A Beginner's Guide to Gut Health

I will go out on a limb and say that, from my experience in helping people fix their gut health, I have seen (and experienced!) more than 80% of all health problems resolve once the gut is functioning...

October 7, 2021

I will go out on a limb and say that, from my experience in helping people fix their gut health, I have seen (and experienced!)  more than 80% of all health problems resolve once the gut is functioning properly. This is why I’ve made it my mission to spread the word about the importance of gut health and its effect on the entire body during the past decade. Your body’s microbiome and bacteria found in your gut play a significant role in your overall health, probably more than you may even realize. This beginner’s guide to gut health will help you learn how to live your best life in the easiest way possible.You have trillions of microbiome in your body that not only have a significant part in breaking down food but have a direct impact on your emotional and mental health, immunity, and is directly related to chronic illness. [1] Your stomach acid and gut bacteria need to be in balance in order for you to have a healthy gut and feel your best.

Contributors to Poor Gut Health

If you’re not feeling your best, and have found your health or happiness suffering, chances are it may be gut-related. [2] You may be surprised at just how many areas of your overall health are affected when your gut isn’t balanced. A few commonly affected areas include:

  • Mood/Energy
  • Skin/Joints
  • Metabolism/Sleep
  • Immune function
  • Hormone Balance/Thyroid Health
  • Stress
  • Digestion/Bloating (Certain foods will cause inflammation and can kill the good bacteria and allow the bad bacteria to thrive).

All of these common symptoms can directly affect your gut health so if you’re experiencing any negative effects of these you may want to take a closer look at your gut health and how you can improve it.

Inflammation’s Effect on Gut Health

Small amounts of inflammation are actually beneficial and allow many of the body's healing processes to start, but too much inflammation is deadly in any function on the body. Inflammation is another common culprit for unwanted gut issues. [3] It can cause severe, unwanted side effects and chronic discomfort if you don’t find a solution. A few inflammatory symptoms you may experience include:

  • Fatigue
  • Brain Fog
  • Constipation
  • Irregular Periods
  • Lack of Sleep
  • Bloating
  • Chronic Pain
  • Depression and Anxiety (Inflammation can alter your neurotransmitters that control your “happy mood chemicals”

I will go out on a limb and say that, from my experience in helping people fix their gut health, I have seen (and experienced!)  more than 80% of all health problems resolve once the gut is functioning properly. This is why I’ve made it my mission to spread the word about the importance of gut health and its effect on the entire body during the past decade. Your body’s microbiome and bacteria found in your gut play a significant role in your overall health, probably more than you may even realize. This beginner's guide to gut health will help you learn how to live your best life in the easiest way possible.You have trillions of microbiome in your body that not only have a significant part in breaking down food but have a direct impact on your emotional and mental health, immunity, and is directly related to chronic illness. [1] Your stomach acid and gut bacteria need to be in balance in order for you to have a healthy gut and feel your best.

Gut Healing Recipes

Natural Ways to Heal Your Gut

Once you’ve identified what cause is to blame for your poor gut health, it’s time to take action and do something about it, but it is often difficult to identify one cause. Because your gut has a significant impact on your overall health and body functions, it’s important to listen when it’s trying to send you a message that it’s feeling out of balance. [4] If you haven’t been able to pinpoint your cause, there are many tests your functional practitioner can run, but first, try these four natural ways to help restore a happy gut.

1.     Keep a Food Journal

The first step to restoring your gut health is to carefully document in a journal what you eat every day. [5] This will help you quickly narrow down any foods in your current diet that may be causing unbalanced gut health.There is no one food in the world that is good for every person, not even something as healthy as spinach! By keeping a detailed journey, you’ll be able to back later and review what might be the culprit. Also include any signs of fatigue, diarrhea, stomach cramps, and other gut health-related issues you might be experiencing.For example, spinach is extremely healthy, BUT it is also very high in oxalates, and this can be a poison to people who don’t process oxalates well! Most people do, however, and spinach is a health hero to their bodies.

2.     Try an Elimination Diet

It’s common for certain foods to trigger inflammation and other gut health issues. An elimination diet involves removing all types of foods that may be the culprit. [6] After two-four weeks, you will slowly reintroduce one group of foods back into your diet at a time.If you notice any negative effects or symptoms after reintroducing a certain food, you’ll know that it may be affecting your gut health. Keep doing this until you’ve been able to identify all food types that are hurting your stomach.There are a few very common culprits related to poor gut health that you may want to start with. They tend to either be very inflammatory or a very common food allergen. Most likely, one of these will cause most people some gut dysfunction.

  • Gluten
  • Dairy
  • Yeast
  • Corn
  • Soy
  • Eggs
  • GMO foods

3.     Take a Probiotic

Your gut flora, the community of microorganisms inside your body, is sensitive to the food you eat, and if it’s unbalanced can be linked to diseases such as depression, obesity, and heart disease. [7]Probiotics are full of friendly bacteria that can help restore your gut flora to its natural balanced state and provide a vast array of other health benefits! They can even help reduce bloating, gas, diarrhea, and even irritable bowel syndrome to help give you some much-needed relief. If you’re looking for a trusted probiotic, I highly recommend this one from Thorne. Taking 50-100 billion units daily can help re-colonize the gut with healthy bacteria! One of my ways to make sure I get enough probiotics in my diet is eating foods high in probiotics like kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, and kimchi. [8] They make for a delicious snack or side and will definitely help to improve your gut health if you tolerant them well like I do.

1.     Eat Real Food!!

One of the most important parts of a happy gut is to incorporate a diet focused on eating whole and natural foods including:

  • Lean Proteins
  • Leafy Greens
  • Slow Digesting Carbs (oats, sweet potato and winter square)
  • Steamed Vegetables
  • Organic: chicken, turkey, grass-fed meats, other healthy fats (egg yolks, fish, avocados, ghee and coconut oil)

Stay Positive on Your Way to Better Gut Health

This can seem overwhelming at first, but so is surfing the ‘internet doctor’ daily to try to find potions and opinions to help with your ailments. So instead, feel truly grateful that you have a plan to try and remedy your gut function and overall health. The way that you approach the problem will have a direct impact on your gut health. If you’re not getting the results, you’d like don’t give hope.  When you stay positive and look on the bright side, you’ll be able to keep your stress levels low and in turn it could help alleviate some of your gut health issues. [9] This beginner's guide to gut health was designed to help make it easier to make positive changes in your life.Your gut health plays an important role in your overall health. Many people may have to also include proper supplementation once the accusatory foods are removed, but by having a basic understanding of how you can keep your gut happy you’ll begin to have more energy, and less dysfunction over time, so you can get on to living a happy and healthy life.If you’re ready to jump-start your journey to better gut health, get instant access to my FREE gut-healing recipe eBook. You’ll get all my favorite staples recipes that will help you on the road to restoring a healthy gut in no time! Scientific Sources[1] Oeggerli, M. (2019, December 17). How trillions of microbes affect every stage of our life from birth to old age. Retrieved May 30, 2020, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2020/01/how-trillions-of-microbes-affect-every-stage-of-our-life-from-birth-to-old-age-feature/[2] Bhandari, S. (2018, May 20). Your Gut Bacteria and Your Health. Retrieved May 30, 2020, from https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/what-your-gut-bacteria-say-your-health[3] What's the Connection Between Gut Biomes and Inflammation? (n.d.). Retrieved May 30, 2020, from https://www.mdvip.com/about-mdvip/blog/whats-connection-between-gut-biomes-and-inflammation[4] Zhang, Y., Li, S., Gan, R., Zhou, T., Xu, D., & Li, H. (2015, April 2). Impacts of gut bacteria on human health and diseases. Retrieved May 30, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4425030/[5] Staff, F. (2018, April 27). Nutrition: Keeping a Food Diary. Retrieved May 30, 2020, from https://familydoctor.org/nutrition-keeping-a-food-diary/[6] Raman, R. (2017, July 02). How to Do an Elimination Diet and Why. Retrieved May 30, 2020, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/elimination-diet[7] Gut Flora. (n.d.). Retrieved May 30, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/gut-flora[8] Harvard Health Publishing. (n.d.). Health benefits of taking probiotics. Retrieved May 30, 2020, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/vitamins-and-supplements/health-benefits-of-taking-probiotics[9] MaxLiving Health Expert MaxLiving, Expert, M., & MaxLiving. (2019, December 24). The Brain-Gut Connection: Improve your Gut Health and Improve Your Mind. Retrieved May 30, 2020, from https://maxliving.com/healthy-articles/the-brain-gut-connection-improve-your-gut-health-and-improve-your-mind

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