What Affects Our Gut Health?
Josh Allen • February 18, 2022
Why Gut Health Is Important?
The gut or digestive system includes your mouth, stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, intestine and rectum. Having a healthy 'gut' means optimizing absorption of nutrients, blood sugar, elimination of waste, detoxification and is even linked with mental health.
The Top Things That Affect our Gut Health:
1) Food
- Low quality foods damage the gut. Processed foods and inflammatory foods like wheat, dairy, corn, soy, sugar (The Furious 5) are common culprits for many people.
- A lack of variety in foods limits gut bacteria variety and increases the risk of food sensitivities.
- Alcohol. Reduces good bacteria while increasing bad bacteria.
- Low veggie/fiber intake - impedes bowel movements and affects cholesterol/blood sugar.
2) Stress
- When we are stressed, the digestive system slows down. This is why you lose your appetite or become constipated when you are stressed.
- Chronic stress creates a chronic state of high cortisol which is one of the biggest causes of 'leaky gut' and food sensitivities.
3) Chemicals
- Chemicals can enter our body via mouth, lungs or skin.
- Food, cosmetics, soaps, cleaning agents etc are the likely places where we are getting chemicals from.
- Chemicals put stress on our body. Our liver is our main detoxification pathway and often works overtime. When it is overburdened, chemicals get stored in fat cells.
4) Medications
- Medications are extremely hard on the gut. They can alter gut bacteria and affect the integrity of the gut wall/mucus lining.
- Common examples are: antacids, NSAIDS, antibiotics and birth control.
5) Overgrowth/Infections
- Our gut always contains good and bad bacteria. The key is to limit the bad bacteria.
- Foreign bacteria becomes a problem when our internal environment supports their growth.
- Signs of overgrowth: constipation/diarrhea, bloating, acid reflux, itching, skin issues and food sensitivities.
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Need help with your digestion? We offer health coaching with emphasis on nutrition and lifestyle habits that support health digestion. Contact us at
Info@NovaHealthClub.com
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