4 MAJOR parts that make up a HEALTHY GUT are:
- How well you Digest your Food
- How well you Eliminate the Waste made from Digestion and Detoxification
- The QuaLity and QuanTity of the GOOD Bacteria in your GUT (Microflora)
- The Strength of your GUT Wall (called the GUT MUCOSA)
None of these are more important than another - they are ALL Critical Factors of what Your Health IS NOW... and WILL BE in the future.
And the signs of a GUT headed for trouble? Well... they can be HIDDEN and Elude you to believing your GUT is perfectly fine... Or... they can be Obvious (whether you accept it or not) with the symptoms of:
3. Weight Gain (or inability to Lose Weight) Regardless of Your Efforts
6. Bloating, Reflux and Gas
7. Anxiety and/or Depression
8. Food Cravings - especially Sugar
10. Unexplained Rashes
11. Poor Concentration and EVEN
12. Activation of Autoimmune Conditions
And it actually all starts in the mouth!
Digestive juices (Enzymes) are secreted from our Salivary Glands to start the whole process of digestion as soon as you put something in your mouth! Mostly Carbohydrates begin their digestion in the mouth by these enzymes.
The mouth is also full of bacteria! Good Bacteria AND Bad Bacteria. The health of our Teeth and GUMS are a critical piece of this puzzle.
Did you know that poor mouth care has been proven to increase the risk of heart disease? (That is why we made the decision to have sweet little Inka's teeth all extracted last year! It was a hard decision, but they had become decayed since I didn't listen to my wise Veternarian son who told me to brush her teeth!)
After you swallow, digestion continues in the stomach and small intestine - where more digestive juices and enzymes are released.
The Small Intestine is where most of the nutrients of our foods are absorbed back into the body and used to carry out all necessary functions throughout our body. The food stays completely liquid in the small intestine and is NOT supposed to come up against bad bacteria here.
Did you know that the number of bacteria in your SMALL intestine is supposed to be just a fraction of the number in your LARGE intestine!
Now, as this liquid passes through the 30 feet of small intestine, it comes to an important sphincter between the end of the small intestine and beginning of the large intestine. It's called the Cecal Valve.
Right on the other side of the Cecal Valve is the Cecum - the first part of the Large Intestine. That's where your Appendix is too! It's hanging right off the Cecum.
It used to be that if you lost your small intestine... it was a sure death sentence.
It's no longer a death sentence, but it is a difficult life for sure.
Once you enter the Cecum, you have entered the large intestine where the water is reabsorbed from the waste material and the liquid "stool" starts becoming solid. It is in the large intestine that you are REALLY full of bacteria.
Did you know that you have more bacteria in your GUT than you have cells in your entire body? TRILLIONS of bacteria!
In fact... there are more bacteria in your large intestine than there are humans on this planet! Now THAT should get your attention! We Ain't Talkin' About Some Little Colony Here!
GOOD bacteria - living harmoniously with you... are always altering your thoughts, your behaviors... your hormones... and yes even your GENES! These bacteria make vitamins, break down toxins, make toxins, and even make hormones.
Did you know that your GUT makes more Serotonin than your Brain makes?
And all of this takes place in an area of your body that, not too long ago, we really didn't like to think about or talk about = our BOWELS.
Yes, you have heard it before, that 70% of your immune system comes from your GUT! Now you know why! This Microflora plays a heavy part... AND in addition to these Microflora... the GUT is packed with Immune System LYMPHOID tissue where Immune System Disease Fighting Cells are made.
Just like the Bone Marrow make blood cells... the GUT has Immune "Patches" that make Immune System Cells!
Now this brings us to Number 4 - GUT Integrity: What do you think happens if the GUT Wall is not healthy?
You know how I have said the Vagina was never meant to be sterile? (That's a good thing since the Penis is FAR from "sterile" 😂). And so the WALLS of the Vagina were MADE to keep everything away from reaching the bloodstream - including toxins, bacteria and anything else that gets put in it the vagina. That is why we can put the Happy Hoo Hoo Hormones in the Vagina and not worry about much in the way of Systemic Absorption.
Well the GUT is obviously not sterile either! It's FULL of WASTE and bacteria. And it would be VERY dangerous if the bowel was Perforated! it's likely you've heard of perforation before - a surgery gone bad... a bowel obstruction that ended up perforation... a diverticula that "popped"... All of these require Emergency Surgery because when the bowel opens up... it releases all of those toxic substances and bacteria into the spaces that allow the body to absorb them. (This causes SEPSIS and is LIFE THREATENING EMERGENCY!)
Well... Leaky GUT is not nearly that. But it's still BAD. It's when very small amounts of toxins, allergens, bacteria, and so forth DO slip through the bowel wall and into the blood stream.
This is caused by a POOR GUT INTEGRITY. And the really bad thing about this is that it is EASY to develop a poor GUT integrity as we age! It's REALLY easy!
That's because the GUT Wall is only ONE CELL LAYER thick! That's right! And the cells that are lined up side by side to make this one cell layer wall... are connected to one another by Tight Junctions.
Well what happens to your skin when you scrape your arm, or you get bit by a bug, or you develop a rash from something you are allergic to or sensitive to?
You get redness and a little swelling around the scrape or rash, right?
Well, the SAME thing happens INSIDE Your GUT when IT gets inflamed from an allergen, a toxin, or bad collection of bacteria. It gets swollen, red and irritated. And the tight connections between the side by side cells that make up that ONE CELL thick bowel wall - start loosing up.
And you know what happens then! The toxins and allergens can slip right through the junctions because they are no longer properly holding the cells tightly together.
Basically... You start POISONING YOURSELF... little by little... gradually but surely. And it won't stop until YOU do something about it.