I am sitting in a seminar as I type this. The seminar is two whole days of learning all about the gut. We are learning (or re-learning) the science of the GI tract, our microbiome, and how to heal a leaky gut. This is being published a couple weeks later, but these gut-healing protocols are still circling in my brain. It was an wonderful seminar. It’s amazing how looking to the gut can heal and help many symptoms so many people face.
Leaky gut, so we are all on the same page, is too much permeability in the gut. The gut cells are lined up and are connected by tight junctions. Those junctions are supposed to be tight, close together. When the gut is off (and there are many reasons for that) those tight junctions open up too wide or break apart and you let big particles through into the blood stream. That is a leaky gut. It’s estimated that about 85-90% of people have some level of leaky gut. So, let’s face it, we all can use some gut healing!
Here is what I learned in Utah over the course of two days:
1. Our bodies have about 10 trillion cells. Our microbiome is made up of 100 trillion cells and weighs about 4 pounds. Each person has a unique microbiome, much like the uniqueness of our fingerprints. Our microbiome is powerful to the health of our bodies!
2. Your gut flora digests protein, fats and starches. It also synthesizes our vitamins and minerals. If your gut flora is unhealthy or unbalanced, you aren’t absorbing all of the nutrients you should be. You could be well fed, but undernourished.
3. As we speak, convention medicine and the pharmaceutical companies are working on drugs to try and solve leaky gut. The drugs are definitely NOT the answer. Drugs can’t solve the problem, but some deep gut work will help. What this shows is that leaky gut is too big of a problem for our medical system to ignore.
4. When you have a gut on fire you have a brain on fire. You can’t separate the two, they are connected! If you have a leaky gut, you have a leaky brain. Not all leaky gut people have gut symptoms though. Think about your brain. We don’t have the time in our days to have brain fog, lack of focus, fatigue, and mood imbalances. Do you have brain symptoms?
5. Everything you eat or take into your body has to go through your microbiome. It can be used for good or be used for harm. Pay attention to what you are putting on your body from day to day. It really matters!
6. Our guts can determine the health of not just your brain. But also your thyroid and your liver. Your gut also tells your body to lose weight and build muscle. Have you been trying to lose weight and can’t? Maybe it’s your gut?
Our guts are important, beyond important in my opinion. Are you concerned about your gut? Check out my services and contact me. I’d love to help!
P.S. Don’t be grossed out by the picture. It’s just what’s going on in your body. Embrace it and use it for your health!
Dr. Meghan
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