A Digestive Imbalance

I’m not all over the place with this website I’m constantly writing about vitamins, minerals, efficient fatty acids and in this blog post probiotics. There is an epidemic of digestive illnesses directly related to the foods we eat and the way we live in America. With 40% of us complaining about digestive issues, accounting for 104.7 million visits a year and according to the Digestive Disease Clearinghouse 69% of all doctor visits are for digestive disorders.

Many people have multipled and even mystery illnesses that aren’t really helped with conventional therapies. Chronic health issues typically begin in the gut and once you’ve rebalanced and healed your digestive tract, anything is possible. In addition to acid and enzymes, your stomach secretes various other substances that help digest ~ absorb nutrients from food consumed in your diet.

One of these substances called ‘intrinsic factor,’ binds to the vitamins allowing it to be absorbed in the intestines. However, if your body doesn’t have enough ‘intrinsic factor’; you won’t be able to properly utilize vitamins. This may cause pernicious anemia with it’s main symptoms being depression, brain fog, nerve system disorders, muscle weakness and fatigue.

Also I learned the hard way this summer that belly fat is linked to changes in your gut ecosystem, termed micro obesity; bad bugs in your intestines produce toxins called, lipopolysaccharides (LPS) which then triggers inflammation and insulin resistance. As I rode my bicycle overcoming my issues with health, I couldn’t believe how much better I felt from May 1st until presently from exercise and eating right in my elimination diet!

Your colon and intestines host their own ecosystem of beneficial microbes. In fact, you have 3 pounds of living microbes in your gut you can’t afford to lose. These microbes make essential nutrients and play a big role in digestion and your immune system. Without these beneficial bacteria you literally could not survive and many health issues will start ‘inflicting nastiness,’ into your life when this ecosystem becomes imbalanced.

Dr. Eli Metchnikoff was the first scientist to discover the useful properties of probiotics, the friendly bacteria that live in our guts. His work on lactobacilli and role in immunity proved probiotics could displace many disease causing organisms and reduce the toxins generated. You have 10 times the bacteria in your gut that you have cells in your body (how digestive enzymes work?)

You have somewhere between 500 and 1000 type of bacteria in your digestive system, each type has hundred of different strains. These microbes function much like an extra digestive organ, and they act as a major part of your immune system. They protect us from microbial and parasitic diseases, affect whether we are fat or thin, influence our nutritional status and even control how fast we age.

Dr. Metchnikoff also coined the term dysbiosis ( dys-, which means “not” and symbiosis, which means “living together in harmony.” This Dysbiosis weakens our ability to protect ourselves from disease causing microbes. These harmful microbes cause chronic health problems that can go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, the healing power of probiotics show specific strains can be effective at healing certain conditions.

For instance: the probiotic species Saccharomyces boulardi, has been shown to work at stopping diarrhea. Therefore, knowing antibiotics kill both harmful and friendly bacteria that your digestive system may be so barren of beneficial intestinal flora. That even the best probiotic supplement may not be enough to restore healthy intestinal balance, therefore, a nutritional advisor would be very beneficial.

An Important Fact: your colon is home to trillions of beneficial bacteria. These healthy bacteria produce a wide range of essential vitamins and other nutrients. These specialized nutrients include many short – chain fatty acids, butyric acid, valerate acid, propionic acid, acetic acid and many others. These essential nutrients support the health of your colon cells ( for example: butyric acid has been shown to stop the growth of colon cancer and healed inflamed colon tissue.)

Also it’s important to remember: toxins cause inflammation an a wide range of symptoms throughout your body. Each year the Average American consumes 14 pounds of food additives which over taxes your liver which detoxifies harmful substances. Therefore, it’s important to keep your gut flora balanced and all systems working in unison. Also for a good read, Dr. Elizabeth Lipski with 20 years of experience has written Digestion Connection that gives crucial information.