Discovering What's Going on In There
Love Your Gut: Five Things You Need to Know About Your Insides
It may surprise you to know that keeping your intestines healthy is key to your overall health. It surprised me. Fixing my gut is essentially what led to my incredible health turnaround. I believe it is your digestive system where health is either created or lost.
There are 5 things you should know about your gut and how to keep it healthy:
- Absorption. Your digestive system is designed to break down and absorb nutrients from food. Stomach acid is critical to the process of absorption. If it doesn’t break down your food properly, your intestines will not be able to absorb the nutrients your body needs. Keep this in mind the next time you reach for antacids. Remember that you are blocking stomach acid when you take these, and – as a result – you will not absorb much of the food you eat while taking them. They should not be a long-term solution to any problem.
- Mind Games. There is a strong connection between your mind (brain) and your intestines. Researchers are still trying to get a grasp on understanding this relationship, but they have found that the intestines actually contain neurons (brain cells) – almost as many as in the spinal cord. The intestines may be the only place in the body outside of the nervous system that you can find brain cells. Also, about 95% of your body’s serotonin (brain chemical related to mood) is found in the intestines, so there is a strong connection between your intestinal health and mood disorders like depression and anxiety.
- Immunity. There is also a strong connection between the immune system and the intestines. About 2/3 of your immune system resides in your gut. This is because the immune system is supposed to protect your body against harmful outsiders, and one of the most common ways you get harmful intruders inside your body is by eating them. So your immune system is very active in your digestive system so it can immediately attack any harmful things you may have eaten. Because of this there is also a strong connection between your intestinal health and your immune system behaving as it should (staying regulated).
- Leaks. A common but often overlooked condition is intestinal permeability, or “leaky gut.” It happens when your intestinal walls allow things to pass through them when it shouldn’t. Often these things are proteins and other nutrients that aren’t completely digested. When this happens, an un-digested or under-digested protein looks like a foreign invader to your immune system. The immune system responds by attacking the under-digested food, which can travel from the area of your digestive system to other areas of your body (like joints or in the brain), taking the resulting inflammation with it. Symptoms of leaky gut include autoimmune diseases and inflammation anywhere in the body.
- Good Bacteria. Your digestive system is home to a lot of “good guys” that are critical to your digestive system working properly and your overall health. These good guys are good bacteria, and we often don’t have enough. They can easily be killed off by antibiotics or the “bad guys” – the bad bacteria, yeast, and other harmful microorganisms that feed off sugars. Getting more good guys and less bad guys will help tremendously with digestion, absorption, preventing leaky gut and preventing inflammation. Taking good probiotics and limiting your sugar intake will help keep the bacteria in balance.
Improving Digestion Tips
- Avoid fruit after a meal – Fruit is made up of simple sugars that are easily digested and do not need to stay in the stomach for a long period of time. When eaten with more complex foods that take longer to digest, the fruit stays in the stomach for too long and starts to ferment. It is best to eat fruit by itself and before a meal.
- Drink warm water – Small sips of warm water during a meal can help aid digestion. Do not drink extremely cold water as the body uses too much effort to move it through the digestive tract, which should be saved to digest your meal.
- Skip meals that combine beans and cheese. This combination with the acidity of the tomatoes and guacamole that usually make their way on to your plate at Mexican restaurants is very hard to digest and often leads to gas and bloating. Eliminating the cheese will make digestion easier.
- Eat melons alone – If you’re craving a nice and refreshing melon this summer, try to avoid eating it with other fruits, meat or dairy. Melon can be difficult to digest if paired with anything else and is best eaten alone.
- No need for double protein – Avoid having two types of protein on your plate, such as bacon and eggs or tofu and beans as the body has a difficult time digesting large amounts of protein. Instead, pick one type of protein and pair it with grains or vegetables.
- Find an alternative to tomato sauce – Tomatoes are highly acidic foods and are difficult to digest when paired with carbohydrates and dairy, which includes most pasta dishes. The reason you often feel tired after a large Italian meal is because your body has to use so much energy to metabolize the food combination. Instead, try ordering a meat dish with tomato sauce or pasta with pesto. Ask for pesto, Alfredo sauce, butternut squash or even grass-fed butter with herbs. At home, swap out tomatoes for delicious Nomato sauce made with beets and carrots. Check out my Easy Quick Meals for Nomoto recipe and other delicious sauces to add to your meals
- Don’t add milk to your banana smoothie – According to Ayurveda, dairy and bananas is the worst food combination as it slows your digestive process and makes you feel heavy and lethargic for a long period of time. Instead, try adding coconut or almond milk to your smoothie.
