Avoid Diseases by Maintaining a Healthy Gut

“All Disease Begins in the Gut.” – Hippocrates

Hippocrates, the Father of Modern Medicine, stated 2,000 years ago that “all diseases begin in the gut.” We are now returning to the understanding that he was correct. Current research has shown that gut health is perhaps the major determining factor in the struggle with obesity, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

A healthy gut is based on healthy gut flora. The gut flora consists of the microorganisms that live in the intestinal tract. These little bugs aid with normal digestion, protect against infection, regulate metabolism, and help make up 75% of our immune system. When this delicate balance is disrupted temporarily, individuals become sick with a cold or stomach virus, often feel fatigue, and experience constipation. When this balance is chronically disrupted, the previously mentioned diseases, autoimmune dysfunctions, and inflammatory bowel disease are possible.

Factors that disrupt gut flora:

Antibiotics, NSAIDs, and birth control pills
Unhealthy diets high in sugar, processed foods, and carbohydrates
A lack of fermentable fiber sources
Chronic stress
Chronic infections

Bad Flora = Leaky Gut

“Leaky Gut Syndrome” is an issue where large molecules leak out of the intestines into the blood stream creating an inflammatory immune response. It is theorized that bad intestinal flora creates leaky guy syndrome as the protective barrier in the gut flora becomes weaker. As healthy flora becomes unbalanced, the body responds by becoming sick.

This process could occur among individuals experiencing a prolonged period of stress such as a job loss or divorce. The stress hormones the body is producing, coupled with a lack of healthy food choices that generally accompany difficult times, alter the intestinal flora. These changes alter the makeup of the microbes found in the intestines causing them to reduce their protective abilities. The gut becomes damaged and “leaky.” The “leaky gut” allows for harmful molecules to enter the bloodstream and create another disease process such as obesity or psoriasis.

Here’s the takeaway: Leaky gut and bad gut flora are common because of the modern American lifestyle. If you have a leaky guy, you probably have bad gut flora, and vise versa. When the gut flora and gut barrier are impaired, inflammation appears. This systemic inflammatory response then leads to the development of autoimmune disorders. While leaky guy and bad gut flora may manifest as digestive trouble in many people, it may not present that way in everyone. It may show up as problems as diverse as heart failure, depression, brain fog, eczema/psoriasis, and other skin conditions, metabolic problems like obesity and diabetes, allergies, asthma, or other autoimmune diseases.

How to Repair the Gut Flora

As a way to fight against these chronic diseases, restoration of the gut flora should be a top priority. It takes time, and results do not always seem worth the effort at first. However, a sustained battle to regain a proper gut balance is well worth the end result.

The war plan against unhealthy gut flora:

Remove all food toxins from your diet.
Increase your stomach acid and enzymes.
Eat plenty of fermentable fibers (starches like sweet potato, yam, and yucca).
Eat fermented foods like kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, and/or take a high quality multi-species probiotic.
Avoid antibiotics as much as possible.
Take steps to manage your stress.

Remove all food toxins from your diet. A diet high in sugar, carbohydrates, and processed foods can devastate your gut flora. Elimination of these foods is a top priority. Maximize your intake of vegetables, lean animal meats, and a moderate intake of local fruit.
Increase your stomach acid and enzymes. Increasing your stomach acid may seem counterproductive for most, but it can be a big help in improving your gut. Sugar and processed foods can lower stomach acid production making it difficult to fully digest foods. The normal body response is to produce more stomach acid often leading to GERD or acid reflux. By adding acid to the stomach, you can reduce the body’s production of acid and increase the digestibility of foods. Two ounces of apple cider vinegar diluted in a glass of water per day is an effective remedy for this problem. Individuals who have more complicated cases can increase this to three times a day or a glass with each meal. Digestive enzymes will flourish in the proper pH balance, and supplemental enzymes can also be taken.
Eat plenty of fermentable fibers. Fermentable fibrous foods such as root vegetables can provide the nutrients necessary to help the good gut flora propagate. One of the main issues with processed foods is a lack of good fiber from these foods. Whole, unprocessed foods high in fiber are an essential component to grow good gut microorganisms. Sweet potatoes, yams, yucca, turnips, beets, and red potatoes are some of the best examples of these fibrous foods.
Eat fermented foods or take a high-quality multi-species probiotic. Foods that are already fermented, like kefir, low-sugar yogurt, and fresh sauerkraut are full of healthy microorganisms that are ready to take residence in your gut. These healthy bugs do a great job of breaking down whole foods and releasing the vitamins contained within. As a by-product, many of these also produce things like Acetylcholine, serotonin, tryptophan, and other calming neurotransmitters. These help to improve cognitive function, brain focus, and decrease pain and inflammation.
Avoid antibiotics as much as possible. There is no doubt that antibiotics have saved thousands of lives. But these important drugs were created for wartime use. The overuse and inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics is having a detrimental effect on our society. Even a single use of antibiotics can permanently alter the gut flora, leading to chronic diarrhea, colitis, allergies, Crohn’s disease, and obesity. If an antibiotic has to be used, restoring the gut flora with a combination of a good quality probiotic and steady ingestion of foods that promote healthy gut flora is necessary. (Side note: Breastfeeding is one of the most helpful ways to introduce a healthy gut flora to an infant. Studies have shown that breastfed babies have lower incidences of autoimmune disorders, obesity, allergies, and attention disorders later in life.)
Take steps to manage your stress. Managing stress helps regulate gut flora by reducing the production of detrimental hormones into the intestinal system. The word stress is a broad term and can refer to any “real or perceived threat to the homeostasis of an organism, eliciting adaptive responses to help maintain internal stability and ensure survival.” Stress can be acute or chronic, with chronic stressors from the lifestyle or environment causing the most damage to our health. The “gut feeling” that occurs with stress, or the sense of nausea, anxiety, or “butterflies in the stomach” is your body’s release of neurotransmitters from the brain and the neurons in your mesenteric nervous system. There are actually more neurons in the mesenteric nervous system than in your brain. In effect, stress has a larger impact on your stomach and gut flora than it has on the brain. Reducing stress through exercise, yoga, spiritual devotions, prayer, or even simply reading a book may be the most effective treatment for improving your gut flora than any other remedy.

Improving the environment of your intestinal system may be one of the most under-appreciated treatments for chronic diseases and disorders. The comprehensive approach necessary for improvement may seem insurmountable, but the benefits are well worth the effort. Striving to reduce the toxic food we consume is a continual struggle for even the healthiest of individuals. Likewise, improving the digestibility of foods by increasing stomach acid and intestinal fermentation can mean eating foods that our bodies are not accustomed to ingesting. Staying away from antibiotics can be a difficult choice, but the long-term benefits are worth it. Stress management is another important area of life with a large payoff. It is vital to remember that even small changes in these areas will offer growth in discipline. Moving toward a healthier body is a lifelong endeavor. Keep trying to improve, keep adding better habits, and keep getting healthier!

Your first step toward a healthier body might be to call our Roanoke, Virginia office at 1-540-344-1055. Or stop in to receive 10% off acidophilus and lavender oil through August 20.

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