GETTING THE GOOD GUT FEELING.../blog.html
ALL DISEASE BEGINS IN THE GUT - Hippocrates said this around 300BC..
70-85% of our immune system is in our gut. Isn't that HUGE?!! What this means is that if our gut & digestive system isn't healthy, then our immune system isn't fireing on all cylinders.. How do we achieve and maintain a healthy gut? We need to eat and drink foods that feed our bodies and reduce and eliminate those that are harming us. This can seem a bit daunting, but believe me, once you start feeling the difference in how your body operates, you won't look back, in fact you'll probably wonder why it's taken you so long to make a few easy changes.
ALL DISEASE BEGINS IN THE GUT - Hippocrates said this around 300BC..
70-85% of our immune system is in our gut. Isn't that HUGE?!! What this means is that if our gut & digestive system isn't healthy, then our immune system isn't fireing on all cylinders.. How do we achieve and maintain a healthy gut? We need to eat and drink foods that feed our bodies and reduce and eliminate those that are harming us. This can seem a bit daunting, but believe me, once you start feeling the difference in how your body operates, you won't look back, in fact you'll probably wonder why it's taken you so long to make a few easy changes.
Signs of an unhealthy gut is often more than just bloating, gas, stomach pain or diarrhea.
Gut imbalances have been linked to
Anxiety
Autoimmune Diseases
Hormonal Imbalances
Chronic Fatigue
Diabetes (1 & 2)
Eczema
Allergies
ADHD
Dyslexia
Autism
Headaches & Migraines
If your digestive system isn't healthy then you're not able to fight the disease. Good healthy gut flora (also know as microbiome) keeps everything in balance. To keep this balance you need to listen to your gut, gut instinct. The vagus nerve runs from the gut up to the brain, it's like a two way highway of information. The gut talks to the brain, and the brain talks to the gut. So if the gut is unhealthy, what sort of messages is the brain receiving, but also, what mixed up messages are we telling ourselves? We are all unique & therefore have unique responses to what we put into our bodies, but there is a common thread of what is harmful to our glorious gut. We need to get rid of inflammatory foods, irritants like alcohol, caffeine, household chemicals and drugs. Antibiotics are designed to kill off bacteria, this means that, unfortunately, the good gut bacteria is killed off as well as the bad. Other medications also have the same effect on our microbiome. The good bacteria doesn't fully recover from use of antibiotics without help, basically you need to reinoculate yourself with good gut bugs. More on how to do that a little later.
Inflammatory foods such as dairy, gluten, eggs, refined carbohydrates (most of the white flours and sugars), processed foods and sugars all interfere and weaken the gut lining and gut barrier. What happens then is we develop 'leaky gut', where undigested particles of the inflammatory foods leak through the compromised gut lining into our system which doesn't see it as friendly but as foe & starts attacking it. This doesn't sound too bad, but what makes it even worse is that many of these undigested particles often resemble the look of some of our cells and glands in our bodies, therefore, we start attacking our good cells and some glands (ie the thyroid) because they look like the bad particles that have leaked through the compromised gut lining. This can lead to autoimmune diseases, which is basically where your body starts attacking itself.
The good news is that many people notice a massive difference in their health once they start getting good gut bugs back in and start healing the gut lining, which is the first line of defence in our immune system.
How do we do this????
First and foremost, take out the bad stuff from your diet and lifestyle - inflammatory foods, household chemicals, alcohol, caffeine and drugs. If you have a chronic issue with your gut or any of the above health issue, I'd suggest eliminating as many of the foods that you feel might be problematic for two weeks, then slowly introducing them back in. Listen to your gut, it will let you know what it likes and doesn't like.
Secondly, and do this at the same time as elimination, it is essential to heal your gut lining. This can be done by incorporating good bone broth into your everyday diet. Click here for my 24 hour bone broth recipe.
I have a cup at breakfast and during times when I'm feeling a little run down or low, I often have two or three cups during the day. Collagen is also fantastic in the healing process, gelatin and collagen both help to rebuild, nurture and strengthen the gut lining, therefore making a stronger environment for the microbiome (gut bugs) to flourish and multiply. Then start to introduce some good bugs back in. A good probiotic from your local health food shop, ask the shop assistant to point you in the right direction of a good one, but general rule of thumb is that it needs to be stored in the fridge. Any other fermented foods such as fresh sauerkraut, from the fridge (when I say fresh, I mean one that hasn't been on the supermarket shelf for months), kombucha tea, kefir, miso and kimchi. You easily incorporate these foods into your daily meals. The fresh probiotics from the food sources are what has helped me get my immunity back and firing. For example I love adding sauerkraut to my protein meals such as farm fresh sausages wrapped in a lettuce leaf with mustard and homemade tomato sauce, or add it to a green chopped salad..
If you've been experiencing stomach or other health issues for a while, the process of reinoculating yourself with the good stuff could take a little time to take effect. Have faith in your body. Give it time to heal. Treat it with respect, listen to your gut instinct (pun intended) and it will look after you..
Keep happily nourished and I'd love to hear what your healthy tummy tips are..
Gut imbalances have been linked to
Anxiety
Autoimmune Diseases
Hormonal Imbalances
Chronic Fatigue
Diabetes (1 & 2)
Eczema
Allergies
ADHD
Dyslexia
Autism
Headaches & Migraines
If your digestive system isn't healthy then you're not able to fight the disease. Good healthy gut flora (also know as microbiome) keeps everything in balance. To keep this balance you need to listen to your gut, gut instinct. The vagus nerve runs from the gut up to the brain, it's like a two way highway of information. The gut talks to the brain, and the brain talks to the gut. So if the gut is unhealthy, what sort of messages is the brain receiving, but also, what mixed up messages are we telling ourselves? We are all unique & therefore have unique responses to what we put into our bodies, but there is a common thread of what is harmful to our glorious gut. We need to get rid of inflammatory foods, irritants like alcohol, caffeine, household chemicals and drugs. Antibiotics are designed to kill off bacteria, this means that, unfortunately, the good gut bacteria is killed off as well as the bad. Other medications also have the same effect on our microbiome. The good bacteria doesn't fully recover from use of antibiotics without help, basically you need to reinoculate yourself with good gut bugs. More on how to do that a little later.
Inflammatory foods such as dairy, gluten, eggs, refined carbohydrates (most of the white flours and sugars), processed foods and sugars all interfere and weaken the gut lining and gut barrier. What happens then is we develop 'leaky gut', where undigested particles of the inflammatory foods leak through the compromised gut lining into our system which doesn't see it as friendly but as foe & starts attacking it. This doesn't sound too bad, but what makes it even worse is that many of these undigested particles often resemble the look of some of our cells and glands in our bodies, therefore, we start attacking our good cells and some glands (ie the thyroid) because they look like the bad particles that have leaked through the compromised gut lining. This can lead to autoimmune diseases, which is basically where your body starts attacking itself.
The good news is that many people notice a massive difference in their health once they start getting good gut bugs back in and start healing the gut lining, which is the first line of defence in our immune system.
How do we do this????
First and foremost, take out the bad stuff from your diet and lifestyle - inflammatory foods, household chemicals, alcohol, caffeine and drugs. If you have a chronic issue with your gut or any of the above health issue, I'd suggest eliminating as many of the foods that you feel might be problematic for two weeks, then slowly introducing them back in. Listen to your gut, it will let you know what it likes and doesn't like.
Secondly, and do this at the same time as elimination, it is essential to heal your gut lining. This can be done by incorporating good bone broth into your everyday diet. Click here for my 24 hour bone broth recipe.
I have a cup at breakfast and during times when I'm feeling a little run down or low, I often have two or three cups during the day. Collagen is also fantastic in the healing process, gelatin and collagen both help to rebuild, nurture and strengthen the gut lining, therefore making a stronger environment for the microbiome (gut bugs) to flourish and multiply. Then start to introduce some good bugs back in. A good probiotic from your local health food shop, ask the shop assistant to point you in the right direction of a good one, but general rule of thumb is that it needs to be stored in the fridge. Any other fermented foods such as fresh sauerkraut, from the fridge (when I say fresh, I mean one that hasn't been on the supermarket shelf for months), kombucha tea, kefir, miso and kimchi. You easily incorporate these foods into your daily meals. The fresh probiotics from the food sources are what has helped me get my immunity back and firing. For example I love adding sauerkraut to my protein meals such as farm fresh sausages wrapped in a lettuce leaf with mustard and homemade tomato sauce, or add it to a green chopped salad..
If you've been experiencing stomach or other health issues for a while, the process of reinoculating yourself with the good stuff could take a little time to take effect. Have faith in your body. Give it time to heal. Treat it with respect, listen to your gut instinct (pun intended) and it will look after you..
Keep happily nourished and I'd love to hear what your healthy tummy tips are..