INTHEPINK
WHAT’S GUT GOT TO DO WITH IT? With the rising increase in gut health concerns across Europe, it’s about time we turned our attention to the importance of our own, says colonic hydrotherapist and personal trainer KAREN DE SOUZA. She’s here to help re-set our belly well-being, incorporating lasting changes to achieve better overall health. Creating a symbiotic relationship with gut bacteria means reaping physical, mental and emotional rewards.
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he Digestive Health Across Europe report [2018] identifies that one in four Europeans are affected by Irritable Bowel Syndrome [IBS] and only one in three people seek medical assistance for their digestive health concerns. These figures highlight the vast amount of people who suffer in silence, perhaps managing it as best they can and considering it a normal but inconvenient part of their daily lives, i.e. until they reach breaking point. It is important to acknowledge that with our modern lifestyles, our gut health is being compromised by increasing stress factors and poor diets, but good gut health isn’t just something we should focus on when we are trying to get out of pain and distress. It is part of a better understanding of developing an
ongoing intuitive connection with our gut and acknowledging its importance. This may seem like an alien concept to most, but given that 70 to 80 per cent of your immune system is held within your gut, poor gut health can and does have far-reaching consequences on your general health, well-being and energy levels. Who wouldn’t want to feel healthier, happier and have more energy? When we do eventually seek medical advice for digestive discomfort, having struggled for some time, we are often looking for an immediate solution, but it can take a long time before a digestive health diagnosis is found and several trial-and-error attempts, with different pharmaceutical recommendations, before there is an improvement in symptoms.
The thing about gut health is that it is more than just a ‘what goes in must come out’ approach – good gut health is about lifestyle choices, individualised nutrition and developing an awareness of what works for you. Over the last decade, research has focused on the microbiome; for the average Joe and Jane, that’s your gut bacteria. Your microbiome begins its own unique development when you are born, as you leave and obtain bacteria from your mother’s birth canal, and this is continually altered every time you eat something, or come into contact with others. Your day-to-day environment plays an important role in your microbiome. Think of it as your tiny village within! Peter Turnbaugh et al [2007] found that there can be variations of 10 to 100 trillion symbiotic microbial cells held by every person and that these are largely within the gut, thus making up a hugely diverse set of nationalities [gut bacteria] among the villagers. For most, this can be a difficult or strange concept to understand, but the important thing is to comprehend that by creating a symbiotic relationship with your gut bacteria, you will reap Pink July 2019 ∫ 39
