*written by Anna Bourdess
We’ve been talking a lot about immune health on the blog lately. We all want to boost our immune health but what most people don’t understand is that our immune health is a direct reflection of our gut health. Today we’re going to talk about how our gut health affects not just our immune system but our whole body health.
Gut Health and the Immune System
Our gut health is tied to multiple functions in our bodies. You probably won’t believe them all, actually. To get us started, let’s rapid fire some gut health facts at you to blow your mind.
•Up to 80% of your immune system lives in your gut.
•Your gut plays a huge role in regulating your metabolism. Stubborn weight? Might want to look into gut health. Proper gut health balances hormones. Hormones that control things like energy, blood sugar, and fat storage. This directly affects the metabolism.
•Allergies can be a direct result of our gut health. Again, because the gut contains most of the immune system, if gut health is poor it can create an attack response where there shouldn’t be one. Which are autoimmune issues, such as allergies.
•Joint pain/inflammation can be linked to our gut health. Poor gut health sends out inflammation throughout the body causing aches and pains we may not have otherwise.
•Skin issue like acne, eczema, etc. can all be linked to gut health. A few reasons are an unhealthy gut isn’t absorbing nutrients properly. Things like vitamins A, E, and C that support skin health. Another potential cause is the weakening of the immune system doesn’t allow it to fight problem causing bacteria for the skin.
•Fatigue, feeling sluggish, or brain fog? Because of the gut- brain axis (how your gut communicates to your brain) your gut health plays a vital role in your cognitive function.
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•If you’re pregnant, and worried about testing GBS positive, your gut health can play a huge role in the results. (Ladies, get on a good probiotic, especially while pregnant.)
•If you have trouble sleeping it may be because of your gut health. The majority of your body’s serotonin, which affects mood and sleep, is produced in the gut.
•Autoimmune issues like thyroid problems and rheumatoid arthritis can be triggered by poor gut health. If your gut health is poor, your gut could be leaking. This causes particles in that weren’t meant to be anywhere but your gut. This can trigger an attack response from the body causing autoimmune issues. This is just one potential cause relating to gut health.
•Migraines have been linked to poor gut health. Caused by the gut-brain axis, an imbalance in our gut bacteria can trigger an inflammatory response causing migraines.
I could literally go on forever. Did you know your gut controlled all of that, and much more? So you see just some of the many systems gut health is a direct reflection of but, how do we support our gut health? What makes up this powerful balance in the gut is something called the microbiome or gut flora.
The Microbiome
Here is a great definition of the microbiome:
“The gut microbiota, also known as gut flora or gut microbiome, is the community of microorganisms that live in the human digestive tract. It’s made up of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa, averaging over 100 trillion microorganisms in a 150lb person. The gut microbiota functions almost like an organ in itself, weighing around 7 ounces, and containing 150–200 times more genes than all human cells combined.”
We can disrupt this balance many different ways but the main ones would be our food and medications. When we consume processed foods and/or excessive sugar we are destroying our microbiome and feeding the bad bacteria, allowing it to thrive. Our bodies give us back what we put into them and if we’re putting in junk, we’re going to get junk. If you’re struggling with any of the issues mentioned above (or many others), it’s probably time to start working on your gut.
Antibiotics and the Microbiome
Did you know that one round of antibiotics can completely wipe out the microbiome. Depending upon factors such as which one, length of dose, and age it can take anywhere from a few weeks, up to a few years to repair the microbiome. Potentially making you more susceptible to disease in the long run, rather than helping.
Don’t misunderstand, I am not advocating against antibiotics. We should just understand how they affect the systems in our bodies and weigh the benefits vs risks for ourselves and our situation. There are certainly times when they are needed and I am so thankful we have access to them. It just seems we overuse them for things that could have a more supportive solution for our bodies. We may consider other methods if we were presented with all of the facts.
Supporting Your Gut Health
Now, how do we support our gut health? The same way we can destroy it.
Food. Nutrition has such a vital role in our health. Specifically our gut health. Consuming whole, nutrient dense foods is the best way to support your gut. Limiting sugar, cutting out processed foods, and adding in nutrient dense, whole foods will help your microbiome thrive. Another beneficial way to support your gut health through what you consume are foods rich in probiotics. Foods such as kefir grains, sourdough (this is controversial since it is cooked so do your own research), sauerkraut, and yogurt. These are considered living foods and support a healthy microbiome when prepared properly.
Click here for a gut healing bone broth recipe!
Supplementation. Our bodies are designed to get our nutrients from our food. This will always be the best way. However, due to modern farming practices many of our foods grow in soils depleted of nutrients. So even if you’re eating well, there can still be gaps in our nutrition. We personally also enjoy take out on occasion, which we all know is most likely not the most nutrient dense option. I’m not going to feel guilty about that, but I do understand that because of the times I make those choices, and environmental factors like the soil, pesticide exposure and even things in our environment beyond my control, I need to fill in some of the nutrition gaps to support my body.
I do this by taking a prebiotic, a probiotic, and a gentle gut cleanse daily. These have impacted my gut health greatly. I’ve seen drastic changes in my own health since putting more of a focus on my gut health. If you only take one supplement for your gut, I highly recommend a probiotic. You want to make sure your probiotic contains the right bacteria and is prepared correctly to actually survive digestion and make it to your gut. Otherwise you’re wasting your money.
Click where to check out the probiotic we love and trust!
So you see, supporting your gut is even more than just supporting your immune system. It can be the key to unlocking your best health yet.
If you would like more information on some of the suggestions mentioned above like sourdough, kefir grains, or the gut health regime we use you can reach out to littlewifeinthewoods right here on the blog or find us on Instagram and Facebook.
We hope we helped give you a glimpse into the powerful key to health that is your gut microbiome and hopefully caused some curiosity for you to do even more research for yourselves.
