Ever had “butterflies” in your stomach? When was the last time you made a decision based on a “gut instinct?” Or how about that stressful, “gut wrenching experience” you recently had? These descriptions of emotional situations are just that… our gastrointestinal tract is super sensitive to our emotions. I believe the emotion to gut relationship goes both ways. What our gut is experiencing is also related to our emotions….. Studies are showing that this is true! The next time you feel a gut instinct take into consideration the health of your gut!
Our digestive system houses up to a thousand different kinds of bacteria. This is called our intestinal flora. The colonization of this bacteria isn’t a bad thing necessarily. The colonization of bacteria can result in things like our skin not cracking, fighting off other harmful illnesses, digesting that veggie pizza you just ate for dinner, and taking out and using the nutrients from the veggies and salad on the side. Our flora health is based on factors like birth from our mother, environment we live in now, stress, and the food we eat. The health of our flora is directly related to our overall health.
Medical studies are now indicating that our gut health (or lack of ..) affects what goes on in our mind. You are what you eat! These studies are leading medical professionals to believe that the bacteria in our gut helps shape our brain structure as children growing up, and influences moods and behaviors into adulthood.. I’ve blogged about this before in my “sugar and microbes in our mind” post. I know for me, sugar or anything that breaks down as sugar in my body (alcohol) causes quite a turbulence in my gut, leading me into a downward spiral of emotions, negative thoughts, and just a general feeling of being “off-center.” I suggest we begin to work on our gut health to promote better mind health. So, how do we get our gut in better health? Here are a just few DO’s and DONT’S to promote that amazing gut you have!
JUST SAY NO!
Antibiotics actually mean “against life” in Greek. So don’t take them! They are designed to kill living organisms that make you sick. The problem is that they kill all bacteria not just the bad ones. There is some great bacteria in that mix that get demolished! That’s when we come down with poor digestion, diarrhea, or yeast overgrowth in our body. Be very picky about your red meat. Eating a lot of red meat can still exposed you to harmful side affects of antibiotics from the cows that have been injected with them. If you love your red meat, then EAT GRASS FED, HUMANLY RAISED meat. Throw out the pre-packaged goods. If your food comes in a package, think about it… it is loaded with artificial products and preservatives. Did you know the purpose of preservatives is to kill bacteria that make your food spoil, but again, they kill the healthy bacteria in your gut.
EAT YOUR BACTERIA!
You grew up with your mom saying, “Eat your greens!” Well what we need to be doing is eating our bacteria! Probiotics help balance good bacteria in your gut. Some great options for getting more life promoting probiotics in your diet are: 1. Fermented foods like sauerkraut or Kimchi or yummy fermented tea called Kombucha. 2. Yogurt, but be CAREFUL…. some advertising on yogurt can be very misleading. Not all yogurt are created equal! Make sure your yogurt has the right kinds of bacteria. Some bacteria*** in yogurt is broken down by the bile in your stomach and it doesn’t do what it is marketed to do! The bacteria you are looking for in yogurt is calledLactobacillus Acidophoilus and Bifidobacterium. These are the troopers that survive the wild conditions of our stomach to do some good.
Try these simple steps to “go with your gut” and get that body mind and spirit in wonderful fabulous working order! I can assure you that those “gut wrenching experiences” will begin to diminish.
******If your doctor prescribes a probiotic make sure it doesn’t contain these two… they are destroyed in the stomach and do no good at all! Lactobacillus Delbrueckii Bulgaricus and Streptococcus Thermopiles
