NUTRITION AUTHOR
Shannon Dolan
GIVE BACK TO YOUR GUT n 70% of your immune system is housed in the gut — here’s how to properly take care of it.
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rain fog, eczema, acne, irregular cycles, depression, anxiety and fatigue are all related to poor gut health. The gut consists of your internal digestive system and the bacteria that live inside it. There are roughly 100 trillion bacteria species that set up camp. That is more bacteria inside your gut than there are stars in a galaxy. Good bacteria aids your digestion and optimizes proper function, but the problem arises when there is an overgrowth of harmful bacteria. These bacteria can cause inflammation in the body, decrease immune function, ignite sugar cravings and alter your brain chemistry. The gut interacts with every system of the body. Without it functioning properly, you cannot digest your food, thereby hindering the ability to absorb vitamins and nutrients — meaning, even if you eat the cleanest of diets, you could be missing out on the
NOVEMBER 2020
benefits of those foods. Conversely, if you are eating foods that your body is sensitive to, it can cause leaky gut. Leaky gut describes the excess inflammation on the intestinal walls. It occurs when a person is consistently consuming foods they have sensitivities toward. Think of a healthy intestinal environment as a scene from Finding Nemo. The sea plants are flowing back and forth with vibrancy and life, just like the microvilli in an intestinal wall. Microvilli are fingerlike projections that come off of the intestinal wall to grab and absorb nutrients. Now, imagine an oil spill in that underwater scene. This is essentially what an unhealthy gut will look like. The microvilli cannot function due to inflammation. Over time, this causes the intestinal barriers to weaken. Undigested molecules then slip out of the intestinal walls and into the body. This can manifest as joint
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