You may not even realize you have a problem, but if you have health concerns of any kind or you
are overweight, your digestive system is likely to be a big factor.

If you suffer from (or have suffered from) some type of digestive disorder, like irritable bowel syndrome,
bloating, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, reflux, gas, you are not alone. More than 100 million Americans have digestive problems.

Two of the top five selling drugs in America are for digestive problems and, many of the more than 200
over-the-counter remedies for digestive symptoms can actually create more digestive problems.

Digestive problems wreak havoc in the entire body, leading to allergies, arthritis, autoimmune disease, rashes, acne, chronic fatigue, mood disorders, autism, dementia, cancer, and more.

Having a healthy gut means more than simply being free of symptoms like bloating or heartburn. It is absolutely central to your health. It is connected to EVERYTHING that happens in your body.

If you have chronic health problems, having a healthy gut is essential. The health of your gut determines what nutrients are absorbed and what toxins, allergens, and microbes are kept out.

It starts with digestion

Intestinal health could be defined as the optimal digestion, absorption, and assimilation of food. However, that job that depends on many other factors.

Food is broken down first by the stomach (with its hydrochloric acid) and then by the pancreas (with its digestive enzymes). What is left after the digestive process is the basic building blocks of life: the micronutrients and the macronutrients. Micronutrients consist of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Macronutrients consist of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

In order for the macronutrients to be absorbed by the body, they need to be broken down into their smallest possible pieces. Proteins are broken down into individual amino acids. Carbohydrates are broken down into sugars such as glucose, sucrose and fructose. Fats are broken down into fatty acids and glycerol.

In a healthy body, it's only after these nutrients are broken down into the smallest molecules can they pass through the gut wall and into the blood. Even in a healthy body though, we sometimes need the help of digestive enzymes to get the food broken down into these tiny molecules.

 

Leaky Gut Syndrome

The gut is made up of millions of cells that allow only these small macronutrient molecules to pass into the blood. Usually, only broken down nutrients such as glucose and amino acids are let into the blood. Larger macronutrients, particularly larger proteins, tend to cause problems when they enter the blood stream. The body thinks that they are foreign invaders, causing the immune system to release white blood cells to attack the invaders. These white blood cells have chemicals within them that, when leaked, induce swelling and inflammation.

The cells of the gut are normally packed tightly together in order to allow only the broken down proteins into the blood. Inflammation causes these tightly packed cells to swell and loosen. Much like block walls that have lost their grout, spaces open between these cells and larger undigested proteins escape into the blood stream.

This is leaky gut: undigested proteins and other unwanted material leaking through the intestinal wall directly into the blood. The gut can become leaky when we eat foods we shouldn't, are exposed to chemicals, have the wrong kind of bacteria in our guts, or are under stress. Any of these conditions can cause the gut to become inflamed.

The biggest problem with leaky gut is that it creates an endless cycle where proteins cause inflammation and the inflammation allows for more proteins to release into the blood stream causing even greater inflammation, progressively making the leaky gut worse and worse.

When this happens, you can become allergic to foods you might normally be able to digest perfectly well, you will get sick, your immune system will become overactive, and it will begin producing inflammation throughout your body.

The gut is your "Second Brain"

Did you know your gut, actually contains MORE neurotransmitters than your brain? In fact, the gut has a brain of its own. It is called the "enteric nervous system" and it is a very sophisticated piece of your biology that is wired to your brain in intricate ways.

Just like your primary brain, your “gut brain” is also able to learn, remember, and produce emotion-based feelings.
The expression “gut-level feeling” isn’t just a “saying.” We really do have feelings in our gut.

Our two brains communicate back and forth via a major nerve trunk extending down from the base of your brain all the way down into your abdomen. Because of this, your two brains directly influence each other.
When one brain becomes upset, the other joins right in.

That’s why your stomach might get “fluttery” because of anxiety before an important meeting. Or why a late night spicy snack that’s hard on your stomach might also give you some nasty nightmares.

Because of this direct brain-gut connection, the state of your gut has a profound influence on your psychological well being. Messages constantly travel back and forth between your gut-brain and your head-brain, and when those messages are interfered with in any way your health will suffer.

Not all bugs are bad; your intestinal "ecosystem"

There are healthy, and essential, bacteria in your gut that create a diverse and interdependent ecosystem like a rainforest. In fact, there are 500 species and 3 pounds of bacteria in your gut which form a huge chemical factory that helps you digest your food, regulate hormones, excrete toxins, and produce vitamins and other healing compounds that keep your gut and your body healthy.

This ecosystem of friendly bacteria must be in balance for you to be healthy. Too many of the wrong bacteria, like parasites and yeasts, or not enough of the good ones, like Lactobacillus or Bifidobacteria, can seriously damage your health.

A healthy balance of bacteria in your intestines is one factor to good gut health. So, maintain or rebuild your rain forest of friendly bacteria. Take probiotic supplements. Probiotics are small bacteria that are beneficial to the body. These bacteria help repair the intestinal wall and have been shown in numerous studies to reduce inflammation and repair leaky gut.

To be truly effective you must take a probiotic supplement that has over 5 billion active cultures; and the more active cultures, the better.