Why Gut Health Is So Important To Weight Maintenance
What’s going on in your gut has become an increasing area of interest within the health and medical fields and we thought we would share why having a healthy gut is an important aspect of focus at MiracuLoss.
The health of your gut has a huge impact on how you feel within your daily life and how the rest of your body functions. Our gut is home to approximately 100,000,000,000 (100 trillion) microorganisms which develop in our first two years of life. A healthy gut contains 10 times more bacteria than all the cells in your entire body and is made up of over 400 known diverse bacterial species. A healthy gut comprises more than 75% of our immune system, provides protection from infection and regulates metabolism (which is critical to healthy weight maintenance).
An important function of our gut is to prevent foreign substances from entering the body. When gut flora is compromised our intestinal barrier can become permeable, commonly known as Leaky Gut Syndrome, in which large undigested protein molecules escape through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream causing a raft of health problems.
Over our life time, our gut composition is influenced by the effects of daily life and changes in diet and health. Exposure to food additives and agricultural chemicals, use of antibiotics, stress, some types of birth control, diets high in carbohydrates, sugar and processed foods all contribute to the deterioration of healthy gut flora.
Even though antibiotics may be important at times, they have a profound negative effect on our gut causing a rapid loss of good bacteria, leaving us exposed to further infections and a compromising our ability to digest foods. Intervention to repopulate the gut with good bacteria is always required after a course of antibiotics.
Fatigue, a bloated gassy stomach, indigestion or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) inability to gain weight or gradual unexplained weight gain are signs of a compromised gut. Research suggests however, you don’t necessarily have to be experiencing these symptoms to have a leaky gut!
What can you can do to protect or re-establish healthy gut bacteria?
Eliminate all refined sugar and processed foods – especially those containing chemical emulsifiers as they are proven to be harmful to gut flora. Reduce or eliminate starches. Include some raw foods and fermented foods like organic yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha, kimchi, miso, apple cider vinegar or tempeh at every meal. Take a daily probiotic until you have been free of symptoms for at least three months.
Over the last two decades, research has shown that improving and supporting healthy gut flora is critical to our overall health and wellbeing.
If you’ve had any experiences using gut repairing foods we would love to hear about them. If you are happy for us to share them on Facebook so others may benefit, send us an email at info@miraculoss.co.nz
