How Gut Health Plays an Important Role in Our Overall Health
Improve our Gut Health?
You might have heard the phrase “gut health” and wondered what it refers to – surely an enlightened gut digests food efficiently? This is certainly true. However, gut health can affect the overall health of your body, with growing evidence suggesting that a healthy gut microbiome is essential to our mental well-being and an effective immune system.
Our digestive system breaks down foods we eat into a form that can enter the bloodstream to be used where it’s required within the body. However, many things can be a problem at various stages throughout this process, from serious digestive disorders to food intolerances that cause issues with how our bodies extract nutrition from our food.
Blog Outline
Why Is Gut Health Important?
Things You Can Do To Improve Your Gut Health
How Gut Health Affects Your Body
Natural way to Get Gut Health
Conclusion
Why Is Gut Health Important?
The gut is a crucial organ for the function of immunity and function, with the gut wall acting as a barrier that, when functioning correctly, protects against fungi, viruses and harmful bacteria from getting into the bloodstream. The problem is that this barrier often is permeable, referred to as a leaky gut, and these nasty contaminants can enter the body and cause illness. Conditions like IBS (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and coeliac diseases may make people more susceptible to developing intestinal permeability, thereby making them more susceptible to infection or disease that enters the body through this route. In addition, gut bacteria can stimulate the nervous system by transmitting messages to our brains via the vagus nerve. They also release hormones similar to the ones our systems produce, making them tiny pilots that have a huge influence on our bodies and the way we make decisions, given how tiny they are. This connection between the brain and the gut is called the gut-brain connection. Stress can also affect the bacteria in these areas since many are hormone sensitive, which could result in an imbalance.
Things You Can Do To Improve Your Gut Health
Keep Moving!
Exercise has many cardiovascular benefits. However, it’s good for your digestion as well. A regular aerobic workout can assist in reducing bowel irregularity and bloating symptoms and decreases your chance of developing colon cancer. Taking supplements such as Oh My Gut is also a good idea.
Deep Breaths
The gut is called the second brain because it is home to several of the same neurotransmitters in our brains. This is because there’s two-way communication between the gut and the brain.
Anyone who has felt butterflies in their stomach knows that it is common for us to feel feelings in our stomachs (this is especially true for those suffering from irritable bowel disease). Therefore, whatever you can do to lessen stress levels – such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing – can assist in keeping the digestive system in good condition.
Stay Hydrated
The effects of dehydration cause your digestion to slow down, which could cause constipation, nausea, vomiting, bloating, and abdominal discomfort. Therefore, you should maintain the amount of fluid you consume regularly and increase it when losing more fluid due to sweating, exercise or when you’re sick.
It is also important to replenish electrolytes, like potassium and sodium, lost when you sweat. Each person’s sweating rate varies; however, on average, one oh my gut packet replenishes potassium and sodium loss from a 30-minute intense exercise.
Go Green
A diet rich in plant fiber is ideal for the health of your gut. It not only exercises your colon to ensure it is moving easily but is much more effective than animal-based protein and fats in the risk of colon cancer.
Take Care of Your Microbiome
Your body is home to around 38,000,000,000,000 microorganisms (most of which are bacteria) that reside in and around your body. This is roughly 50% of the cells in your body! Microorganisms comprise what’s called your microbiome. These organisms play a vital role that ranges from strengthening the gut lining to reducing inflammation and increasing the immune system. You can take care of your microbiome by having a probiotic daily or eating foods rich in probiotics, such as fermented and kombucha-based vegetables, and avoid taking antibiotics unless required.
How Gut Health Affects Your Body
Helpful Germs
Many bacteria reside within your body. You are more stocked with them than you do cells. They are all beneficial to your health. For example, the ones in your gut do not just help you digest food. They also work throughout your body and benefit your mental and physical health.
Gut Microbiome
These are all microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi and viruses, that reside in the digestive tract of our bodies. They aid in breaking down food and transforming it into nutrients your body can utilize.
Fighting the Good Fight
The microbiome in your gut, bacteria that are “good” bacteria, are more than just helping in digestion. They also help keep the “bad” bacteria under control. They multiply so that unhealthy bacteria do not have room to grow. This is known as equilibrium if you have an appropriate balance of bacteria in your digestive tract.
Unhealthy Balance
Research has found that if you’re carrying too much of a specific type of bad bacteria in your gut microbiome, You’re more likely to be suffering from the following:
- Crohn’s Disease
- Ulcerative colitis
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Researchers are investigating new ways to treat them that target the bacteria of the microbiome of the gut.
Gut Bacteria and Your Heart
Various gut bacteria might factor in the connection between cholesterol and heart disease. For example, when you eat foods like red meat or eggs, those bacteria make a chemical that turns your liver into something called TMAO (trimethylamine-N-oxide). TMAO could help in the accumulation of cholesterol in blood vessels. So researchers are studying a naturally occurring substance known as DMB found in olive oil and grapeseed oils. They believe it can prevent your bacteria from producing TMAO.
Gut Bacteria and Your Kidneys
A lot of TMAO can also lead to the kidney becoming chronically ill. This is because the people who suffer from the disease aren’t getting rid of TMAO as they ought to. This excess can cause heart disease. Researchers suggest that having too excessive TMAO may cause you to be more likely to suffer from chronic kidney disease in the first place.
Gut Bacteria and Your Brain
Your brain transmits messages throughout your body. Researchers believe that your gut could speak back. Research suggests how the balance and balance of the bacteria in the gut microbiome can affect your emotions and how your brain processes information gathered from your senses, such as smells, sounds, tastes, or even textures.
Researchers believe that shifts in this balance could contribute to disorders like autism spectrum disorder (ASD), anxiety and depression, and chronic pain.
Natural way to Get Gut Health
Your Sense of Smell
- The first sense we have of our digestion is our sensation of smell. Our olfactory nerve smell relays chemical signals to the gut and brain to activate digestion.
- The smell of food can also warn us of potentially dangerous ingredients within our foods. (You are aware of this if you have ever smelled something bad. )
Taste
- Like the sense of smell, tasting helps you spot the presence of toxins in foods.
Mouth
- When food enters your mouth, salivary glands release chemicals that assist digestion.
- The glands inside the mouth make amylase. It is an enzyme for digestion that can help to break down food.
- Within your saliva is an antibody that protects you called SIgA (secretory immunoglobulin A).
Chewing
- The importance of maintaining healthy teeth can’t be over-emphasized. The teeth are the primary reason for the breakdown of food.
- Thoroughly chewing food can help you swallow more easily and aid digestion.
Stomach
- The majority of digestion of proteins occurs in our stomach via the enzyme pepsin as well as HCL (acid)
- Mechanical digestion and the process of churning occur in the stomach.
- The acidity found in stomachs is vital in helping to eliminate microbial invading organisms.
Pancreas
- Bicarbonate is released to neutralize acidity in the stomach.
- Also, it secretes lipase, amylase and lactase.
- It produces insulin to control blood sugar levels.
Small Intestine
- That small intestinal tract measures approximately 22 feet long.
- The largest portion of absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream occurs in this area.
- It is home to 70-80% of our defense body (GALT)
Liver
- In addition to aiding cleansing, the liver plays a crucial role in controlling levels of bile salts, which are essential for absorbing fat.
- The liver also aids in the regulation of blood sugar levels.
Gallbladder
- Bile can be stored in this area and released to the small intestinal tract to absorb more fat.
- When the gallbladder has been eliminated, Supplementing with digestive enzymes may help reduce fat.
Conclusion
It’s not necessary to constantly be aware of what’s happening in your gut. As long as you’re following the doctor’s instructions to improve your general health, you’re probably benefitting your microbiome. “We advise people to eat an appropriate diet, remain hydrated, exercise regularly and have an adequate night’s rest. We believe that being well overall can help keep your gut healthy.
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