Heal Your Gut to Beat Disease and Achieve Your Ideal Weight


By Brigitta Jansen, MS, CDN


bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease or ulcer- ative colitis; healing the gut has become a trendy topic. Even seemingly unrelated conditions like auto-immune disorders, skin conditions, joint pain, cancer and diabetes have been linked to gut infl ammation. "All disease begins in the gut," said Hippocrates around 400 BC, without any studies what- soever. Now, more than two millennia later, we are fi nding that he was right.


W Who Lives in Your Gut?


You may have heard of the gut fl ora, also called gut microbiome. It consists of 100 trillion bacteria, yeasts, viruses and parasites. Together they make up 90% of our body's cells. Many of them are benefi - cial and serve important functions, such as producing B vitamins and amino acids, essential for mood and energy metabolism. In addition, they keep pathogenic microbes in check. If your gut is mostly populated by benefi cial microbes, any pathogens passing through won't have much of a chance of establishing themselves and making you sick. If your gut fl ora is made up of too many opportunistic bacteria or you have yeast overgrowth like candida, you will be much more prone to infections and chronic health conditions.


It's Not About Calories Your weight is less determined by how


many calories you take in, but rather by how you metabolize them. Fecal transfer


32 Natural Nutmeg - March 2020


ith 60-70 million Americans af- fected by digestive disorders like constipation, heart burn, irritable


studies in mice have shown that certain gut bugs like Bacteroidetes made obese mice lose weight independent of calories. It turns out that your gut microbiome determines your metabolism and how much energy you extract from your food.


Gut Dysbiosis


What causes gut fl ora imbalances, oth- erwise called dysbiosis? We are exposed to a plethora of toxins, drugs and antibiotics; all of which severely damage the microbiome. One study found that one year after a round of antibiotics the gut fl ora is still abnormal. Artifi cial sweeteners, pesticides and food ad- ditives severely harm our friendly fl ora. Met- als like aluminum and mercury attract yeasts and parasites, causing sugar and starch crav- ings, and acidity. Electromagnetic radiation increases proliferation of pathogens. Last but not least, stress is a major cause of gut dys- biosis. This includes unresolved and maybe forgotten childhood traumas which can still impair your digestion today.


Leaky Gut


Gut dysbiosis and toxins over time damage the gut wall, causing "leaky gut". This simply means that the gut wall has gaps and leaks. Microbes, toxins and partially digested food particles normally contained in the intestine can now enter the blood stream. As you can imagine, this will fi re up the immune system and cause infl ammation. Your immune system now starts to make antibodies to these food par- ticles causing food sensitivities. Microbes can now easily migrate to other parts of


your body causing joint, nerve or muscle pain. Over time this process can lead to allergies, eczema, asthma and other auto- immune conditions.


Food Sensitivities


Intolerance of foods like dairy and gluten caused by leaky gut are becom- ing increasingly common. Signs of food sensitivities and dysbiosis can be obvious, like heart burn, bloating, constipation or loose stools and cramps. Or they can be more subtle like headaches, fatigue, brain fog, frequent infections, skin rashes, mood disorders and weight gain. Often people are unaware of which foods they are sensitive to and instead tend to crave them.


Healing the Gut Restoring your gut health is essential if


you want to achieve your ideal weight and beat chronic disease. To heal the gut micro- biome, I use the 5R program of functional medicine. In a nutshell this means remov- ing any toxins, microbial overgrowth, para- sites and infl ammatory foods; repairing the gut wall; replacing any nutrients needed for digestion; re-inoculating the gut with bene- fi cial fl ora; and rebalancing lifestyle factors and sources of stress. This is not a one-size- fi ts-all protocol. Food sensitivity testing is very useful for identifying which foods are stressing your immune system. Common infl ammatory foods include sugar, gluten, dairy, corn and soy, but sometimes healthy foods like gluten-free grains, legumes, nuts or eggs show up on the test. Following a customized food plan while healing the gut


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44