“Gut health is the key to overall health.”— Kris Carr
The gut is considered the body’s second brain. It’s THAT amazing!! And much like the brain, it’s not completely understood. More and more research is showing that gut health directly impacts (our actual) brain health. Leaky gut, scientifically known as intestinal hyperpermeability, is all the rage on the interwebs. But it’s not just the latest fad, it’s messing with our bodies and our brains, big time.
Our gut health is, by and large, determined by the levels of bacteria in our gut. Basically there needs to be a certain balance of “good” AND “bad” bacteria in there, and when this ratio gets out of whack we end up with what’s called dysbiosis. It’s a fancy word that means there’s too many bad bacteria and not enough good bacteria. This is thought to be caused by processed and sugar laden foods, antibiotics and (sometimes unknown to us) food sensitivities.
Ideally we should remove the foods that we are eating that are causing us to destroy our guts. But this is sometimes easier said than done, especially if you fall into the category of having a food sensitivity you don’t know about. Enter the probiotic. Probiotics help restore the balance when we are in gut dysbiosis. {It’s such a neat word, I can’t help myself!} The probiotic, in simple words, throws in a whole bunch of “good” bacteria to level the playing field against all the “bad” bacteria floating around in your gut after you’ve done some damage. {Sounds fun, huh?} I take a probiotic every morning on an empty stomach. There is some debate about whether the empty stomach part is actually necessary. There’s also debate about whether the probiotic needs to be encaspsulated {mine is} to make it past the acids in your stomach…certain strains of bacteria are tough enough to defend themselves from breaking down until they make it to where they need to go. My advice is do some research and not buy whatever happens to be sitting on the shelf at your local store. {There’s a lot, btw} It pays to know what you’re spending your money on.
There are other ways to clean up your gut, too. Aside from the obvious elimination of sugar and processed foods {wink, wink}. Adding fermented foods to your diet is one way. (I add organic sauerkraut to my daily salad). I also really enjoyed this article about how dogs can be beneficial to healing our guts. {Another reason to love puppy kisses!} I remember our pediatrician telling me once about how farmers (and their families) traditionally didn’t get as sick as the rest of us, because they were constantly exposed to all the dirt and germs from the animals. {Makes sense, right?} I totally felt better about not mopping my floors as often after that visit! {Thanks Dr. R!!}
So clean up your gut…it could be as simple as cleaning up your diet. But if that seems just too big a pill to swallow {I love puns} then my suggestion is go get a probiotic!!
Light and Love,
♥k