Gut Health: Healing Digestive Distress
Gut health is now becoming a popular topic throughout the U.S. In my practice, I emphasize gut health because it plays an integral role in the body’s function.
Some interesting facts about the gut include:
You are not alone: there are over 100 trillion bacteria in your digestive tract, making up your unique microbiome.
Hormones such as serotonin, the feel-good hormone, are produced primarily in the gut.
70% of the immune system is in the gut
Your gut has a brain: The “Enteric Nervous System,” called the second brain, modulates the endocrine and immune system.
What is the gut?
The gut or gastrointestinal tract includes the mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, and anus. Also included in this system are the salivary glands, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas, which create enzymes that aid digestion.
Your organs like the stomach and small intestine are all connected back to the Nervous System and enter your spine cord at various points on the spine.
Anywhere along this tract, problems can arise that take you out of balance and affect other areas of your body.
Bacteria, forming the gut microbiota, live all along the digestive tract, but primarily in the intestine and colon. The gut microbiota metabolizes nutrients from food so you may use them, protects against infections, produces various vitamins, and regulates immune homeostasis. You have both “good” and “bad” bacteria within your system, and the key is to have more of the good bacteria and minimize the harmful bacteria.
Though this is a simple concept, many lifestyle factors can negatively influence your microbiome including, diet, food sensitivities, allergies, antibiotic use, environmental toxins, and emotional stress.
The gut lining in your small and large intestine is just one cell by one cell. Illustrated in the photo below, a normal gut will have a tight junction between each cell, preventing harmful pathogens and bacteria from entering the bloodstream.
Food sensitivities and other inflammation-causing situations like stress or lack-of-sleep cause those cell walls to loosen, creating digestive stress. Inflammation creates abnormal cell shapes and weakened structure, dramatically changing the state of your health.
Four of the most common foods people are sensitive to are gluten, egg, soy, and dairy. These, along with processed foods and sugar, will damage the cell wall, feed “bad” bacteria, and kill off your good bacteria. We have a variety of tests to help understand the current state of your digestive system.
Research shows that high sugar intake increases inflammation and gut permeability. In a recent study from May 2020, researchers conclude: “a high sugar intake may stagger the balance of microbiota to have increased pro-inflammatory properties and decreased the capacity to regulate epithelial integrity and mucosal immunity.” The inflammatory nature of sugar is why I have created the Sugar Free Solution program to help people break free from sugar, which recks havoc on the gut.
Additionally, probiotics help establish good bacteria in the gut while making the proper lifestyle changes to stop damaging the system. Probiotics are a dietary supplement that contains live organisms that will help establish and repopulate your gut flora.
No one magic bullet will help overcome digestive distress or help keep your gut healthy. Instead, with routine care, guidance from professionals, and lifestyle choices that support your health and wellbeing, you can be an active player in your self-healing and feel better than ever before.
Right now, you can
Make sure you are drinking plenty of water
Reduce sugar and processed foods
Set up an appointment to get at the root cause of your digestive issues
Every change and step you make to take care of your gut health will help you live your most vibrant life!