Feed your gut efficiently!
Over 2000 years ago Greek philosopher and physician Hippocrates said that “All diseases begin in the gut”. Even though this may not be entirely factual, it is worth highlighting that a vast number of diseases that appear in other places can lead to gut dysfunction. You know how people often tell us to “trust our gut”? The gut is famously characterized as our “second brain”, because of the enteric nervous system (ENS) which is a complex neural network that controls our digestive system. This network uses the same chemicals and cells as the brain to aid us in digestion and to alert the brain when something is faulty. Current data displays that the health of our gut bridges to the health of a wide variety of organs throughout our body that includes our: Brain, liver, joints, muscles, fat cells, lungs, and liver. When our gut health is compromised it can lead to chronic issues such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
Your gut health summarizes the health of your gut microbiome. The gut microbiome is made up of trillions of microorganisms that involves viruses, microbes, and a lot of bacteria. You’ll be shocked to learn that 40 trillion microorganisms exist within your large intestine. This equates to the number of every cell found in your body (most being bacteria). Each individual has their own mixture of bacteria due to their genetics, lifestyle and the environment they inhabit. Microbial Diversity is what mainly determines the health of our microbiome. The organisms are characterized as good (beneficial) or bad (pathogenic). When we hear the word bacteria we automatically assume “bad”, but the bacteria in our gut break down the food we eat into vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients that our MIGHTY MITOCHONDRIA use to create Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) that is used to fuel our organs, muscles and tissues. No matter how healthy, holistic and granola you are, we all have some bad bacteria (pathogens) that thrive within our microbiome. However, if we keep the microbiome healthy then the pathogens are controlled by the beneficial bacteria. When our microbiome is upset from toxins such as pollutants, stress, poor diet then it can become compromised and the pathogens will start reproducing like Nick Cannon.
Getting back to the importance of Microbial Diversity; When our body lacks this we can develop gut dysbiosis or famously known as leaky gut. A deficiency of microbial diversity can lead to our gut lining developing holes or cracks. When this happens, foreign molecules leak through the lining and get absorbed into our blood stream. A leaky gut often leads to another source of chronic low grade inflammation that damages your mitochondria leaving you fatigued and unmotivated. Leaky gut has been linked to a variety of autoimmune diseases such as: Crohn’s, type 1 diabetes, and celiac disease.
We all know that food is fuel. Our digestive system breaks down every single vitamin, mineral, and macronutrient we need in order stay alive. Our mitochondria uses everything we digested to convert it into energy. Most of us have probably heard the classic “Your body is a race car, you don’t feed a race car 86 octane, you feed it 120 octane”. This couldn’t be more true, in order to feel your best mentally and physically you must feed your body the proper nutrients it needs to keep you living your best life. FIBER is another one of your best friends. Your tissues and organs don’t need the fibers but it’s absolutely essential for your beneficial bacteria. They feed on that fiber which gives them strength and multiplies their numbers, allowing them to digest and excrete the shit (literally). The western diet is severely deficient in fruits and veggies that provide the prebiotic fibers and phytochemicals that are a major key to the growth of beneficial bacteria. The solution is phenominally simple…EAT MORE FIBER AND PREBIOTIC FIBERS! If you already have poor gut health and are abysmally low in your fiber it’s worth noting that you may only see little improvements as you begin to implement fiber into your diet. You will notice more bloating and gas at the start because your beneficial bacteria is finally starting to multiply and grow. Stick with it, the symptoms are only temporary! Below I will attach a chart list of several rich fiber foods.
I hope that the information I provided you with will inspire you to introduce more fiber into your diet!
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