Is Gut Health That Important?

In Calgary, Canada, staying healthy is a popular topic. Every day, people are exchanging unhealthy habits for healthier ones. One topic that has received attention is the connection of gut health to mental and physical well-being. The gut microbiome is a factor. Millions of beneficial microbes in the gut aid in the digestive process and produce enzymes that affect mood and physical processes. Other factors also affect gut health. Leaky gut can affect your entire body. Food intolerance is another gut health issue.

Your diet affects the types of microbes and the number of each.

A diet high in sugar will produce a microbiome with a heavy concentration of specific microbes, such as fungi. Eating food high in fiber feeds beneficial microbes. When you have a healthy diet, it increases the diversity of microbes and the number of beneficial ones. The food you eat and don’t eat determines gut health. The gut and its microbiome are considered the second immune system. If you don’t have a good blend of microbes, you don’t have a healthy gut. Poor gut health affects your whole body. Microbes don’t break down food into nutrients the body can use. They don’t create hormones and beneficial enzymes.

Leaky gut is a real problem.

Your diet plays a role in gut health. Excessive sugar intake, particularly fructose, leads to a microbial imbalance and leaky gut, which affects the whole body. Leaky gut is a theory that the mucous lining of the gut becomes permeable and allows for leakage. That leakage allows toxins to enter the bloodstream and cause inflammation throughout the entire body. There’s a link to chronic diseases like diabetes, arthritis, asthma, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue. Excess alcohol, vitamin A, D, and zinc deficiencies, chronic inflammation, stress, and yeast overgrowth can lead to leaky gut. An imbalance of gut microbes also may lead to it.

Gut health plays a role in mental health and obesity.

The microbes in the gut can determine how you handle stress, based on a recent study. The brain and gut are constantly in contact with each other. Changing the microbes in the gut directly affects the brain. Studies show that the diversity of the gut microbiome determines how well people handle stress. Gut microbes variety has links to schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and bipolar disease. Scientists are still discovering why this occurs. It may be via the immune system where microbes affect mood by reducing chronic inflammation, which can lead to depression.

• Poor gut health reveals itself in many ways. It can cause gas, constipation, heartburn, bloating, and diarrhea. It also may trigger chronic fatigue, weight gain, skin irritation, and autoimmune conditions.
• While your gut microbiome determines how you react to stress, stress can also affect the microbiome negatively. Other factors include the use of antibiotics.
• You can protect your gut lining by eating food high in soluble fiber. The fiber feeds microbes that convert it to mucus, which creates a barrier on the intestinal wall and protects the gut lining.
• Eating probiotic foods can help gut health. They include yogurt with live bacteria, kefir, kimchi, and sauerkraut.

For more information, contact us today at Get RIPPED! by Jari Love