Let’s talk about our gut and GI tract.
It is what joins the outside world to the inside world of us.
The health of our gut is ultimately the health of us. It is crucial to keep our gut healthy so that we are healthy.
Here are 10 key points of understanding how dis-ease begins in the gut:
- Dis-ease often begins in the gut and shows up as a dysfunction elsewhere in the body at a later time. Over 2/3 of the immune system resides in the gut, assessing the status of our world based on the microbes we swallow. Microbial genes affect physiology!
- We do not have nutrients stored in our body. Food choices really matter! We need essential nutrients from our food, that is brought in through the GI tract that literally run every cell in the body. The GI tract is the main entryway for: nutrition, microbes, toxins, hydration. As well as the main exit way: waste, toxins & hormones.
- We are not what we eat as they say. We are what we eat, digest, absorb, convert and get past the cell membrane. Chronic stress impairs all of these functions. Chewing well is a critical habit to ensure that we can digest, absorb and convert.
- Eating hygiene is so powerful and important. It is also an act of self-care. Eat smaller meals, eat until you are ¾ full, eat slower for hormone release (leptin) to feel satiated. Eat in a relaxed parasympathetic state to promote optimal digestive secretions.
- Grazing on food all day can create microbial imbalance and downstream disease. The Migrating Motor Complex (MMC) cleanses the GI tract but only when we aren’t digesting food (ideally leaving at least 3 hours between meals) especially to clear microbial debris. In vulnerable individuals grazing all day contributes to SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) and other dysbiosis.
- The mouth is the gateway to the gut- and thus the immune system. Assess mouth and dental health. Amalgam dental fillings which are 50% mercury are toxic! Root canals may create chronic inflammation. Mucous membranes must be well hydrate to allow good immune function.
- We face challenges to balance nutrient absorption with toxic excretion. Suboptimal gut transit time is a symptom and can promote dis-ease. When it is too fast it can cause dehydration and mineral deficiency. When it is too slow it can create microbial imbalance & re-toxification. Most constipation comes from magnesium insufficiency, dehydration and/or subclinical hypothyroidism. Perhaps also insufficient soluble fiber, healthy fats, food sensitives, dysbiosis or lack of movement. Most diarrhea comes from stress, anxiety, lack of sleep, lactose intolerance, medications like antibiotics.
- Hypochlorhydria is common and often reversible. It can create downstream IBS symptoms and dis-ease. Consider poor eating hygiene, age, H. Pylori overgrowth, stress, hypothyroid or hypo-adrenal, or medications. Most chronic acid reflux is due to insufficient magnesium. We need to be ensure that we have enough magnesium to stop the lower esophageal sphincter from spasming . Acid suppressing medications PPI prescribed for GERD creates hypochlorhydria and makes things worse.
- Hydrate between meals, not during meals. Excessive water during a meal may dilute stomach acid and create hypochloridria dynamics.
- Enhanced intestinal permeability (or leaky gut) may be promoted by many lifestyle choices. This can include medications (NSAIDs, oral contraceptives, antidepressants) insufficient Vitamin D, mold exposure, increased zonulin in response to gluten or chronic stress.
Our body’s ability to fight off dis-ease is really dependent on the health of our gut. It is no surprise that when we are stressed, eating unhealthily, staying sedentary and exposing ourselves to a toxic world that we are battling with health issues. Our gut’s ability (specifically our liver, kidneys and gallbladder) to handle these toxins is dependent on the choices we make.
Our body is designed to keep a thriving, diverse microbiome to prevent and suppress from any overgrowth of microbial strains. There are countless aspects that our body and microbiome does for us daily. We have to treat it with respect by maintaining its diversity and ability to thrive. This ultimately and unquestionably determines the health of us.
As always, if you want to talk with one of our Health Coaches to help you get to the root cause of your symptoms - please head to our website and fill out our 20min Complimentary call form. We have several programs available to help get you started on your personal health journey!
