Love Up Your Gut to Power Up Your Immune System

As Hippocrates once said, "All disease begins in the gut."

Wise man.

This is absolutely true. Your gut should be considered the *hub* of all of your body's working systems. It is the epicenter of all things health, and where 80% of your immune system resides.

In order for things to be working well in your gut, the environment needs to be on point. The reason is simple: the state of your gastrointestinal system can greatly determine if you have illness, sensitivities, allergies, or other health concerns.

You've most likely heard of the all important Microbiome. There are over 100 trillion bacteria, viruses, and yeast cells in your gut, and not all are created equal. We each have varying gut bacteria depending upon the geography of where we live (due to differences in the makeup of the soil), our exposure to bacteria at birth, and our lifestyles.

Since we're all individual when it comes to gut microbes, it stands to reason that we each have varying dietary needs when it comes to how the food we eat affects our gut and ultimately our bodies.

This means that what we eat and expose ourselves to greatly effects the health of our gut and the strength of the gut lining. So for the focus of this blog, I want to focus on something you may have heard about, leaky gut. (it just sounds bad)😳

 Leaky Gut

One of the important ways for your gut to remain healthy is that the wall of the cell lining which is only one cell layer thick, be intact. Just under this uber thin lining are cells that act as the front line protecting the gut from toxins, and preventing waste from entering the bloodstream.

Now there has to be a little bit of wiggle room within this precious thin wall to allow water, and of course nutrients to pass through. But when things go awry and the door is open a little too wide, thats when actual food particles and toxins join the party uninvited and this is no bueno, and like I said, most of your immune system is in your gut.

Whats good for the goose in this instance is def not good for the gut gander. When it comes to your gut we for sho want baby in the corner. Whats meant for the gut should stay in the gut!

For sooo long, decades actually, and numerous study's later talking about the gut and looking into the impact on immunity, overall gut function and our current diets and lifestyles have a huge impact on our gut health, and not in a good way.

Because our immune system is there to fight and protect, its job is to be on the look out for foreign invaders and give 'em the old heave-ho. But when food and toxins hit the streets in your blood stream, your immune system gets to work attacking those foreign invaders resulting in chronic inflammation which is behind most diseases.

So just how does this door, or opening in the gut lining happen?  Just who opened this door and invited those who are unwanted over on this side of things?

Causes of leaky gut

1. It is believed to be partly genetic. This means having a predisposition to leaky gut due to being more susceptible to environmental factors that trigger an autoimmune response (think Hashimotos & Crohn's disease just to name a couple) (1)
2. Diet. Eating a diet of mainly processed foods that cause an allergic response and inflammation such as gluten, dairy, sugar, bad oils, GMO's and chemicals.
3. Chronic stress - for more on how to reduce stress read here.
4. Environmental toxins. This can be in our water, antibiotics, NSAIDS, & pesticides.
5. Gut dysbiosis which in translation means "not living well together." This means the gut is out of balance. You want the good stuff and to be in balance to prevent the thin lining from leaking resulting in autoimmune responses.

How Do You Know If You Have Leaky Gut?

Here are a few signs an symptoms that could be a sign you have a problem with your gut:

1. Sensitivity to certain foods: as noted above, when food and toxins get through, the immune system goes into action producing antibodies causing sensitivity to certain antigens in foods such as gluten and dairy. (2)
2. Autoimmune disease. Gluten is a big culprit here. The protein found in wheat, barley, and rye is big and cannot fit through the thin cell lining of the gut. But if that door is open too wide it comes on in, entering the blood stream and greatly affecting the entire system.
3. Thyroid issues. Leaky gut may directly effect hypothyroidism which is linked to Hashimotos autoimmune disease. 
4. Inflammatory Bowl Disease
5. Malabsorption of required nutrients
6. Skin issues: acne and  psoriasis.(3).

So just how do we heal leaky gut? 

1. The first and MOST important is to replace processed foods and those foods that can cause leaky gut as mentioned above, with whole real foods. The good news......the body responds quickly to changes in diet, helping shift the gut bacteria to having more of the good guys, and decreasing inflammation and toxic bacteria. (4)
2. Reduce consumption of alcohol and other toxins noted that harm the cell lining. 
3. Probiotics: You want the good stuff that keep things in balance and helps fight the harmful bacteria from taking over. These good guys also help with nutrient absorption and digestion.
4. Eliminate gluten, dairy, and sugar from your diet.
5. Consume bone broth. If you have been with me for a while, you know I drink a mug on the regular. Its benefits are beyond. 
6. Eat fermented foods.
7. Reduce stress: when under chronic stress, and overload of cortisol is being released which can break down the gut wall. 

So how do you fair in the gut department? What might you be doing well and perhaps not so well to keep your gut nice-n-healthy? 

I want you to be at your healthiest in order to fight off all of the viruses that we seem to be inundated with. I want you to be at ease and feel strong in your body knowing you are a power house and can fight the good fight!

If you want to know more on how you can help strengthen your immune system, download the free guide here.

To health and endless abundance,

xo

1http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12016-011-8291-x 

2https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25543046 

3https://gutpathogens.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1757-4749-3-1 

4 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3957428/