In a day of pharmaceuticals and hundreds of specialists for your body, it would be hard to know that your health starts in your gut. I mean why would a headache start in your gut? Or arthritis, acne, eczema, allergies, or any other chronic conditions?
Eighty percent of your immune system is in your gut. Your immune system is responsible for keeping bad bacteria, viruses, and foreign substances out of our bodies. In order to do its job properly, the immune system needs the help of good microorganisms, like bacteria. Our body is made up of millions of microorganisms that help to keep unwanted bacteria and viruses out of our bodies. If we take medications like antibiotics and steroids, eat too much sugar, white flours, and processed foods then we put the health of those microorganisms at risk. Here’s how it works: Imagine that good bacteria are the guards that help to filter out the good and the bad from your blood stream. Those guards only let in the good nutrients and they keep out the bad. When we lose guards we allow bad bacteria and nutrient molecules that are too large to pass through into our blood streams. This is where our immune system kicks in. Our cells our housed with their own home security systems. When those bad bacteria or unidentifiable nutrients get into our blood stream, they try to make our cells their home. That triggers our security system to set off alarms and our immune system sends in the police to take away the bad bacteria. Those alarms come in the form of inflammation. The more guards we kill with our diets and medications the more bad bacteria and unidentifiable nutrients pass through our intestines into our blood stream. The infiltration causes extreme inflammation and an overtaxed immune system which leads to arthritis, acne, eczema, allergies, headaches, and other inflammation based chronic conditions.
How do you help your body? Bring back the good bacteria. Eat naturally fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, Kombucha, and kefir. These foods contain enzymes that help to break down those unidentifiable nutrients and make them recognizable; probiotics that help to reestablish the guards in your gut; and antioxidants that take those bad bacteria out of the body as waste without inflammation. If you prefer, you can also get these nutrients in pill form of probiotics, digestive enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. By healing your gut, you heal your body. No ifs, ands, or, buts.
