Gut Check: Are Your Gut Symptoms Holding You Back From Overall Wellness?

Woman suffering with stomach pain

How Easy Natural Treatments for Gut Health Can Translate to Whole Body Wellness

Have you heard the notion that all disease begins in the gut? Hippocrates, a Greek physician born in 460 BC made this observation and now modern science is proving it to be true. Gut health is foundational for overall health. Gut conditions like gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and constipation are the most common health problems we treat. But what if you have a condition outside the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and no gut symptoms? We still treat the gut! It’s that important. Read on to learn why, and how easy solutions for gut health can help you.

Several predisposing factors are setting you up for poor gut health (and thus overall health) early in life. These include cesarean birth (C-section) instead of vaginal birth, bottle feeding instead of breastfeeding, and childhood infections treated with antibiotics. These factors negatively influence your developing gut microbiome, the healthy bacteria living in your gut.[1] Not all is lost, though. Proper care of the gut can result in symptom reversal and health improvement.

5 Areas That Impact Gut Health

Our proven 5-Point Model System addresses all the realms contributing to gut and overall health. These include (1) natural hormones, (2) nutrition, (3) toxins, (4) mind/heart, and (5) body. Many gut healing programs offer gut-focused nutritional supplements and diet plans without addressing these other areas. Most who use this approach will only get partially better, or symptoms will relapse. It’s important to address all 5 points to achieve complete healing.

Mind-Body Connection: Your Gut is Your Second Brain

We have found that the Chronic Stress Response is the main driver of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. The gut senses mental stress which translates to gut inflammation. This pathway is bidirectional, meaning an inflamed gut can also impact brain function leading to anxiety, depression, and memory loss.[2] The gut has even been called the “second brain” – it’s wise! Elevated cortisol, the stress hormone, is implicated in many diseases.

Have you noticed that you get sick more often when you’re stressed out? Stress compromises your immune system. 70-80% of your immune system resides in your gut and depends on a healthy gut lining. The beneficial bacteria in your gut play a large role in bolstering your gut barrier.[3]

Tips to Calm Your Nervous System So You Can Rest and Digest

Simplify life by decreasing commitments that are not as important (even if just temporarily) to lighten the load. (ex. social media scrolling, events, etc.)
To optimize the mind, we encourage finding restoration in nature, meditation, joy, deep breathing, acupuncture, and a therapy called Heart-Math.
Focus on letting the length of the inhale match the exhale. Or belly breathe by feeling your belly expand with each breath, not your chest. Do these exercises for 5-15 minutes.[4]
Try to move your body daily. Take a walk outdoors in the morning sun, swing your arms, while belly breathing.

How Do Hormones Influence Gut Health?

We’ve already talked about one hormone – cortisol and its impact on gut health. Elevated cortisol can impact other hormone levels, including thyroid and sex hormones. That’s why it’s so important to manage stress and cortisol levels.

Another hormone that we frequently need to optimize is thyroid. Thyroid hormones regulate metabolism which plays a role in digestion. Hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid is common and results in constipation and indigestion for many patients.[5] Hyperthyroidism, or overactive thyroid can cause diarrhea.

We find that when people’s hormone levels are optimized to 75%, they feel their best. Many doctors will tell you your hormone levels are “normal”, but we aim for “optimal”. Find a healthcare practitioner who will help you optimize hormones.

Nutrition to Heal Your Gut

Our Gut Protocol Level 1 is simple and corrects over 80% of gut problems like heartburn, diarrhea, IBS, constipation, colitis, etc. People are even able to wean off medications like proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for reflux and heartburn. We recommend doing these 3 things for one to three months:

Eliminate dairy. Casein is a protein in dairy and is inflammatory to the gut lining.[6,7]
Probiotics every meal. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria naturally present in fermented foods and in supplement form. Include fermented foods like kombucha, homemade fermented veggies, and coconut milk yogurt. Beneficial bacteria produce butyrate which strengthens the gut lining and GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) which has calming properties.[8] Probiotics aid with constipation, Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, Clostridium difficile infection, travelers diarrhea, and yeast infections.[9,10,11,12,13] They even help with allergies and skin rashes and reduce the severity and duration of colds.[14,15]
Enzymes every meal. Enzymes help digest food so you can absorb nutrients to nourish your body. Enzymes are particularly helpful for bloating and reflux.[16]

A plant-based whole foods diet is recommended to reduce inflammation, alkalinize the body, and reduce the digestive load.[17] Plant-based doesn’t mean you have to become vegan or vegetarian. Incorporating more plant foods into any diet is important to provide fiber for healthy bowel movements and to support your gut microbiome.[18]

If gut symptoms are not improved after Gut Protocol Level 1, we add supplements to heal the gut barrier and decrease inflammation with Gut Protocol Level 2. Aloe juice and glutamine are added for up to 3 months.[19,20]

If gut symptoms are still not resolved, we assume a pathogen is present and use antimicrobial substances with Gut Protocol Level 3. Fewer people require level 3, but chronic infections can be problematic for some.

Comprehensive nutritional testing is also helpful. We use the Spectracell blood test and optimize to the 75th percentile. This test measures gut-supportive nutrient levels like glutamine and nutrients important for making hormones. It also measures minerals like magnesium which is important for preventing constipation.[21]

Your Gut is A Detoxification Organ

Your body is naturally programmed to move the bowels after each meal – the minute you start chewing, your intestines start contracting.[22] Social programming has trained most people to accept once-daily bowel movements. You want to move your bowels at least once daily for toxin elimination, but a few formed bowel movements daily are ideal.

Many suffer from constipation and going once a week might be “normal”. Conventional treatment includes laxatives and fiber pills. However, a healthy bowel movement can be achieved naturally with some retraining.

Tips for Healthy Elimination

Fiber adds bulk and softens the stool making it easier to pass. The average American diet only has 17 grams daily. Aim to eat more fruits, veggies, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds to get 25-30 grams (or more) of fiber daily. Fiber lowers cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease risk.[18]
We recommend drinking 100 oz (or 3 liters) of pure water with pink salt and lemon daily. Water helps to hydrate the stool, and in combination with fiber, can improve constipation.[23]
Moderate physical activity decreases constipation risk. Aerobic activity alleviates bloating, improves motility, and increases stimulation of abdominal muscles to help move stool.[24]
We help patients reduce medications that cause constipation such as pain medications, antidepressants, and some blood pressure medications. This should only be done under the guidance of a healthcare practitioner.

Optimize Health Through A Healthy Gut

You don’t have to live with GI symptoms. Our Gut Health Program reverses gut symptoms in over 75% of people in 30 days! In addition to gut symptom improvement, we also see improvement in allergies, sinus conditions, fatigue, anxiety, depression, skin rashes, autoimmune disease, and weight. Health really does begin in the gut.

We’re here for you in your journey to Vibrant Health! To learn more, call us at 407-478-9797 or fill out our contact form and we’ll respond promptly by the next business day.

Located in Longwood, Florida, we serve Seminole County, Orange County and nearby counties and cities such as Longwood, Lake Mary, Winter Park, Orlando, Oviedo, Heathrow, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Winter Springs, Casselberry, Sanford, Windermere and more. We also offer telemedicine for all Florida residents.

References

[1] Bokulich NA, Chung J, Battaglia T, et al. Antibiotics, birth mode, and diet shape microbiome maturation during early life. Science translational medicine. 2016;8(343):343ra382.

[2] Clapp M, Aurora N, Herrera L, Bhatia M, Wilen E, Wakefield S. Gut microbiota’s effect on mental health: The gut-brain axis. Clinics and practice. 2017;7(4):987.

[3] Wiertsema SP, van Bergenhenegouwen J, Garssen J, Knippels LMJ. The Interplay between the Gut Microbiome and the Immune System in the Context of Infectious Diseases throughout Life and the Role of Nutrition in Optimizing Treatment Strategies. Nutrients. 2021;13(3).

[4] Hopper SI, Murray SL, Ferrara LR, Singleton JK. Effectiveness of diaphragmatic breathing for reducing physiological and psychological stress in adults: a quantitative systematic review. JBI database of systematic reviews and implementation reports. 2019;17(9):1855-1876.

[5] Yaylali O, Kirac S, Yilmaz M, et al. Does hypothyroidism affect gastrointestinal motility? Gastroenterology research and practice. 2009;2009:529802.

[6] Ho S, Woodford K, Kukuljan S, Pal S. Comparative effects of A1 versus A2 beta-casein on gastrointestinal measures: a blinded randomised cross-over pilot study. European journal of clinical nutrition. 2014;68(9):994-1000.

[7] Brooke-Taylor S, Dwyer K, Woodford K, Kost N. Systematic Review of the Gastrointestinal Effects of A1 Compared with A2 β-Casein. Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md). 2017;8(5):739-748.

[8] Yong SJ, Tong T, Chew J, Lim WL. Antidepressive Mechanisms of Probiotics and Their Therapeutic Potential. Frontiers in neuroscience. 2020;13.

[9] Jakubczyk D, Leszczyńska K, Górska S. The Effectiveness of Probiotics in the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)-A Critical Review. Nutrients. 2020;12(7).

[10] van der Schoot A, Helander C, Whelan K, Dimidi E. Probiotics and synbiotics in chronic constipation in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland). 2022;41(12):2759-2777.

[11] Kunyeit L, K AA, Rao RP. Application of Probiotic Yeasts on Candida Species Associated Infection. Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland). 2020;6(4).

[12] Na X, Kelly C. Probiotics in clostridium difficile Infection. Journal of clinical gastroenterology. 2011;45 Suppl(Suppl):S154-158.

[13] Fan H, Gao L, Yin Z, Ye S, Zhao H, Peng Q. Probiotics and rifaximin for the prevention of travelers’ diarrhea: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. Medicine. 2022;101(40):e30921.

[14] Lopez-Santamarina A, Gonzalez EG, Lamas A, Mondragon ADC, Regal P, Miranda JM. Probiotics as a Possible Strategy for the Prevention and Treatment of Allergies. A Narrative Review. Foods (Basel, Switzerland). 2021;10(4).

[15] King S, Glanville J, Sanders ME, Fitzgerald A, Varley D. Effectiveness of probiotics on the duration of illness in healthy children and adults who develop common acute respiratory infectious conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The British journal of nutrition. 2014;112(1):41-54.

[16] Ullah H, Di Minno A, Piccinocchi R, et al. Efficacy of digestive enzyme supplementation in functional dyspepsia: A monocentric, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial. Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie. 2023;169:115858.

[17] Storz MA, Ronco AL, Hannibal L. Observational and clinical evidence that plant-based nutrition reduces dietary acid load. Journal of nutritional science. 2022;11:e93.

[18] McKeown NM, Fahey GC, Jr., Slavin J, van der Kamp JW. Fibre intake for optimal health: how can healthcare professionals support people to reach dietary recommendations? BMJ (Clinical research ed). 2022;378:e054370.

[19] Rao R, Samak G. Role of Glutamine in Protection of Intestinal Epithelial Tight Junctions. Journal of epithelial biology & pharmacology. 2012;5(Suppl 1-M7):47-54.

[20] Hong SW, Chun J, Park S, Lee HJ, Im JP, Kim JS. Aloe vera Is Effective and Safe in Short-term Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Journal of neurogastroenterology and motility. 2018;24(4):528-535.

[21] Zhang L, Du Z, Li Z, Yu F, Li L. Association of dietary magnesium intake with chronic constipation among US adults: Evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Food science & nutrition. 2021;9(12):6634-6641.

[23] Anti M, Pignataro G, Armuzzi A, et al. Water supplementation enhances the effect of high-fiber diet on stool frequency and laxative consumption in adult patients with functional constipation. Hepatogastroenterology. 1998;45(21):727-732.[24] Gao R, Tao Y, Zhou C, et al. Exercise therapy in patients with constipation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Scandinavian journal of gastroenterology. 2019;54(2):169-177.

Share this article with someone you think it could help.