Gut Health
Common Symptoms of Digestive Health Dysfunction:
Bloating
Abdominal Pain/Cramping
Regular Diarrhoea/Constipation
Heavy AB use over a short-period of time.
Chronic Stress
Inflammatory Diet (high in sugar, saturated fat, gluten).
Lack of appetite
Reflux
Indigestion
Nutrient Malabsorption
Fatigue
As a clinical nutritionist, I like to look at digestive processes holistically. The gut-brain connection is an important part of treating digestive disorders as our mind plays a major role in gastric acid secretion which is an important part of the way we absorb nutrients from food.
Gut-Brain Axis:
The gut-brain connection refers to the synergistic connection between your gut and brain which is controlled by the vagus nerve which is a pert of the parasympathetic nervous system. The gut-brain connection is also connected by neurotransmitters which control feelings and emotions and are produced in the gut. This bi-directional connection exhibits the possibility of utilising nutritional medicine for the correction of gut function to affect your neurological health and vice versa. Approximately 15% of our gut lining is composed of enteric endocrine cells, which produce over 90% of the serotonin and over 50% of the dopamine that our bodies use. In fact, the brain doesn’t even produce its own neurotransmitters — the gut does.
There are many holistic factors involved with healing your gut if you are experiencing the above symptoms:
Reducing stress - chronic stress leads to inflammation and elevated levels of stress hormones which can cause excessive growth of of pro-inflammatory bacteria, changes in the composition of the gut’s microbiome .
Supporting detoxification pathways - We are exposed to many environmental toxins each day which overwhelms our detox pathways. This overload of toxins is reabsorbed through our colon, which reiterates the importance of supporting the detoxification of our liver, kidneys and colon to support optimal digestive health. Incorporating an anti-inflammatory diet combined with supplementation to support healthy detoxification under the guidance of a nutritionist is the first step in restoring gut health to its optimal functioning.
Prebiotics and Probiotics: Prebiotics work to feed and strengthen probiotic bacteria and can be taken in conjunction with probiotics to recolonise the microbiome with beneficial bacteria. This helps to restore the gut microbiome and correct dysbiosis which will reduce inflammation and increase motility. There are many different strains of probiotics and should be administered correctly with a practitioner to be targeting digestive function.
Eating a balanced diet: Our microbiome is basically a tiny eco system a, referring to the biological community of microorganisms living in the gut and our wellbeing is dependent on a well-functioning, balanced, and diverse microbiome. Our microbiome thrives in diversity and should be nourished with plenty of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables and less processed foods which are inflammatory. When shopping, aim to buy foods mostly free from packaging and when possible, buy organic as this takes load off our liver and detoxification pathways, positively affecting our gut.
