Nutrition and Gut Health
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Many digestive health issues involve an imbalance of intestinal bacteria. Cycles of dietary malabsorption, bacterial overgrowth, inflammation, intestinal gas and toxin production lead to a variety of symptoms, leaky gut and autoimmune reactions.
In addition to that, when 75-80% of our immune system is in our gut; if something is out of balance or we are reacting to certain foods, we are going to have issues. The good news! Many chronic conditions can be healed and/or symptoms alleviated when we get the gut back to a healthy state of balance.
The gut is the second brain, and when out of balance can be a cause of ill health. A “leaky gut” can lead to autoimmune disease or opening up of the blood brain barrier and a disturbance of the complex neurotransmitter system in the brain.
Some of the common gut and related issues include:
- Heartburn | Acid Reflux | GERD
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
- Celiac disease
- Crohn’s disease
- Diverticulitis
- Asthma
- Rosacea
- Leaky gut
- Other health issues related to digestive health
When our intestinal lining is compromised the tight junctions (microvilli) become inflamed and with inflammation they begin to open which then allows food and toxins to flow directly into the bloodstream and then your body starts to attack those foreign particles and that is when we see other symptoms such as those listed above.
Your health depends on the bacteria in your gut
Our body cannot digest certain foods such as resistant starch and various fibers. We depend on a diverse population of bacteria to digest them for us, so that our body in turn utilizes fats and vitamins produced by the bacteria.
We have over 100 trillion bacteria comprised of over 1,000 species and sub-species in our large and small intestine creating a healthy ecosystem. When this ecosystem is violated, we experience a variety of symptoms and digestive health issues.
Through dietary changes, behavioral modifications and supplementation, you can bring your gut microbes into healthy balance and become symptom-free without drugs or antibiotics.
A very useful test to look at gut health is a comprehensive stool test plus parasites, this test looks at how well the gut absorbs and digests nutrients, the number of healthy bacteria, and pathogens and the presence of candida. Parasites if present can also cause ill health.
Schedule your ‘Gut Health’ consultation with Stefani Wooldridge, our Registered Dietitian, who will help you dig deeper to find the root cause of you symptoms and to achieve your optimal health.