Tag: Digestion

How to Avoid Holiday Traffic… In Your Gut

With all of the traveling, eating, drinking, and celebrating that comes with the summer holidays, chances are you’re going to get stuck in more than one kind of traffic jam this weekend. While I can’t offer you any tips about how to stay out of traffic on the highway, I can give you some advice on how to avoid jam-ups in your digestive system. 3flg010USASo, if you prefer to experience fireworks and explosions from afar, not inside your belly, try the following tips for a happy and healthy Fourth of July:

  • Drink lots of water: It is easy to get dehydrated in the summer heat without even realizing it, and dehydration is one of the leading causes of constipation. Your goal should be to drink half your body weight in ounces of water per day. For example, if you weigh 160 pounds, you should drink at least 80 ounces of water per day.

shutterstock_120072142

  •   Keep your body moving: Exercise stimulates the natural contraction of intestinal muscles, thus aiding in elimination and detoxification. Try going for a 10 minute walk immediately after finishing a meal to assist the natural flow of digestion.

 

 

shutterstock_178057142

 

  • Invest in a high-quality probiotic: Look for a non-freeze-dried probiotic that is dairy, gluten, soy, and egg free. shutterstock_193048010

 

 

 

  • Chew your food thoroughly: Rather than swallowing your Fourth of July hot dog or burger whole, take the time to completely chew your food. This will make for an easier digestion process and allow you to enjoy your food in the meantime.

 

 

  • Take a Epson salt bath: After wrapping up the day’s activities, give your body a chance to relax. A warm bath will relax your body (watch out for sunburns!) and the Epson salt will aid in a gentle detoxification. Soak for about 20 minutes.shutterstock_121099396

3 Ways To Seal a Leaky Gut

After reading an article from Balanced Body Wellness Center, I learned that leaky gut is much more than an inconvenience issue. The condition can lead to allergies, fatigue, depression, joint pain, and many other issues that I was previously unaware were related to leaky gut.

 

Leaky gut, also known as intestine permeability, allows things that shouldn’t be able to pass through the “net” in your digestive tract to get through. For example, proteins (like gluten), bad bacteria, undigested food particles, and toxic waste are able to pass through your digestive net and into your blood stream, which can cause an immune reaction. As inflammation throughout your body rises, the following symptoms can occur:

  • Bloating
  • Food sensitivities
  • Thyroid conditions
  • Fatigue
  • Joint pain
  • Headaches
  • Skin issues
  • Digestive problems
  • Weight gain

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, how can you know that it is a result of leaky gut and not something else? A common indicator of leaky gut is multiple food sensitivities. This is due to partially digested fats and proteins that leak through your intestinal lining and into your bloodstream, causing an allergic response. If left untreated, this can lead to more serious health conditions such as IBS, arthritis, eczema, depression, anxiety, migraines, fatigue, and muscle pain can also occur, usually due to malabsorption of vital minerals and nutrients.

Beyond these symptoms that can occur throughout your body, leaky gut can also have an effect on the brain. shutterstock_195280496Intestinal permeability has been linked to several psychological disorders including anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. Since the gut is often referred to as the “second brain,” in many cases, if you can maintain a healthy gut, you can maintain a healthy brain. It takes guts ® to have a healthy brain!

Now that you know some issues that can result from the condition, how do you know if your gut is leaking? There are 2 important functional medicine tests that are used to confirm and identify the cause of leaky gut. These include the Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis and the Intestinal Permeability Test. The CDSA™ is a non-invasive evaluation of the gastrointestinal function that looks at your digestion, absorption, bacterial balance, and yeast. The Intestinal Permeability Assessment is also a non-invasive procedure which assesses the absorption of the small intestine and the barrier function of the bowel.

3 Ways to Help Seal Your Leaky Gut

If one of these tests confirms that your gut is in fact leaking, here are some steps you can take to heal your gut:

  1. Remove foods that damage the gut. Seek medical advice in discovering your specific food allergies and remove those foods from your diet.
  2. Replenish your system with healthy, nutritious foods that won’t cause further damage to your digestive net.
  3. Repair and heal your gut with probiotics. Choose a probiotic that not only supplies your body with good bacteria, but also adjusts the environment of your GI tract by creating organic acids, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals.

 

 

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

**These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.