Eight Gut Destroyers
Are these eight things harming your gut health?
The human gut contains 10 times more bacteria than all the human cells in the entire body, with over 400 known diverse bacterial species.
We’ve only recently begun to understand the extent of the gut flora’s role in human health and disease. Among other things, the gut flora promotes normal gastrointestinal function, provides protection from infection, regulates metabolism and comprises more than 75% of our immune system.
Dysregulated gut flora has been linked to diseases ranging from autism and depression to autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s, inflammatory bowel disease and type 1 diabetes.
Unfortunately, several features of the modern lifestyle directly contribute to unhealthy gut flora:
Eating too fast - and not chewing your food properly? Slow down friends, it's not a race and this can cause distress, inflammation and bloating.
Food sensitivities - “one man's food is another man's poison.” Be mindful not to fall into restriction of micronutrients and take an individualised approach (better yet, work with someone if you are noticing symptoms)
Cronic stress - sympathetic vs parasympathetic - implement healthy lifestyle habits to reduce cortisol response.
Eating ‘on the go’ - for optimal digestion, it is important to be in a parasympathetic state, aka rest and digest.
Nutrient deficiencies - The stomach and proximal small intestine are responsible for most nutrient digestion and absorption in humans.
Dietary toxins like wheat and industrial seed oils that cause leaky gut - gluten and chemicals like arsenic or BPA causes an immune response which affects not only the gut itself, but also other organs and tissues.
Antibiotics and other medications like birth control and NSAIDs - Many common drugs can cause alterations of the microbiota of the human gut.
Refined carbohydrates, sugar and processed foods - choosing whole foods over processed foods will promote healthy digestion. Processed foods often contain added sugar, fat and salt.
If you’ve been exposed to some of these factors, there are still steps you can take to restore your gut flora.
Remove all food toxins from your diet
Maximize your digestive capacity using supplemental acid and enzymes
Eat plenty of fermentable fibers (starches like sweet potato, yam, pumpkin, etc.)
Eat fermented foods like kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, etc., and/or take a high-quality, multi-species probiotic
Treat any intestinal pathogens (such as parasites) that may be present
Take steps to manage your stress