Gut Health 101 + Gut Healing Foods
It seems like the words "gut health" and "gut microbiome" are everywhere when it comes to health and becoming 'buzzwords’ in the media.
I believe that your gut is the seat of your health. Let me explain why. You have over 39 trillion micro-organisms in your gut, which includes mostly bacteria, as well as yeast, parasites, viruses and archaea…
This means you have way more bacteria than you do human cells!
Let's go a step further and look at microbial composition. So, the majority of your gut bacteria are “goodies” that help you digest your food, convert it to energy and absorb the nutrients you need. They also positively affect every other body system.
However when we get an increase in the “challenging” gut bacteria (due to stress, medication, processed food, lack of sleep, toxins, alcohol, caffeine, etc.) it plays havoc with our health, contributing to digestive issues, anxiety, depression, fatigue, immune issues, weight gain and so much more. These stressors can reduce the "goodies" and create a rich environment for the "challenging" gut bugs to thrive in, causing them to multiply and drive "dysbiosis", which is disharmony in the gut flora. For example, candida and e.coli, which are both healthy in small amounts but are classified as "challenging" microorganisms, are problematic in large amounts.
Something else to consider is that although antibiotics are life-saving they are also over-prescribed. One in every two Aussies take at least once course of antibiotics annually. The World Health Organisation states that antibiotic resistance (from overuse of antibiotics) is a global health crisis.
The nitty gritty of your gut microbes…
Imagine a 2kg bag of rice - it’s heavy, right? Well, you’ve got up to 2kg of bacteria living in your gut right now!
We should all have a few hundred species of bacteria living in our gut. The bugs that inhabit your gut impact digestion, absorption, elimination and every other body system.
For example, over 70% of your immune cells live in your gut and this is the intrinsic gut-immune relationship. It has recently become obvious that alterations of these gut microbial communities can cause immune dysregulation, leading to autoimmune disorders and allergies (which have increased dramatically in the last couple of decades), including asthma, food allergies, Crohn's disease, etc.
Some of your neurotransmitters (which manage mood and sleep) are also manufactured in your gut, such as serotonin and GABA, which is known as the anti-anxiety hormone.
These examples help explain why those with immune issues like asthma, eczema, allergies and autoimmune disease, as well as those with mood disorders such as anxiety and depression (both are linked to serotonin deficiency) need to address their gut health so they can address symptoms as well as causes.
Due to the diversity of your microbes it also means that your gut microbiome, which is your own little ecosystem, is completely unique to you.
Your gut microbiome is as unique as a fingerprint!
So what’s the answer… well I’ve created a Love Your Guts eBook, a free resource, that walks you through some doable and easy-to-implement dietary and lifestyle tips and tricks to support a thriving gut microbiome and aid digestion!
For a personalised approach (gut microbiome stool testing/food intolerance testing'/SIBO testing, etc. plus meal plans, recipes and specific diets to suit your symptoms such as elimination diet, low FODMAPs, low histamine foods, etc.) you can book in for a one-on-one consultation here
