the proper environment, which consists of whole foods, clean air, clean water, moder- ate exercise, and proper sleep hygiene.
Lifestyle Factors Other lifestyle factors, considered a
part of one’s environment, is their sleep quality and stress management. Stress will have a deleterious effect on one’s diges- tive health. Stress stimulates cortisol which stimulates excitatory neurotransmitters which force the body into sympathetic mode also known as ‘fight or flight’. Diges- tion occurs during parasympathetic mode - ‘rest and digest’. One cannot digest food appropriately when fighting or running from a bear. Today people endure chronic stressors such as unhealthy relationships, family stressors, difficult job conditions, or post-traumatic stress disorder. This leads to high sympathetic tone and one may experi- ence indigestion symptoms. Similarly, sleep is important as it is a time that the body can give digestion a break and repair the gut wall. If one is not getting quality sleep, they will be more likely to experience GI distress.
Exercise has an important role in GI health. Movement activity acts as a physical force to move the bowels. Also, exercise has a beneficial effect on the gut microbiome. Exercise supports a healthy population of good bacteria more than a probiotic over time. The foundations of GI health will be established with proper lifestyle choices, and optimizing the environment.
Genetics & Your Gut Considering the human genome
project was completed in 2003, there has been a tremendous amount of new infor- mation coming from genetics research. Coinciding with this is the new research in regards to gut health and the microbiome. Nutrigenomics is the effect of nutrition and lifestyle on genes. Nutrigenomics may detect that someone has a genetic weak- ness that reduces their ability to create cer- tain enzymes which can predispose them to certain diseases. Nutrigenomics is not used in the setting of genetic diseases.
A fascinating piece of research found that families have similar microbiomes. Part of this is because of the environment (air quality, water source, shared diets, and other lifestyle choices), but independent from this was a genetic influence. Based on shared familial genes put into different environments, gut microbiomes diversity were still related. This is a direct genetic influence on gut health. The apple doesn't
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