Mark Hyman MD writes:
Your gut wall houses 70 percent of the cells that make up your immune system. You might not attribute digestive problems with allergies, arthritis, autoimmune diseases (irritable bowel syndrome, acne, chronic fatigue), mood disorders, autism, dementia, and cancer. Many diseases seemingly unrelated are actually caused by gut problems.
If you want to fix your health, start with your gut. Gut health literally affects your entire body.
Even in a perfect world, our gut has a hard time keeping things balanced. But in our world there are many things that knock our digestive system off balance. Those include:
1. A junk diet. This nutrient-poor diet makes all the wrong bacteria and yeast grow in the gut, leading to a damaged ecosystem.
2. Medication overuse. Anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, acid blocking drugs, and steroids damage the gut or block normal digestive function.
3. Infections and gut imbalances. These include small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), yeast overgrowth, and parasites.
4. Toxic overload. Including mercury and mold toxins.
5. Inadequate digestive enzymes. Stress, acid-blocking medications, and zinc deficiencies can all contribute to lack of adequate digestive enzyme function.
6. Stress. Chronic stress alters your gut nervous system, creating a leaky gut and changing the normal bacteria in the gut.
The foundation of good gut health begins with what you eat. Focus on fiber-rich vegetables, low-sugar fruits, non-gluten grain, and legumes.
You might also consider an elimination diet to address food sensitivities. Completely remove 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.
I often follow a four-step strategy with patients to reduce inflammation and heal the gut. Many find when they employ these steps, they lose weight, feel better, and their symptoms improve:
Remove the bad bugs, drugs, and food allergens.
Replace needed enzymes, fiber, and prebiotic
Reinoculate your gut with good bacteria (probiotics)
Repair the gut lining with omega 3 fatty acids, zinc, glutamine, and other healing nutrients.