What is Gut Health, Anyway?
It’s the relentless and uncomfortable bloating after you eat any meal, or the heartburn that shows up no matter how hard you try to avoid acidic foods. It’s the uncomfortable acne that lives constantly on your jawline or the eczema that flares up every time it’s cold. It’s the nagging weight on your chest and race of your heart, or the feelings of brain fog and forgetfulness.
Whatever “it” is, we are all living or have lived in a state of discomfort, because of one or many of these symptoms. And while they are all incredibly common, they are not and should not be normal. So, why are they normalized? And more importantly, where are they coming from?
The Problem
There are a million reasons why the people in our country are as sick as we are, and I could go on and on (and on…) about the reason we continue to stay stuck in a state of illness, but I’ll save that for another day. Whether it’s the food we are eating, the environment in which we are living, the way we care for ourselves (or don’t) — we are living in a world that focuses on ease and convenience and more often than not, looks for the “quick-fix”.
We want the food that takes the least time and money to make, no matter how processed it is or how many unrecognizable ingredients are on the label. We want the cleaning products that give the best results the fastest, no matter how toxic they are known to be. And when we inevitably feel symptoms of “illness”, we want the pill that gets rid of the symptoms the longest, so we can get back to living our busiest and most productive life. But rarely does anyone want to stop and dig deeper to find out why we need the pill to begin with, especially in a world that doesn’t encourage us to. That is the deeply broken way of thinking that we are all unfortunately accustomed to.
What is your “gut health”, anyway?
The term “gut” is thrown around quite often these days, and if you’ve only heard it from a metaphorical standpoint, you may be scratching your head. So, let me break it down! Your gut is your gastrointestinal system, which encompasses your stomach, intestines and colon. In lemans terms, it’s the part of your body that digests your food, absorbing nutrients and excreting the things your body doesn’t need.
“Gut health” is defined differently by physicians, specialists and the medical community in general, but to me, gut health refers to the balance of your gut microbiome and the current state of the environment living within your digestive system.
We all have bacteria, viruses and fungi running rampant in our gut. Some doing positive work, like supporting our immune system and fighting illness, and others doing the opposite. When the balance is off, it can lead to disease and illness in both our body and brain, leading us to a place of chronic illness. Did you know that 75% of our immune system lives in our small intestine? Or that our gut provides 95% of our total body serotonin and 50% of your dopamine? These two heavy-hitting statistics show the profound impact your gut health can have on ALL parts of your body, even those that you feel are completely unrelated.
There are countless, and I mean countless, signs of gut inflammation. Some of the most common include:
Digestive symptoms including gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea and heartburn
Fatigue or exhaustion
Poor sleep
Mood disorders such as anxiety, depression or high irritability
Joint and muscle pain
Skin issues such as rashes, eczema, acne or dryness
Hormone imbalances
Common occurrence of infectious illnesses like viruses or colds
These are all examples of signs and symptoms of an unhealthy gut, but it’s also really important to be aware of what factors can impact your gut both negatively and positively. The way we live our life and the choices we make each day impact our gut more than many of us realize.
Here are some of the variables that can influence your gut health:
High or chronic stress
Sleep
Diet and nutrition
Physical activity
Tobacco and alcohol use
Use of antibiotics
As hard as it is to believe, because of the misinformation out there, a staggering number of mysterious symptoms and illnesses all begin in the gut. But for several reasons, we are led to look everywhere BUT there. If your mental health is struggling, you are guided to a psychiatrist. If you’re having skin issues, you are referred to a dermatologist. If you are having stomach troubles, you are sent to a GI specialist. You get the picture. But what if the root of it all, that is so often overlooked, is that your issues all begin within your gut?
Finding the Root Cause
It usually takes someone’s health reaching a level low enough that they just can’t bare it anymore, before they choose to seek help. Their symptoms no longer feel manageable or their pain screams loud enough that they have to listen. Naturally, they will then seek the help of a doctor, who will likely run a series of tests within their scope of practice and if they can find one, they will give a diagnosis and some sort of treatment. Whether that’s a pharmaceutical drug, steroid, topical ointment or other remedy. But what happens if those tests don’t find anything?
That’s usually when I come into the equation. For better or worse, myself and other functional medicine doctors like me tend to be the last stop that people reach once they’ve exhausted all of the other avenues. Luckily, we are up for the challenge and have a passion for finding answers and an even bigger passion for buckling up our boots and walking alongside you down the path of truly healing your body. And let me tell you, there’s nothing more rewarding.
Beyond finding the cause of your suffering, is how you choose to address the issues. There are infinite “solutions” to illness, that take away symptoms quickly, mute the ways your body is screaming at you and lead you to believe you are actually healthy. I like to call those “band-aid” solutions. They may work and they actually may work well, but if you are ever to stop using them, it is more than likely that all of your ailments would return. That’s why my approach to healing is exactly that: to help you heal. Once you have learned why your body is not functioning properly, you can then fix the problem from the inside out and (hopefully) be able to achieve a life free of discomfort and chronic pain.
Let me help you
If you’ve found yourself in the position that I’ve mentioned above, or are just now paying attention to the ways in which your body is trying to tell you that something isn’t right, I’m here for you. My goal as a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, is to meet you where you’re at, make sure that you feel seen, heard and validated, and collaborate with you in your healing journey. I have the tools to help you get to the root of your problems and the knowledge to help you heal, with your needs and desires leading the way.
It’s a “slow and steady win the race” type of journey, but with the right intervention, the best supplements and dietary support and our combined passion to get you to the other side, healing is so possible and I can’t wait to see the finish line with you.
