I had the chance to speak to a group of women about gut health, and realized that I've never written a blog post about the almighty gut....so I wanted to take a few quick minutes to talk about this oh-so-important part of your body (that really is a hub for both wellness and illness throughout the entire body).
Many people don't know that it's such a huge hub for health, and therefore don't understand how important it is to care about what's going on there for the health of the entire body. The truth is, the gut is often the place where most imbalance and dysregulation begins (or can NOT begin!)
Why is that? Well, because the gut is really the entry point of the outside world into the inside world (of your body). It's the entry point for all essential nutrition which is needed to fuel every cell in your body. It is also the exit path for toxins and waste.
A few interesting reasons why you should care about your gut:
- The gut is home to more than two thirds of the immune system - and is constantly surveying our intake, outflow and microbial balance
- The gut is guarded by a population of diverse microbes -- in fact, microbial genes outnumber our own genes by 300x! Literally tens of trillions of microbes live within us and our health very much depends on the health and balance of these microbes
- We are symbiotic with the microbes- they survive off of residue from our diet (things like fiber, sugars/starches, amino acids, gasses) and they secrete vitamins, enzymes beneficial fats, as well as toxins -- all of which we need for good health
- Balanced and diverse microbes help keep our immune system primed and not over reactive (over reactivity can create things like allergy, asthma, arthritis, auto-immune illness)
- The gut houses its own nervous system - called the enteric nervous system - which generates neurotransmitters used throughout the body
- 90% of your body’s serotonin and 50% of your body’s dopamine are produced in the gut, not the brain (the body’s feel good neurotransmitters)
- Things like sound sleep, pain regulation, balanced mood, ability to focus, control our muscles, learn new habits and have good memory are highly influenced by our gut health
- Also the gut and brain work as an integrated axis connected via the vagus nerve with 90% of the nerve fibers going from the gut to the brain (not the other way around) -- your gut really is informing your brain and the rest of your body!
So -- now that you are convinced that you should care about your gut, what can you do to keep it healthy or improve your overall health?
1) What you eat matters. And in fact, it's not just what you eat, but how you eat it, and how much of it you are able to actually digest, absorb, and get past the cell membrane that really matters.
2) Focus on whole, real foods and avoid the processed, chemical-laden junk. Think: real fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, healthy fats, and lots of clean, fresh water.
3) Take your time when you eat. Your stomach is like a huge blender -- don't over-stuff it and give it time to do its work. If you don't, you end up with things like indigestion, heart burn and bloating, and potential malnutrition and inflammation from improperly digested food.
4) Drink fluids but do it before and after your meal, not big gulps during. This upsets your digestive process and changes the pH of your stomach acid - rendering it less effective at doing its job of breaking down food into usable nutrients.
5) Become aware of the foods that bother you. You may have food sensitivities that are wreaking havoc on your gut, but unless you do something about them, your gut will not be as strong as it could be. An important tool that can help you do this is an elimination diet.
6) IBS (Irritable bowl) is a symptom, not a cause (i.e., it is not a disease). That means that it is being caused by something else (ultimately could be a combination of multiple things) including: dysbiosis (an imbalance in your gut microbes), pathogens, SIBO, perhaps immuno-suppression (think of stress, medication, viral challenges), maldigestion, food sensitivities/intolerance, insufficient nutrients. But the good news is: all of these things are reversible with the right guidance and making the right choices (for you). It isn't something you have to live with the rest of your life.
If you are interested in learning more or want guidance around issues dealing with your gut, reach out to me. This is an area that I'm passionate about and I want to help you using a functional medicine approach (getting to the route cause and helping to heal using lifestyle changes and supplements)!