Given how many other bodily functions it can impact, digestive gut health must be a top priority. In addition to causing chronic conditions like IBS, SIBO, and Crohn’s disease, poor gut health can also have an impact on brain function. The stomach is very crucial. You want to maintain its health and diversify it.
A 2021 Nutrients review states that the GI tract is home to 70% to 80% of immune cells (1). Yes, your stomach contains most of your immune system! Throughout the day, the local mucosal immune system, the gut epithelial lining (a physical barrier), and the beneficial bacteria known as intestinal microbiota collaborate to support the body’s immune response.
Here are four simple dietary changes we may make to maintain the health of our stomachs. Check out these tips on how to heal your stomach if you have persistent GI pain, such as IBS or Crohn’s disease, or if you’re just feeling a little bit bloated.
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Don’t hesitant taking supplements.
While probiotics and prebiotics can be found in our meals, some people require a little extra support to receive enough of these beneficial digestive nutrients. As a proponent of reliable vitamins, I believe they are extremely beneficial in optimizing gut health.
It might be difficult to know where to begin when it comes to vitamins in the vast land that is the drugstore supplement aisle. While it is always preferable to see your functional medicine physician with these topics, most doctors recommend probiotic and prebiotic supplements to their patients.
One of my favorite supplements is glutamine. You can also take inulin, which is another vitamin. Supplements containing glutamine can help heal the digestive gut, and that adding inulin—which is typically derived from chicory root—to your diet is an excellent way to increase your intake of dietary fiber.
If the idea hasn’t already been ingrained in your mind, our digestive tract serves as the basis for numerous other facets of our general well-being. Having said that, it’s critical to maintain the health of our gut microbiome and provide it with the essential bacteria it needs through nutrition.
if your gut flora is out of equilibrium. That will eventually have a connection to heart disease, Alzheimer’s, other illnesses, or autoimmune disorders. That’s why I think gut health is crucial. Every medical issue originates in the stomach.
Consider taking Vitamin D too.
Studies indicate that vitamin D supports a varied gut microbiota and may even help to replenish beneficial bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. Even after accounting for other factors that influence microbial diversity, such as age and antibiotic usage, males with higher levels of the active hormone type of vitamin D had more diverse gut bacteria, according to a 2020 cross-sectional research (2).
It would seem sense to address our vitamin D status to completely support our digestive gut health—after all, a startling 29% and 41% of adult Americans are deficient or insufficient in vitamin D, respectively (3).
The control of immunological responses and gut health are significantly influenced by the vitamin D pathway. The integrity of the gut barrier and the immune system within the gut can be impacted by many genes that are controlled by the vitamin D receptor. One could speculate that alterations in these characteristics of the gut due to a vitamin D deficit could alter the microbiota’s composition.
Ninety-three percent of adult Americans do not get enough vitamin D from their daily diet (4). A healthy diet and high-quality supplements are essential for attaining optimal vitamin D status since several factors impact the body’s capacity to synthesis vitamin D in the skin when exposed to sunshine (though diet alone isn’t the most effective way to get adequate D).
Getting your vitamin D from food is more complicated than just eating your veggies. Irradiated mushrooms are the only “veggie” (really, a fungus) that has the necessary nutrient; they obtain their vitamin D2 from UV light, which is a much weaker form of vitamin D.
A variety of animal products (such as eggs and cod liver oil) and fortified foods (such as milk, orange juice, and cereal) are other modest sources of vitamin D.
All of these are good, but the issue arises when you think about how much of those foods you need to eat to get the recommended daily dosage of 5,000 IU or more. If you don’t want to survive just on cubed cheese, you may want to consider using a supplement that works well. When shopping for vitamin D, I would look for the wording “Vitamin D3-5000” on the label.
Probiotics are essential.
Probiotics are vital for digestive gut health because they maintain bodily equilibrium and provide a variety of health benefits, including but not limited to strengthening the immune system, helping you maintain a healthy weight, and alleviating bloating.
We all know that probiotics are beneficial to our health, but how do we include them in our diets and get them into our guts? Including probiotic-rich items in our diets is simple. Probiotics can be obtained through foods such as kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, and miso. If you are lactose intolerant, you can also consume dairy-free kefir. If you can’t stomach a container of Greek yogurt, there are plenty of other methods to get probiotics.
Fiber will always be vital.
Fiber is exceptionally important. In a glass of watered-down juice, I put soluble fiber like psyllium husk. Other raw forms, including onions and chicory root, are prebiotic-rich foods that you should integrate into your diet.
Prebiotics are a form of fiber that allows healthy bacteria to enter the gut. Consider prebiotics to be a type of fertilizer for bacteria, stimulating bacterial development and contributing to benefits such as blood sugar balance and facilitating bowel motions. It also keeps you satiated for longer, which is always a plus for a nutritious dinner.
To Wrap Things Up
Because of its deep influence on different physical systems and even our state of mind, ensuring the health of our digestive system is critical. Our immune system is housed in the gastrointestinal tract, underlining the importance of gut health in overall immunological response.
Integrating probiotics and vitamin D supplements, as well as eating probiotic-rich foods and prioritizing fiber intake, are all critical practices for maintaining a healthy gut flora. By promoting gut health, we establish the groundwork for overall well-being and resiliency to many health concerns.
Don’t have time for the full article? Read this!
This article emphasizes the critical importance of prioritizing gut health for overall well-being. It underscores the significant impact of poor gut health on chronic conditions and brain function. The gastrointestinal tract, housing a substantial portion of the immune system, becomes a focal point in the discussion. The article provides four practical dietary strategies to enhance digestive health, including the use of supplements like probiotics and vitamin D, incorporating probiotic-rich foods, and emphasizing fiber intake. The overarching message is the proactive nurturing of gut health for comprehensive physical and immune system support.
Source |
- Nutrients | Free Full-Text | The Interplay between the Gut Microbiome and the Immune System in the Context of Infectious Diseases throughout Life and the Role of Nutrition in Optimizing Treatment Strategies (mdpi.com)
- Vitamin D metabolites and the gut microbiome in older men | Nature Communications
- Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among US adults: prevalence, predictors and clinical implications | British Journal of Nutrition | Cambridge Core
- Impact of Frequency of Multi-Vitamin/Multi-Mineral Supplement Intake on Nutritional Adequacy and Nutrient Deficiencies in U.S. Adults – PMC (nih.gov)
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