How to improve your gut health
March 11, 2013
This was written by Kris Carr, a health crusader and best selling author of health issues and how to heal your body. This article was taken from her March Newsletter and included permission to copy and share. You can find her at www.KrisCarr.com.
We’ve all heard the saying, “listen to your gut.” And
while that advice often refers to our intuition, it should also speak to our
digestion. Your gut guides
your overall well-being. Quite
literally, your gut is the epicenter of your mental and physical health. Yet
it’s all too common to experience lots of digestive issues that make a huge
impact on our strength and vitality. If you want better immunity, efficient digestion, improved clarity and
balance, focus on rebuilding your gut health.
I know it may seem like there’s always something we
could be doing better. And frankly, our quest for getting well can be downright
exhausting! Sometimes our health issues can feel so big and daunting. This is
especially true when it comes to serious chronic diseases. I remember getting
frustrated many times. I thought to myself, for gosh sake, I’m doing everything
I can to heal this disease and though I’m grateful it’s still stable, why won’t
the sucker just go away? I give up! Then I decided to take it down a notch and
focus on healing areas of my life and my body that I actually could control. My
digestion had always been really weak. I got colds every year and had a list of
health problems stemming from my gut. That’s when the light bulb went off. I decided to forget about
cancer and focus my energy on my digestive health instead. Finally,
improvements I could see, feel and measure!
By supporting this mighty system, you’ll see chronic
health issues (like fatigue, fogginess, colds, aches and pains) diminish, and
you’ll feel abundant energy return. I know it sounds too good to be true, but
it really isn’t. I’ve experienced these results, and I’ve seen hundreds of
readers do the same. Now it’s your turn.
Today, we’re going to cover the basics of digestive
health. You’ll learn what your gut does and why it’s so important to keep it
healthy. Then, we’ll discuss how to care for your wonderful gut so that it
continues to take care of glorious you. Let’s dive in!
What happens inside your gut?
Your gut holds trillions of bacteria that help
process your food, produce nutrients, and fight disease. In fact, there are ten times more bacteria in your gut than cells
in your entire body! These little guys are super important and they need your
help. Since what you eat, drink and think affects the environment in your gut,
your daily choices play a critical role in whether those trillion plus bacteria
help or hinder your well-being.
It’s all about balance when it
comes to gut health. When your gut is in tip-top shape, about 80-85 percent
of bacteria are good guys and 15-20 percent are bad guys. You feel great, your
body is strong and nimble, you rarely get sick, your energy is consistent, you
poop like a champ, and life is good. The healthy bacteria are free to do their
job with ease. They assist with digestion, produce disease-fighting antibodies,
crowd out bad bacteria and produce certain hormones, vitamins and nutrients.
But when the harmful bacteria stage a revolt, all hell breaks loose.
They totally gum up the works and cause painful problems like inflammation and
infection, which can then lead to health issues such as constipation, Candida,
allergies, arthritis, headaches, depression, autoimmune diseases and more.
Medications (especially antibiotics and antacids),
environmental toxins and chemicals, stress and illness greatly affect the ratio
of good to bad bacteria. When bacteria are wiped out indiscriminately, the good
guys get mowed down, giving the bad guys a chance to increase their ranks.
Hello, chronic health issues.
The food you eat also affects the ratio of good
to bad bacteria. Everything you consume is processed
and either absorbed into your body or eliminated via your gut. Your gut
completes the amazing task of digesting your food and pulling the nutrients,
vitamins and minerals out of the food so that they can be absorbed into your
bloodstream.
And your gut’s mind-blowing capabilities don’t stop
there. Your gut also identifies invaders — toxins, microbes, viruses and
allergens that could harm your health — and moves them through your digestive
system so that they can be excreted. Buh-bye!
The key to this system working
in your favor is two-fold:
1) Lend your gut a hand by feeding your body whole,
plant-based, nutrient-dense foods.
2) Consistently practice a healthy lifestyle (less
stress, exercise, less exposure to environmental toxins, proper rest) that
supports the good gut bacteria and keeps the harmful bacteria under control.
Your mental health affects your
gut health (and vice versa).
Did you know you have two brains? Yup, you’re THAT
smart. The central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) controls almost all
voluntary and involuntary activities within your body. For example, a voluntary
action would be slicing your veggies, while an involuntary action would be
blinking, breathing or falling in love with Matthew Crawley’s character in
Downton Abbey (kidding, not!). The involuntary actions carried out by your
central nervous system are constantly at work taking care of you. Nice, right?
Thank you, central nervous system; you’re a peach!
Now guess where your second brain lives. Your gut! Yup,
it has a mind of its very own. Your gut’s “brain” is known as the enteric nervous system. This system is
home to 100 million neurons within your intestinal wall. These cute little neurons transmit important information
throughout your body. They also control digestion and send status updates to
the brain, letting it know how things are going in your belly.
Your two nervous systems have an intricate relationship
that’s just now being explored by scientists through the field of
neurogastroenterology (that’s a mouthful!). While the enteric nervous system initiates and
sustains digestion on its own, signals from the brain, such as stress and
anxiety, can have dramatic effects on how well it works. In addition, the brain
receives chemical messages from the gut, which can affect your mood and
emotions. In fact, the vast majority of
serotonin (a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, sleep, anxiety, depression
and more) is actually made in your gut, not your brain! It’s all connected and
sadly, few doctors ask you about your digestive health when you tell them
you’re feeling too blue to cope.
Your gut is a major component
of your immune system.
Did you know that about 60-70
percent of your immune system lives in your gut? Meet
your GALT; also know as gut-associated lymphoid tissue. Your GALT lies just
below the mucosal lining of the gut wall. It’s very thin (only one cell
thick!), and most importantly — it’s integral to your immune system. The GALT
contains specialized immune structures called Peyer’s patches that are filled
with immune cells, such as B cells and T cells, which are responsible for
recognizing and neutralizing harmful bacteria. When pathogenic bacteria visit
your gut via food or your environment, the Peyer’s patches trigger your immune
response to prevent them from passing through the gut wall.
Another way your gut protects you from infection
and disease is through an abundance of healthy bacteria. To keep harmful bacteria from overthrowing your gut,
healthy bacteria need to thrive and cover your gut wall — the only thing
standing between everything inside your gut and your bloodstream. It helps to
imagine that your gut wall is a parking lot. There are a limited number of
“parking spots” along your gut wall. You want good bacteria parked in those
spaces, so bad bacteria are crowded out. Keep those spaces filled by adopting
the following gut health tips.
Now that you know how important
your gut health is to your overall well-being, how can you take care of your
spectacular gut?
1. Take a probiotic supplement. A daily probiotic supplement will help boost the good
bacteria in your gut, keeping the bad guys under control, boosting your immune
system and easing digestive issues. This is especially helpful when you’re
taking a medication, such as an antibiotic that has wiped out a large amount of
gut bacteria. Some recommended brands: Dr. Ohirra’s, Primal Defense, Healthforce Nutritionals (Friendly Force),
and MegaFood’s Megaflora.
2. Eat probiotic whole foods. You can also eat whole foods that are fermented and
contain large amounts of good bacteria. Sauerkraut, Kim chi, miso, microalgae
and coconut kefir are fantastic plant-based probiotic-rich foods.
3. Eat prebiotic whole foods. Certain foods feed and support the growth of good
bacteria. By eating more whole, plant-based, fiber-filled foods, you’re fueling
the bacteria that support your health. Raw onions, garlic, dandelion greens,
artichokes and bananas are some of the best prebiotic foods to add to your
diet.
4. Eat regularly, but not constantly (and don’t
eat late at night). To give your gut a
chance to clean up and clear out bacteria and waste, it needs a rest from
digestion. Every 90 minutes to two hours, the smooth muscle in your intestines
move and groove to keep bacteria and waste truckin’ through your digestive
tract. But this process is put on hold every time you eat. Can you see why
snacking constantly slows down digestion and contributes to bacterial
overgrowth? I’m not saying that you need to fast for long periods — eating
regularly helps prevent constipation and bloating — but it’s best to take
breaks between meals.
5. Stay hydrated. A good rule of thumb for staying hydrated is drinking half
your bodyweight in ounces of water each day. For example, if you weigh 130
pounds, you should drink about 65 ounces of water. That’s about eight 8-ounce
glasses of water. Your gut needs water to keep bacteria and waste moving
through your digestive system, which will help prevent constipation and
bloating. When you’re dehydrated, these issues can throw off the balance of
bacteria in your gut and lead to inflammation. Give your gut a hand and drink
more H2O!
6. Lessen refined sugar and processed foods. When you consume processed, sugar-laden, refined foods,
you’re giving bad bacteria an all-you-can-eat buffet, which increases the
likelihood of all the aforementioned bull crap that weighs you down and dims
your shine.
7. Lessen stress. Remember when we talked about the connection between your
brain and your gut? When you experience chronic stress, your brain goes into
fight or flight mode, causing your digestion and blood flow in the gut to slow
down, the muscles that push along waste and bacteria to freeze up and the
secretions for digestion to decrease. All of these stress responses equal a
poorly functioning gut! Take care of your gut health by coping with stress
through breath work, yoga, meditation, therapy, time in the outdoors and the
countless other stress reduction techniques available to you.
I hope this information inspires you to love your gut
back to health. Your turn to
share: How will you help your gut today? And if you’ve been down
this road, what has helped you recover? I’d love to know! I’m still on the path,
as are many of my readers.
