Has anyone ever told you that you have a second brain? It's true... Sort of. You know that feeling of "butterflies" you get right before a big meeting or first date? Well, underneath that feeling is a gut/brain connection so substantial, that our gut has earned the nickname, "Second Brain." Not only does our gut help determine our mental state but it plays a major role in our overall health! And for many of us, our second brain is sick! In the last several decades we have seen an influx of food sensitivities in the general population. Gluten allergies and dairy intolerance seem to be on the rise. The terms acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), candida (yeast infections) are all conditions that are common today. A person might begin to wonder, what is the connection?
The Gut; starts with
the mouth and ends, well, at our end.
The gut is responsible for intake, digestion, absorption and elimination
of the food we eat. Sounds pretty
simple, yet, there is more. The gut is
also responsible for 70 to 80 percent of the immune response in our
bodies. The health of our gut has
everything to do with the function of all the systems in our
body, including our brain. An unhealthy
gut contributes to a wide range of diseases including diabetes, obesity,
rheumatoid arthritis, autism spectrum disorder, depression and chronic fatigue
syndrome.
If you think about
it, fueling this body of ours should be a top priority. After all, we need these incredible machines
in order to get through each day.
Unfortunately, the diet that our culture has embraced leaves much to be
desired. We have left the habit of
eating real whole food (food in its most natural form) and replaced it with
consuming stuff in boxes, in plastic packages and at fast foods restaurants all
of which are stripped of their real nutrients and then preserved and fortified
with stuff that I cannot even pronounce.
These processed foods are also packed with fillers like sugar, soy,
wheat, corn and high fructose corn syrup (and some other things I can’t
pronounce) to make a better tasting more filling, can I call it, ‘food’.
So what’s the point
of all this? Our guts are in
trouble. The natural ‘gut flora’ or
balance of our gut has been horribly compromised by many things, the food we
eat being primary as we consume food every day.
Also the overuse of antibiotics and other medications greatly alter the
normal balance of good vs. bad bacteria in our gut. The normal flora in our gut should be
flourishing with good bacteria (probiotics) that keep the gut healthy and hold
the unwanted bacteria at bay. But, these
good bacteria are choked out of our bellies by our diet and the meds we take. As that balance is compromised and we
continue to feed our gut the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) of sugar and
processed foods the problem is compounded. Our ‘out of balance’ gut is unable to work
efficiently and do what it is designed to do; nourish our bodies and maintain
an immune barrier, both keeping us in a healthier state.
So what do we
do? Our goal is to re-establish healthy
gut flora. This can be accomplished with
the addition of fermented foods to our diet.
These foods offer the most natural form of probiotic and have been
proven to help re-populate gut flora to healthy levels. We have started making our own fermented
foods. Sauerkraut is my favorite, but,
we have also made kombucha (a yummy fermented tea drink and David’s favorite),
beet kvass, and we have even tried our hand at yogurt and kefir. Along with the
addition of ferments, we have removed processed foods and white sugar from our
home. We’ve replaced most grain flours,
especially wheat, with nut flour or other alternative gluten free flours. We have tried to find organic or grass fed eggs
and protein to fill our freezer and we go organic as much as possible on the
fresh veggies and fruit that we eat. The key for us is to keep it real. Real food that has not been altered or sugared
or fortified. Real food that was made
perfectly for us to fuel these magnificent bodies that we have been gifted
with. The transition has not been a
piece of cake, obviously, but the changes we feel are absolutely worth it.
Want to know more
about gut health? Here is some additional reading! Feel free to contact us with
any questions and/or concerns you might have concerning your gut health!
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