happens, the gut becomes susceptible to discomfort, ulcers and even infections. For the same reason, if you feel you are getting an upset stomach after consuming caffeine, consider cutting down the amount to 1-2 cups a day. Decrease the stress A common piece of advice for health in general, but most definitely stress has a negative effect on gut health. Studies have shown that there are associations between anxiety and depression and matters of the gut, and vice versa. Therefore you may notice stomach pain following a stressful set of events; the mind and gut connection are very much in sync. Work on calming the mind and body, or consider stress support, such as Enhanced Collagen Relax. This is a great supplement to add into a beverage or water after a stressful day. Enhanced Collagen Relax gently takes the “edge off” without any drowsiness as it has collagen + Magnesium Bisglycinate And L-Theanine (stress and relaxation supportive supplements). Improving your gut health doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Take it one good habit at a time and remember that your whole-body health starts with your gut.