Why are we suffering from an unhealthy gut flora?
Good health starts with a healthy gut. Over 70% of our immune system is in our gut. More than likely our digestive system get’s compromised by many factors such as poor dietary choices, chemicals, additives, artificial sweeteners, antibiotics, stress, allergies, pesticides, to name a few. All these factors destroy the good bacteria we need in our intestinal tract. Many of us have taken antibiotics once or twice, or even numerous times in our lifetime. Antibiotics not only destroy the good bacteria, but they also destroy the good bacteria. We need good bacteria in our digestive system to protect us from illness and chronic disease. Having a healthy gut is also key to proper digestion, absorption of essential nutrients, and becoming a fat burning machine.
How does this affect us?
Poor dietary choices, stress, antibiotics strip the good bacteria from our intestines, this gives the bad bacteria an opportunity to thrive. This unwanted bad bacteria can lead to all sorts of health issues and causes inflammation in the digestive track, leading to a weakened immune system, food allergies, leaky gut, sluggish digestion, poor nutrient absorption, depression and chronic disease.
Symptoms commonly related to an unhealthy gut:
- Bloating
- Constipation, diarrhoea
- Fatigue
- Food intolerances
- Acne
- Allergies
- Sugar cravings
- Trouble losing weight
- Autoimmune disease
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Blood sugar dysregulation
- Malabsorption
- Anxiety
- Depression
If you have been experiencing a few of these symptoms for a while, you may want to seek some support for addressing and restoring your gut health. When healing the gut most people find their symptoms disappear, such as cravings are gone (especially for sugar), energy is increased, sleep improves. Other benefits include improved digestion, a stronger immune system, weight loss, hormonal balance and clearer skin.
Start the healing process.
I recommend seeking help from a holistic practioner who will be able to assess your current diet and lifestyle. We (certified holistic practioners) are able to see where you need to make changes or modifications in order to improve your gut flora. The transition to healing your gut will take motivation and dedication, but the payoff could be life changing!
Here are a few tips you can implement into your lifestyle today to improve your gut flora:
- Eliminate all sugars from your diet.
- Repopulate your gut with fermented foods which will help to put in the good bacteria and boost your immunity. Good sources include sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, miso, tempeh, kombucha.
- Reduce stress in your life.
- Focus on eating real natural whole foods (lots of vegetables, small amounts of fruit, good quality protein, healthy fats and whole grains).
- Reduce possible offenders – any foods you may be reacting to, dairy, gluten, wheat.
“To optimize your gut health and your current state of wellbeing, please contact us today to arrange an Epigenetics Wellbeing Assessment.”