GUT HEALTH

HEALTHY GUT

2 Chronicles 36:21 suggests that healthy soil and therefore healthy nutrition is really important! The purpose of letting the land rest, (keep sabbath) was for better nutrition in the food. Of all the evils God could have focused on, he focused on the fact that they had not let the land lie fallow every 7 years.

1. MUCUS lining: This is where the healthy bacteria live and make our neurotransmitters. 80% of Serotonin is found in the gut made by bacteria in the mucus. It also protects the lining of the gut from irritants and unhealthy bacteria which live in the center of the gut.
   Eat “slimy” food: oatmeal, bananas, okra,bone broth,kombucha, “slippery elm” or aloe, which you can find at health food stores.
2. Avoid aspirin it dissolves the mucous lining. Use Tylenol, acetaminophen, instead but read the directions because too much Tylenol can hurt your liver.
3. LEAKY GUT: comes from inflammation, thin mucus and too many “enemy” bacteria eating the connections between gut lining cells. Leads to large food particles getting into the blood and agitating the immune system. One must find out what causes your gut to react. Often it is food you ate a lot of as a child. Avoid these foods. Even when your gut is doing better, you will have a permanent priming to react with inflammation to foods you have been sensitized to.
4. FEED THE HELPFUL BACTERIA; These eat fiber. So eat a high fiber diet or take Metamucil or Benifiber or anything that says, “might cause gas” Start slowly so that you may adjust to the fermenting and resultant gas without being uncomfortable. Drink lots of water with the fiber. Irritated bowels move food through too fast and you have loose stools. The fiber not only feeds the healthy bacteria, it holds onto the water and keeps the stool soft. This prevents diverticulitis, appendicitis, hemorrhoids etc. (Fiber Con is not a prebiotic since the bacteria can’t digest or ferment it, it will keep the stools soft and won’t cause gas but does not feed the bacteria.)
5. REGULARLY REPLACE THE HEALTHY BACTERIA: These live in the mucus lining and are Lactobacillis plantarum and Bifido bifidum. You can eat sauerkraut, miso,tempeh,buttermilk,kimchee, Kefir, or yogurt and get lots of healthy bacteria, or you can take probiotics (Just pick up 50 billion with at least 10 varieties and it will have these and other helpful bacteria) These respond to requests from the brain and make more Serotonin as well as Dopamine and Nor-epinephrine, GABBA and Glutimate.

5.DON’T FEED THE ENEMY BACTERIA: These live in the center of the gut and thrive on sugar! We need to not eat things that need powerful machinery to refine, Ie. Sugar and white bread and white pasta etc.Even potatoes are too simple a carbohydrate.

6. CAST ALL YOUR CARES ON HIM: Anger, ruminating on problems, worry over the possible future, bitterness over the past, guilt over the past etc. all dump out adrenaline , cortisol, thyroid, and crank up the gut’s immune system and shift blood from the gut to the muscles, all of which irritates the gut.
7. Use antibiotics sparingly as they kill the good and the bad bacteria. Make sure you replace the probiotic bacteria after taking antibiotics.
8. Be careful with steroids such as Prednisone. They will calm down the inflammation but some inflammation is needed to fight off attempts by the enemy bacteria to invade. It is better to have a gut that is not inflamed because of the above steps.