Bad dietary choices contribute to a growing number of chronic and deadly diseases. A key factor in the development of disease is lack of nutrients, vitamins and minerals along with an overpopulation of undesirable gut bacteria. When the ability to properly digest and breakdown food is affected, it leads to a variety of issues:
- gas
- bloating
- diarrhea
- constipation
- decreased immune system function
- autoimmune disease
- and more.
The key to improved digestion is being able to breakdown the foods you eat into absorbable nutrients. Elimination of bad bacteria allows for re-population with beneficial organisms and creates the environment needed to absorb and assimilate nutrients.
The Components of a Healthy Digestive Tract
A healthy digestive tract is contingent upon several factors:
- good nutrition
- removal of dietary allergens
- elimination of invading microbes
- and re-population with healthy gut bacteria.
Digestive enzymes play a critical role in the breakdown and absorption of nutrients. Without active enzymes, nutrients pass through the digestive tract and are eliminated without absorption.
Conventional medicine suggests that antibiotics are required to eradicate microbes from the GI tract. However this approach removes good and bad bacteria, and doesn’t address the need to repopulate.
Several essential oils have shown antimicrobial activity as effective as antibiotics. Lysozyme is a naturally occurring enzyme that has the ability to breakdown bacterial walls and is another powerful way to eliminate bacteria while avoiding the use of antibiotics.
Four Steps To Rebuilding Your Digestive Tract
First, you start by addressing the offenders. This means cleaning up your diet and eating strictly Advanced Plan. The Advanced Plan helps eliminate many high allergy potential foods and this is a key component of good digestion. This phase also involves the removal of offending bacteria. Unfriendly bacteria are known to produce toxins, metabolic by-products and inflammatory molecules which can not only have a negative impact on digestion but also on cognitive function, mood, immunity and more.
Next, you’ll replace the enzymes needed to digest the food you’re eating. Digestive enzymes are the catalysts to breaking down your food so you can absorb the nutrients you need.
The third step is to replace the good bacteria in your gut with probiotics. Probiotics will not only boost your digestion, they’ll also boost your immune system and support healthy inflammation levels.
The last, and most critical step is to repair the lining of your gut. The lining of the digestive tract is a porous surface, and contains spaces known as “gap junctions.” The gap junctions are tightly regulated – meaning only specific substances are allowed to pass through. This is important because passing to the other side puts a molecule directly into the blood stream and immune system. This makes it a target for attack if it’s recognized as a foreign molecule.
In a healthy gut, the molecules that make it to the other side are allowed to be there. The problem starts when a combination of poor diet, bad bacteria, stress and other things cause the gap junctions to separate, thus allowing larger, restricted molecules through and leading to leaky gut.
Once the lining is damaged, ANYTHING can pass through the gut wall and into your body leading to:
- Autoimmunity
- Food intolerances/sensitivities
- Cognitive dysfunction
- Inflammation
- Thyroid conditions
- Nutrient malabsorption
- Headaches
- Skin issues
- Weight gain
- Joint pain and more.
Check out the 14 DAY GI Reboot that is on sale this week at our Rocklin Chiropractic offic for 10% off to CORRECT all of the steps I just mentioned and help repair your digestive system!
Want to Learn more about balancing you GI SYSTEM?
Get “Sicked Up” for the “Building Healthy Families” Workshop on 8/15/17.