Optimizing Gut Health for Health and Happiness
Optimizing gut health is critical for our overall health. As Hippocrates said “all diseases begin in the gut.” We often think of our stomach as an empty vat that food plops into – which could not be any further from reality.
Our gut is the host to 100 trillion microorganisms, composing our microbiota. The gut’s functions are
- digestion
- absorption of nutrients
- excretion of waste
- development and function of the immune system
- gut-brain communication
- production of serotonin
- Helps control our hormonal levels, helping us maintain healthy cortisol levels improved ability to handle stress
- A recent study of 1,500 people found that our gut microbiome plays an important function by promoting the healthy HDL cholesterol and lowering triglycerides
Many of our daily chronic issues & diseases including weight gain, high blood sugar, high cholesterol could originate from a dysfunctional gut, or a dysbiosis – an imbalance between good and harmful bacteria. We run to treat the blood sugar, cholesterol…..with medications, when maybe a first step should be balancing our microbiome.
We are first exposed to microbes when we pass through Mama’s birth canal.
Just how important is our microbiota…..Would you like to have a fecal transplant? AKA poop in a pill or bacteriotherapy – our microbiota is just that important. A fecal transplant takes microbes from individuals with a healthy flora and given to an unhappy microbiome, used to treat chronic intestinal infections. Kind of a reverse colonoscopy, these transplants are 90 percent effective in healing the gut and eliminating the infection. Imagine – transplanting bacteria to get healthy!
Optimizing Gut Health by Minimizing the Harmful Bacteria
We nurture the bad bacteria by eating refined sugars, processed foods, ingesting toxins in our food, alcohol. Our diet, lifestyle, and medications, particularly antibiotics, influence and shape the gut microbiome throughout our life. Antibiotics kill the good bacteria too, not just the bad ones.
The bad bacteria interact with the immune system in the gut to cause the release of inflammatory cytokines and stress steroids ….associated with chronic inflammation.
The good bacteria: Housekeepers of the gut, crucial to health and should dominate and control all other microbes. The beneficial bacteria provide a natural barrier and protect us against disease, free radicals, hostile bacteria, parasites, fungi, viruses and toxins that are in our food and drink that we ingest every day.
A word about probiotics to support beneficial bacteria – and they spend A LOT of money to get those billions of colonies.
It does not matter how many billions of colonies
there are – what matters is if they can survive the stomach acid to get to reach our small intestine. Most probiotics do not make it there – unless they are specifically formulated to pass through the stomach. Lowering stomach acid is NOT the answer- our stomach acid plays a very important role in our health!
Leaky gut: I feel any article about optimizing gut health would be incomplete without at least mentioning leaky gut. AKA “intestinal permeability,” a condition in which the lining of the small intestine is damaged, causing undigested food particles, toxic waste products and bacteria to seep through the intestines invading the blood stream. Leaky gut can lead to many serious health issues.
Possible signs of leaky gut include:
- diarrhea, constipation, bloating & gas
- skin issues such as hives, rashes
- carb cravings
- weakened immune system
- brain fog
- achey joints
Dr. Axe is a great place to research leaky gut and learn more!!!
Oxidative Stress & Gut Health
I have many articles on this site for reducing oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress ⇒⇒Inflammation ⇒⇒Chronic Inflammation ⇒⇒ Disease
Reducing oxidative stress is a MUST for a healthy lifestyle.
As Harvard says:
Inflammation is the unifying link between all disease – mental and physical
There are many causes of oxidative stress endogenous and exogenous. The oxymoron here is often we make choices we think our good for us – but we easily could be decreasing our body’s ability to lower oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress is a culprit in the pathogenesis of our GI diseases including peptic ulcers, gastrointestinal cancers, and inflammatory bowel disease.
Oxidative Stress is a strong factor in the process of gastric mucosal injury
A study in Belgium – studying the “microbial repertoire” in the gut consistently found that people diagnosed with depression were missing 2 kinds of good, vital microbes. A later Dutch study – found the same 2 microbes missing.
⇒⇒ Oxidative stress affects our gut health and can cause serious damage. Yet another way oxidative stress is at the root of all diseases
Combatting Oxidative Stress with NRF2 Pathway:
Complicated – but simply, our inner NRF2 pathway triggers our antioxidative genes. It is completely accepted the NRF2 pathway lowers oxidative stress, however, it also dramatically decreases with age. The NRF2 powers provide a million times the antioxidative power. There are hundreds of studies, peer reviewed studies that prove the incredible power of activating our NRF2 pathway. The truth is – there really is only one way to activate the NRF2 pathway – and that is with the natural supplements that have been studied, proven and accepted by our respected medical institutions.
Washington State University refers to these NRF2 activators as the “the most extraordinary therapeutic and most extraordinary preventative breakthrough in history of medicine.” These activators are recommended by the American Heart Association and have earned the accolades of hundreds of peer reviewed studies.
Our cells are forced to confront the daily cacophony of life, from oxidative stress. We have the ability to orchestrate the musicians, our cells, into the symphony of life. Contact me to lower oxidative stress by up to 40% in the first month. My Bonus for the corporate world – free educational webinars on understanding oxidative stress and inflammation – and really managing and preventing disease. email me for details.
Oxidative Stress at the Root of Disease
In Health,
Shira
Shira@BestInCorporateHealth.com. Set Up a Call
The supplement like a flu shot against oxidative stress…..
Why are we not controlling chronic illness? We must control the wildfire of inflammation and lower oxidative stress. We know oxidative stress is at the root of chronic illness such as cancer, heart disease, depression, arthritis, stroke, diabetes. Inflammation ages us and leaves us susceptible to disease….We take a flu shot to prevent the flu – one simple supplement to lower your oxidative stress by as much as 40%. 7 patents, 24 peer reviewed studies on pubmed, accolades from American Heart Association, Mayo Clinic, National Institute on Aging….Washington State: “may well become the most extraordinary therapeutic and most extraordinary preventative breakthrough in the history of medicine.”
Shira Litwack: Corporate Wellness Specialist, Chronic Care prevention & management program design, health technologies, population health management on 3 continents.
There is an estimated 750 Billion dollars in U.S. health care waste every year. Our many technologies assure you are not contributing to that $750 billion. Health technology serving the continuum from prevention through chronic illness management.
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