Gut Health...What itis and Why is it Important?
“A kick in the gut”?is an idiom for a severe blow to one’s body or spirit. Even though the idiom refers to an emotional happenstance, having a gut that isn’t functioning properly?causing?ill health can be a blow to your spirit as well.?
The gut, or your gastrointestinal tract, starts at your mouth and ends at the back passage. It is also referred to your digestive tract, and the purpose is to begin the process of digestion, break down food, and then help your body absorb necessary nutrients needed for health and vitality.?
?What is bad gut health??
Some symptoms of poor gut health, according to?Harvard Medical School, include:?
Clearly many of us need to improve our digestive health.?Beneficial bacteria help us digest food, regulate hormones, produce vitamins, and enhance vitamin and mineral absorption.?
Since both health-benefiting bacteria and harmful bacteria reside in our digestive tract, adding probiotics helps to crowd out harmful bacteria and, oddly enough, produce natural antibiotics which inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria throughout the GI tract.?
Greater understanding of how probiotics function has revealed that what we eat feeds our?microbiota, or community of bacteria, that reside in our digestive tract. The foods we eat can either nourish or disturb the balance of good bacteria.?An imbalance in our gut bacteria can contribute to an array of illnesses.?
The probiotic?Lactobacillus?rhamnosus, in particular, was found useful for intestinal problems?and may help with weight loss.?
Florify?contains 10 billion colony units from 4 different Lactobacillus strains and 3 different?Bifidobacterium?strains.?Since probiotics are not permanently established in our digestive tract,?Florify?needs to be taken every day.?Florify?also contains the prebiotic,?fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), that?boost the growth of probiotics in the GI tract.?
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?The?Microbiome?and Fiber?
Great discoveries are being made about the human?microbiome?(the collection, including genes and environment of microorganisms, that live in and on us). Understanding the?microbiome?is so important that in 2007 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the Human?Microbiome?Project. Searching the words "human?microbiome" at?PubMed?delivers over 22,400 results.?
There is no doubt that diet can affect our health, either for the good or the bad. Now, as it turns out, the foods we eat change our gut?microbiota. Research is showing that?plant-based foods are not only good for our health but they also help maintain a more diverse?microbiota.?
The Western diet rich in saturated fats, salt, and sugar, and low in fiber, fruits, whole grains, and vegetables is linked to the actual loss of some beneficial microbial species. Scientists are recommending that we?increase our dietary fiber to help restore gut microbes?that may be protective for our immune and metabolic health.?
A diet that includes an abundance and variety of fruits, vegetables,?and beans provides a variety of fibers that nourish a greater variety of gut microbes.?
FiberWise?Drink Supplement?contains twelve grams of fiber from seven natural sources including inulin and probiotics.?FiberWise?Bars?have ten grams of fiber.?
?Enzymes?
Digestive enzymes are proteins produced by our body to help us break down our food into nutrients that we can use. For many years enzymes have been taken to aid digestion. Some people have difficulty digesting certain foods like dairy or beans, and regularly take digestive enzymes to avoid gas and bloating.?Good?Zymes?contains eighteen different digestive enzymes to help?digest not only?dairy and beans but also proteins, carbohydrates, fats, starches, and fiber.?
Our body is maintained and nourished not just by the food we eat,?but?by the food we can digest. Each meal and snack is an opportunity to help maintain our health?and contribute to our immune system.?