Gut Health
Content Courtesy of the Forever Young Podcast with Christiana Egi and Cherrie-Marie Chiu.
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Our mission is to impact lives through information sharing on the promotion and maintenance of health and wellness, in a simple to understand language. Our Forever Young podcast is a platform where we discuss ways to keep our bodies and minds young - because you’re never too old to become younger!
Today we are going to talk about our guts and keeping our gut health in check! So, stick around, you’re going to want to hear all about what a leaky gut is!
A leaky gut occurs when the tight junctions in the small intestine, where nutrients pass into the bloodstream in an isotonic state become larger, it’s like having holes in an umbrella, thus allowing food particles, protein, bacteria, and viruses to pass into the bloodstream.
This is a very dangerous situation and causes inflammation. The body goes into a state of alarm as a result of the presence of these foreign particles, it causes our immune system to go into high gear, which in turn triggers generalized inflammation and eventually leads to chronic inflammation. Acute inflammation helps the body to heal when there’s an injury, and it has an on/off switch. However, with chronic inflammation the switch remains in a permanent position, causing destruction to organs and tissues, thus leading to chronic diseases until you do something to turn the switch off. Hopefully, it’s not too late by then.
According to Heather Morgan, MS, N.L.C. "Every time you eat and drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting it." Everything you put in your mouth will affect your health in one of two ways, negatively or positively. Research says that chronic inflammation is the root cause of over 90% of modern-day diseases including obesity, diabetes, cardiac diseases, and dementia. Inflammation can be triggered by our lifestyle choices, stress, man-made chemicals, water, cosmetics, drugs as well as pathogens like bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Processed, fried foods, and even cigarette smoke and alcoholic beverages all lead to inflammation in our bodies.
The ratio should be about 80% good bacteria and 20% bad bacteria, however, most of us have the reverse. It’s very important to maintain a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria. The result of an imbalance can be as simple as allergies or very debilitating autoimmune diseases. Without the right balance of bacteria, your body suffers from chronic inflammation. Chronic gut inflammation is a silent killer that lives amongst us. As we speak, it's burning deep down in our guts, slowly destroying our cells and vital organs with no pain or symptoms. It continues its silent destruction and can lead to diseases like diabetes, lupus, or worse yet, stage four cancer. 70% of our immune system is housed in our gut! Good bacteria help our bodies digest food and absorb nutrients, regulate mood, memory, and happiness. They produce several vitamins in the intestinal tract and help us to strengthen our immune system amongst other things. Whereas, bad bacteria may cause infection, make us sick, or, in some cases, even kill us! Bad bacteria come from external influences such as food, environmental toxins, and even from conditions caused by the effects of stress on our bodies. While stress is a normal part of human existence, Chronic stress can be fatal. It is very important that we find healthy ways to manage our stress.
Okay, we’ve learned about inflammation and gut health and why it’s so important to keep our guts healthy. So, how do we do it? How do we keep our gut healthy? I’ve devised a simple Health Code to help us remember ways to help us keep our guts healthy. It’s called DRHEDS which stands for -Diet, Rest, Hormonal Balance, Exercise, Detox & Supplementation.
And then there’s relaxation. Relaxation decreases our stress, improves our immunity and it’s great for our cardiovascular health. Have you tried taking a few deep cleansing breaths each day? Slowing your breath down and focusing on it? It’s a really easy way to relax at any time of day. It also improves our mental and physical wellbeing.
Of course, there’s also exercise! Moving your body every day is also important as it strengthens your heart muscles and burns calories. This increases your metabolism and also adds to a strong immune system, not to mention prevents diseases. Just going for a brisk walk every day can help! Vitamin D (AKA ‘the sunshine vitamin’) is essential to our immune system and helps out our gut microbiome.
A lot of people don’t believe in taking supplements and It’s completely a matter of personal choice. However, most of our modern-day foods are genetically modified and depleted of essential nutrients and vitamins according to research. Also, a lot of our foods lose most of their nutrients in the distance they travel to get to our shelves. Most of us do not eat healthy diets most of the time. Our fast-paced lifestyles and fast-food diets leave a lot to be desired. Most foods are either enriched, which means that the nutrients that were lost during processing have been added back in. An example is adding back in, certain vitamins that were lost during the processing of wheat into flour. Foods are also fortified, meaning vitamins or minerals have been added into a food product that wasn’t originally in the food. An example is adding vitamin D to milk.
Diet plays the most important role in keeping us and our guts healthy. Actually, Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine said hundreds of years ago, to let food be thy medicine and thy medicine food! Eating fresh, unprocessed foods is the best for our bodies. Real food has no label. As well, eating a rainbow of colored fruits and vegetables is an easy way to get varieties of nutrients and vitamins.
We need to make sure our hormones are balanced through a healthy lifestyle and diet, in fact, doing all the things we have discussed so far. When our hormones are not in balance, it can lead to emotional and physical stress and a whole lot of health issues. Reach for food that will make you feel better. what goes into the gut, affects our whole brain and how we feel. Remember – what you put into your body is what you will get out of it. After all, you cannot make a withdrawal without first making a deposit!
Listen to the full podcast episode down below, or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Google Podcasts!
The Forever Young podcast is created and produced by Christiana and Cherrie Marie Chiu. Produced and engineered by Elisse Hill. The podcast represents our opinions and those of our guests. The content should not be taken as medical advice. It is for informational purposes only. Please consult your health care professional for any medical questions. If you like our show, please tell your friends and leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. New episodes are available every other Wednesday. Have questions? Email us at ourforeveryoungpodcast@gmail.com.
