If you made it through "GettingYour Gut Right: Skip This and Nothing Else Matters: Part 1", congratulations! That post was as "boring to read" as it was to write.
I liken it to hearing a tedious account of someone's life story as told by their own mother: "...and then Bob's seed fertilized the egg inside my womb..." necessary if you want to know the genesis of a persons existence; about as exciting as spending a Sunday afternoon watching batteries charge!
Having covered the basic concept of the gallbladder's role in digestion in Part 1, let's forge on with a deeper look into gut health.
How does our gut work?
Quick Introductry Summary:
Hand or hand/implement combo stuffs food in our mouth.
Enamel encrusted jaw protrusions grind and break the food down into smaller particles as it is mixed with saliva.
Amylase, an enzyme contained within our saliva, starts breaking down the carbohydrates in the food bolus.
The now gooey mess in our mouth grabs a oneway ticket for the esophogus express.
Once inside the espohugus, the food charge is forced downward towards the stomach via a series of muscular rythmic contractions know as peristalsis.
At the stomach, the food gets the Jerry Lee Lewis treatment; "Whole lotta a shaking going on" (Not the I married my 13 year old first cousin).
Gastric juices and chemicals like hydrochloride acid, yes acid, I was shocked too, are mixed with the food to aid in breaking down proteins and creating a semi-liquid substance called chyme.
The chyme travels from the stomach to the small intestine where the body gets very serious about digestion! The small intestine is lined with small projections called villi, whose main job is to increase the surface area for the absorption of nutrients from the chyme.
Pancreatic enzymes and our good friend "bile" from the liver help break down fats, proteins and carbohydrates into smaller molecules that can be absorbed into the bloodstream.
The small intestine then absorbs glucose, amino acids and fatty acids into the bloodstream. The absorbed nutrient load is transported to the liver where it is further processed and distributed to the rest of the body.
Any remaining undigested food plus excess water pass into the large intestine, also known as the colon. The colon absorbs the water and electrolytes from the waste ultimately forming solid feces.
Of course the last step of the journey is the feces passing through the rectum and anus and into to the light of day.
Understanding the basic digestion process is key to understanding how the heavily processed and engineered foods we choose to eat in the modern western diet are damaging our gut.
Gut health is a big deal as this is how we sustain life. When our gut is compromised or unhealthy we are setting ourselves up for a myriad of potential health issues:
IBS - Irritable Bowel Syndrome
IBD - Infammatory Bowel Disease
Gastrointestinal infections
Leaky gut syndrome
SIBO - Small intestinal bacteria overgrowth
Type 2 Diabetes
So how do the foods we eat compromise gut health?
1. Bugs in our gut exist! Some we need and some we need to keep at bay. A high sugar or processed foods diet can upset the balance of gut bacteria. High sugar foods in the gut are like fresh meat to seagulls at the dump. Doesn't take long for hundreds to accumulate and cause chaos. Harmful bacteria thrive in the presence of excess sugars in our gut while the beneficial bacteria are snuffed out. If this cycle continues, imbalances may result in inflammation and other issues that compromise gut health.
2. Low fiber in our diet can negatively impact gut health. Fiber acts as a food source for the beneficial gut bacteria we are trying to promote. Expect digestive problems and inflammation to occur when you repeatedly choose the hot fudge sundae over the bale of hay! Fiber keeps the gut microbiota balanced and the gut healthy.
3. What is a probiotic? Seems like this is a trendy word we see all over the internet regarding gut health. Probiotics are actually "the good bacteria" that keep our gut healthy. Eating probiotic-rich foods, such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi, can help maintain our beneficial gut bacteria.
4. Like the criminal justice system in Texas, antibiotics are not particularly discerning when it comes to treating bacterial infections. They kill the good, the bad and the ugly bacteria which can be disruptive to the balance of gut bacteria. Antibiotics should be used sparingly to not disrupt overall gut health.
5. Trigger foods can cause gut inflammation and degrade gut health in people with food sensitivities or allergies. Common culprits include gluten and dairy.
6. Gut-brain axis, what? Certain additives and preservatives can irritate our gut lining and disrupt the delicate gut microbiota biosphere. Certain additives have also been shown to negatively impact the gut-brain axis, influencing mood and mental health.
The key to overall gut health is to eat the right balance of healthy nutritious foods while also paying close attention to any food sensitivities or reactions to certain foods.
Always consult with a healthcare professional or registered dietitian to provide guidance on dietary changes to optimize gut health.
At this point it would be super convenient to strike fear and panic by villianizing the food industry and telling you that the Doritos and Twinkies are basically helping you to commit suicide on the installment plan by destroying your gut!
The food industry is not the problem! We are our own worst enemy by not educating ourselves on how our bodies operate and paying attention to what does or does not work for us.
Eat the Doritos and enjoy every minute of the experience, just don't eat the whole bag in one sitting four days a week.
The 85/15 fresh unprocessed food to most any other food ratio seems to be working for me and quite possibly a good general rule of thumb to follow!
I discovered this rule in the book:
If this is the first blog post you have read on gallbladderout.com I suggest you purchase and read every page in this book!
Take care for now.........Paul
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