A healthy gut, and what it entails Vs practices, diet, rituals, precautions.
By Dr. Anjali Hooda
BLURB:
“Gut microbiome is responsible for mental health, immunity, skin diseases, cancer, autoimuune conditions, and sleep disturbances. Gut is more like your second brain as 90% of serotonin receptors are present in the gut”
Gut means intestinal tract starting from your mouth to your anus, the whole intestinal tract is almost 25 feet long and it’s the largest absorptive area of the body.
Healthy gut means intact intestinal lining which doesn’t let toxins get absorbed back into your blood stream.
Whatever we eat enters into the digestive cycle of the intestine which produces digestive enzymes and absorbs nutrients from food we eat and the waste products are then eliminated via stool.
If we don’t excrete or have constipation then the toxins remain in the body to get re-absorbed into the circulation, that’s why first we always have to address the constipation.
Our gut contains thousands of bacteria, some of which are harmful and some are not.
Labeled as gut microbiome these bacteria are responsible for mental health, immunity, skin diseases, cancer, autoimuune conditions, and sleep disturbances.
Gut is more like your second brain as 90% of serotonin receptors are present in the gut. Those who don’t know this, serotonin is the chemical responsible for your mood and mental health, so food is not only calories, it is information.
Most cases of depression can be cured by improving the health of the intestines. By eating foods that can rebuild the gut, if the damage has happened over the years can be an effective way of improving and enhancing the overall health and wellbeing of a person, and this has been proved with various scientific observations and findings.
Leaky gut is something that happens when the gut develops minute leaks/holes in the gut which are not seen even with endoscopy or colonoscopy and these leaky areas allow the toxins from the waste products to be absorbed by the gut.
Symptoms of a Leaky Gut Are:
- Aches and pains
- Bloating
- Indigestion
- Brain fog
- Frequent infections
- Craving for high calorie foods
You can get tested for leaky gut by a functional medicine specialist, and it usually involves a stool test performed by a special lab, and treatments often include food rich in probiotics and prebiotics and usually hand holding by a health coach.
Treatment of Leaky Gut:
- Elimination diet
- Good sleep
- Abstinence from alcohol
- Eating whole foods and cultured milk
- Fruit and nuts
- Exercises
- Less intake of pain killers
- No smoking
Small intestine bacterial overgrowth and Candida infections of the gut refers usually to a bacterial overgrowth that can happen in patients who are diabetic, sedentary, those who had bowel surgery, excess or inappropriate use of antibiotics, excess sugar intake, alcoholics, immunodeficiency or patients on immune suppressants.
Symptoms for the small intestine bacterial overgrowth and Candida infections are also very much like those of the leaky gut, such as bloating, which is a dominant symptom. One may also have sugar cravings, fungal infections on skin, or eczema. Other symptoms include flu like illness, frequent migraines, joint pains, Fibromyalgia, Asthma and Rosacea.
The treatment for small intestine bacterial overgrowth and Candida infections include:
- Low FODMAP diet
- Avoidance of gluten esp breads
- Avoidance of smoking
- Avoidance of alcohol
- Specific supplements for gut healing
A lot of people suffer from these conditions and the required treatments are very time consuming. One must have patience to continue the treatment for a prolonged period of time. A healthy gut is the answer to a healthy and happy you.
(The author, Dr. Anjali Hooda is MBBS, MD, Internal Medicine, Obesity Medicine, and Functional Medicine from USA. She is also the Director at Livenutrifit & Center for Obesity and Longevity, COAL)
