PART 4 - THE IMPORTANCE OF GUT HEALTH

Believe it or not, 70% of your immune system resides in the gut as lymphoid tissue. This specialised lymph tissue houses your immune cells (leucocytes, macrophages and lymphocytes) whose job is to identify invading microbes and destroy them. It also secretes essential antibodies to help you fight off infection.

The large intestine hosts a community of around 100 trillion microbes. The main function of our microflora is to help us digest food (by fermenting carbohydrates), extracting the nutrients for our body to use. These beneficial microorganisms help our immune system work efficiently as they protect us against pathogens.

Any imbalance in your gastrointestinal system or with your gut microflora could lead to immune system issues, including inflammation and autoimmune conditions. You may also become more susceptible to viruses and bacteria.

Seven steps to optimal digestive health:

1. Eat whole unprocessed foods. Make sure to include plenty of fibre from foods like vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds.
2. Eliminate food allergies. If you think you have food sensitivities, try an elimination diet. Cut out gluten, dairy, yeast, corn, soy and eggs for a week or two and see how your gut feels and what happens to your other symptoms. Your naturopath can also provide you with an effective and functional blood test to check for a wide range of underlying food sensitivities (not simply the major 6 sensitivities above).
3. Treat any infections or overgrowth of bugs - parasites, small bowel bacteria and yeasts can all inhibit proper gut function. You must treat these infections if you want to heal.
4. Replenish your digestive enzymes. When you don't have enough digestive enzymes in your gut, you can't properly covert the foods you eat into the raw materials necessary to run your body and brain. Take broad-spectrum digestive enzymes with your food to solve the problem.
5. Rebuild your rain forest of friendly bacteria. Take probiotic supplements. They will help you rebuild the healthy bacteria so essential to good gut health.
6. Get good fat! Take extra high-quality omega-3 supplements, which help cool inflammation in the gut.
7. Heal your gut lining. Use gut-healing nutrients such as glutamine and zinc to repair the lining in your gut so it can resume its normal function.

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