Introduction
My grandfather used to say, "if your feet are cold, put a hat on." For years, I thought he was just being funny, until I realized how brilliant he was. By containing heat at your head (a high priority of the body), your body can allocate heat elsewhere. This principal also applies to functional medicine - "If you have disease, heal your gut."
While Hippocrates is correct in saying all disease begins in the gut, I believe that is a glass-half-empty perspective. The other perspective is that health begins in the gut. With this perspective, we can better understand where to start when we want to improve our health. This article will follow the cascade of events that influence our gut health and affect other systems of the body.
The Basics
We all know that our immune system plays a crucial role in identifying, and eliminating, infections and pathogens - both chronic and acute. However, there isn't much thought put into what or where the immune system is.
80% (some studies show up to 90%)*1 of our immune cells are present in our gut, specifically in the epithelial layer (shown above). This epithelium is the gatekeeper of what is absorbed into the body and what is removed. In fact, anything that is eaten or drank is still considered "outside the body" until the enterocytes allow it to be absorbed and passed into circulation. Let's explore this further.
Since this epithelial layer is only one-cell thick, it requires a barrier to maintain function and integrity. We have a mucosal layer that acts as this barrier between what is consumed and the epithelium. A healthy mucosal layer is extremely important to allow proper function of these cells and the immune system. Unfortunately, this is one of the first areas to become dysfunctional. It is also one of the easiest areas to intervene!
Pharmaceuticals, processed foods, artificial ingredients, toxins, and other pollutants degrade this mucosal barrier which lead to them making direct contact with the enterocytes (cells that make up the epithelial layer). This direct contact not only damages the layer but also takes priority over incoming pathogens (frequent illness is common at this stage). Additionally, the inflammation (along with everything that contributed to the mucosal degradation) can cause unfavorable shifts in the microbiome. This adds to the overall burden in the gut, accelerating the progression of disease. This very mechanism is the start of leaky-gut, autoimmunity and many more health complications.
Action!
Here are some things to help improve your gut health, and subsequently, your overall health.
Diet
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” - Hippocrates. The single best thing you can do for your gut health, and overall health, is put good things in your mouth. Eat what nature gave us, not what man gave us. Aim for food in its simplest form. Here are some areas to focus on when buying clean foods:
Non-GMO
Organic
Grass-Fed/Grass-Finished Meats
Free from Corn and Soy
Avoid seed oils (Canola, Corn, Cottonseed, Soy, Sunflower, Safflower, Grapeseed)
Avoid artificial sweeteners and minimize sugar
Simply put, if it is a plant, or eats a plant, then you can eat it. If it's made in a plant, then sparingly eat it/avoid it!
Rest
Sleep influences your microbiome and your microbiome influences sleep. Studies show that favorable microbiome diversity is correlated with increased sleep efficiency! *2. "We found that total microbiome diversity was positively correlated with increased sleep efficiency and total sleep time, and was negatively correlated with wake after sleep onset."
Sometimes influencing the gut is needed to achieve restful sleep. However, increasing sleep hygiene is a good place to start. Here are some pointers:
Minimize screen time 1-2 hours before bed
Use blue light blocking glasses in the evening
Set a time to stop being productive. For example, only work to achieve tasks or daily chores by 8pm. Beyond 8pm is allocated for winding down and relaxing.
Do not eat 2 hours before bed time
Diffuse relaxing essential oils in the evening
Exercise
Exercise offers many benefits. Stimulating lymphatic flow, increasing mitochondria of cells (which play a significant role in immune function), and improving overall metabolism to name a few. Exercise also increases beneficial diversity in the microbiome *3.
Stress Reduction
Reducing the overall burden of toxins and pollutants has far reaching benefits for gut health and overall health. Being mindful of the food and beverage that goes in your body is one consideration, but also consider the container the food and beverage are in. For example, bottled water has somewhere around 250,000 pieces of nanoplastic per bottle. These plastics are gaining attention and are categorized as "forever chemicals" due the difficulty the body has in eliminating them. These, among many other chemicals, degrade the mucosal barrier, disrupt cell function and can even cause changes in hormones!
Store, transport and heat your food in glass when possible. Stainless steel (mainly for water) is another great option to minimize exposure to these pollutants.
Supplements
Keep in mind, supplements only supplement the above listed lifestyle and dietary changes. Supplements do not replace anything mentioned. Here are four of my professional recommendations in healing and optimizing the gut:
Microbiome Labs - MegaSporeBiotic - repopulates and conditions microbiome!
Microbiome Labs - MegaPre - fiber designed to nourish beneficial microbes!
Microbiome Labs - MegaMucosa - building blocks of mucosal barrier!
Microbiome Labs - Mega IgG 2000 - heals and seals leaky gut!
Microbiome Labs offers a 3-month kit called a Total Gut Restoration Kit. This helps the clients in my practice to heal from chronic gut health issues! You can access it with a Fullscript account and receive 10% off! Click the button below to create your account, save money and heal your gut!
Investigation
Test; don't guess! If you have tried multiple diets, programs, supplements and still haven't improved your gut health or overall health, then it is time to work with a practitioner to do a thorough investigation! Functional lab testing will uncover the contributors to your health concerns and allow for focused intervention and expedited healing.
Schedule your free consultation with Board-Certified Holistic Health Practitioner Ryan Hysinger to identify and address the root cause and get the health of your dreams!
Conclusion
Hopefully this brought some clarity to the far-reaching effects of gut health. I hope this also offered some steps you can take to improve your health. If you'd like to take a deeper dive into the cascade of dysfunction that results from poor gut health, click below for Part II!
Sources
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 - PubMed (nih.gov)
Gut microbiome diversity is associated with sleep physiology in humans - PMC (nih.gov)
Exercise Modifies the Gut Microbiota with Positive Health Effects - PMC (nih.gov)
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