The September Reset: simple ways to support your gut resilience and overall wellbeing

After this year’s relentless heatwaves, I can’t be the only one feeling a little relieved at the arrival of autumn. 

This September feels particularly significant in our house. My toddler, Ruby, has just moved to a much bigger nursery, with at least three times as many children, so compared with her previous home-based setting, it feels like she’s started school! There’s more socialising, trips to public places like museums and galleries and, as the weather changes, probably more time spent indoors too. 

It got me thinking about what all these seasonal changes—new routines, different environments, disrupted sleep, and the inevitable arrival of a few viruses—might mean for our health, and particularly for the community of microbes living inside us. 

The gut microbiome doesn't exist in isolation. It responds to everything from the food we eat and our environment to our sleep and stress levels, while also communicating with the brain through what’s known as the gut–brain axis.¹ 

September may feel like little more than a return to routine, but when you think about everything that changes at once, it starts to seem like quite a significant shift for the body. 

Back to routine, back to rhythm 

Summer has a habit of throwing routines out of the window. Bedtimes creep later due to longer daylight hours, meals become more spontaneous, and, since I’ve had a child, my days often end up being shaped by weather-permitting entertainment rather than by the clock. 

September tends to bring us back to structure: earlier mornings, more predictable mealtimes, and the gradual attempt to get everyone into bed at a sensible hour again. 

Our bodies have their own sense of routine, too. Circadian rhythms are roughly 24-hour cycles that help regulate everything from sleep and hormone production to metabolism and digestion. Research suggests that the gut microbiome follows its own daily rhythms and that there is a two-way relationship between our internal body clock and the microbes living in our gut.² Exactly how this relationship works is still being unravelled, although disrupted sleep has been associated with changes in the composition and function of the gut microbiome.² 

For me, that’s a useful reminder that gut health isn't only about what we put on our plates. As we head back into busier routines, getting the foundations right is paramount: eating regularly, protecting sleep where possible, and giving our bodies a little more consistency. Of course, anyone with a toddler will know that “consistency” is very much a goal rather than a guarantee. 

A bigger world means a bigger microbial world 

One thing I’m bracing myself for is the onslaught of viruses from the new nursery. Going from a small, home-based setting to a purpose-built building with three times as many children means more shared spaces, more contact through toys, snacks and water cups, and more opportunities to encounter whatever’s making its way around the group that week. 

Not surprisingly, one study found that children attending larger day-care settings experienced more common colds during the preschool years than those cared for at home.³ But our relationship with microbes is more complicated than simply trying to avoid them. The same study found that these children were less susceptible to the common cold during the early school years, presumably as a result of the immunity they had acquired through those earlier exposures. 

The rise in popularity of so-called ‘forest schools’ and natural play spaces offers another fascinating insight into how our environment can influence our relationship with microbes. A small intervention study in Finnish daycare children found that enriching urban play areas with forest soil, grass and plants for 28 days increased the diversity of bacteria on children’s skin, while also being associated with changes in gut bacteria.⁴ Of course, this doesn’t mean that more germs are automatically better, or that having a ‘healthy’ microbiome means you won’t get ill. 

Our gut microbes interact with the cells lining the gut and with immune cells, helping the body distinguish between what belongs there and what doesn’t.⁵ What we eat can influence this microbial community, too, with fibre and prebiotics helping to shape the composition and function of the gut microbiome.⁶ 

Our microbiome is simply part of a much larger ecosystem, responding to the world around us. That perspective has helped me feel a little more optimistic about the unwanted side effects of Ruby’s developing microbiome. 

The domino effect 

The trouble with the inevitable nursery cold is that it rarely arrives alone. Once one person in the house is ill, the knock-on effects can quickly build: a blocked nose means a terrible night’s sleep for a toddler, which often means a terrible night for me too. The next morning, everyone is tired, appetites have changed, meals are more of a negotiation, and I have to take a more relaxed approach to structure. 

Most of us have experienced some version of this without thinking much about the science behind it. Stress can show up in the stomach, exhaustion can affect digestion, and being unwell can change everything from appetite to mood. The gut–brain axis offers one explanation for why these experiences can feel so interconnected: what’s happening in one part of the system doesn’t necessarily just stay there. 

So how can we support our seasonal wellbeing? 

The good news is that supporting your microbiome doesn't need to mean adding another complicated routine to an already busy September. In fact, many of the things associated with gut health overlap with the foundations that tend to make us feel better more generally. 

Our gut microbes interact with many of the compounds found in plant foods, including dietary fibre, which can be fermented by certain microbes to produce beneficial compounds such as short-chain fatty acids. These are involved in processes including gut barrier integrity and glucose metabolism.⁷ 

Rather than overhauling my diet completely, my focus is on leaning into fresh, seasonal produce and adding more variety in. Blackberry picking has been a solid toddler activity, and making a blackberry and apple crumble is one of my favourite autumnal rituals that I can’t wait to share with her. 

At nursery, Ruby has eaten cucumber, sweetcorn and pineapple; with me, a banana and an apple are safer bets for getting fibre and vitamins in. I’ve learnt that variety over time is a more realistic goal than trying to make every individual meal nutritionally perfect—and I’m sure she has better nutrition than I did at her age!

As tempting as it can be to hold on to the freedom of summer, a more consistent sleep and wake routine can help support our circadian rhythms. I’m guilty of watching one too many episodes of whatever series I’m into after Ruby has gone to bed. 

For me, those late nights and early mornings tend to result in depending on coffee to get through the day, and eating less nutritionally dense foods on the go. When I’m well rested, I don’t crave comfort foods, I feel more alert and my digestion seems smoother. 

During the summer, getting outside with a toddler can be the default activity; now the weather is changing, I can already see us spending more time indoors or swapping the park for museums, the library, and other rainy-day options. 

However, regular movement and exposure to daylight help support healthy circadian rhythms and are also associated with benefits for physical and mental wellbeing⁸, so I’ll probably be investing in a good waterproof coat.  

A September reset, not a September overhaul 

There is something reassuring about recognising that our bodies are built to adapt. The gut microbiome is dynamic, constantly responding to the world around us, while remaining part of a much bigger conversation between the gut and brain. 

For those looking for additional support, Invivo’s Bio.Me range can complement these everyday foundations by helping to support the gut microbiome alongside a varied, fibre-rich diet. 

The September reset that I’m aiming for doesn’t involve doing everything differently, but returning to the things that help me feel more resilient when life inevitably becomes a little more unpredictable. 

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