It is estimated that 1 in 3 of us have digestive issues and the evidence is building up to suggest it could be the secret to a healthy body and a healthy mind. Something that affects everything from food and skin allergies, to brain disorders, cancers and even obesity.
Basically if your gut flora is bad and you don’t have enough good bacteria, toxins enter your blood and inflammation happens. And that can affect almost any part of your body, which in turn can also affect your mind, impacting mood and even causing clinical depression.
Unfortunately modern life can cause trouble: think antibiotics, painkillers, pesticides, birth control, diets high in refined carbs, sugar and processed foods, toxins like wheat (that now contains hundreds times more gluten due to the way it’s processed), industrial seed oils, as well as our obsession with cleanliness, stress, not getting enough sleep and being inactive. I was diagnosed as coeliac in 2005 and often wonder whether my diet along with modern food manufacturing and modern lifestyle put my gut under so much strain that my body eventually rejected gluten.
So what can we do to make our gut healthier?
- get your hands dirty or get a pet (you’ll be exposed to new bacteria)
- exercise (it increases microbial diversity)
- limit traditional soap and shampoo which strips the skin of natural bacteria
- eat fermemted and fibre rich food and drink (e.g. Kombucha) but limit carbs, sugar and processed foods
- ditch the dishwasher (kids whose dishes are washed by hand have greater diversity and lower rates of excema and allergies)
- take prebiotics and probiotics (Kefir, supplements etc)