Is Your Gut Health Affecting Your Overall Wellness?

Are chronic fatigue, digestive issues, or frequent illnesses holding you back? What if the key to vibrant health isn't a new diet or magic pill, but something already inside you? Discover the incredible power of your gut microbiome in this episode. I’ll share my personal journey from constant fatigue and weight struggles to renewed energy and resilience through simple lifestyle tweaks. Learn what the gut microbiome is, why it’s crucial for your health, and how to maintain it. Tune in to harness this hidden power and elevate your vitality!

Links mentioned in this episode:

Hyperbiotics prebiotic powder:  https://amzn.to/34Cj7Hq 

Probiotic PB8 capsules: https://amzn.to/3pcqJws  

NIH pamphlet on sleep: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/sleep/healthy_sleep.pdf

11-min destressing audio:  https://scientifichealer.com/wakeupbrain

Connect with me, no obligation, to discover more about becoming healed or learning how to heal: https://healersu.com/appointment 

What if any chronic fatigue, digestive issues, or frequent illnesses are a thing of the past for you? What if the secret to achieving this vibrant health isn't a new diet or a magic pill but something already inside you? Today, you’ll hear about your gut microbiome and how it has the power to change your health and vitality. Stay tuned and I’ll show you how you can harness this hidden power to raise your frequency and elevate your vibrancy.

A few years ago, I struggled with constant fatigue and digestive issues. I was either gaining weight or starving. There was no way to stabilize my weight.   It wasn’t that I was treating myself badly: I was exercising daily, eating healthy food, and sleeping enough.  I then discovered a few small tweaks to my already healthy lifestyle that made all the difference.  I felt more energetic and resilient than ever before and even better, my weight stabilized.  No more upward trajectory or needing to starve to maintain. Listen in as I describe what is your gut health and what to do about it.  It isn’t just about probiotics as yogurt commercials would have you believe.

Understanding the Gut Microbiome

You have 2 to 3 times more bacteria in and around your body than you do cells in your body, and remember, you have some 50 trillion cells, that’s a trillion with a T.  They live with you symbiotically: you need them to survive.  You need them in your gut to help produce certain vitamins and neurotransmitters and to break down certain components of your diet.  They are also key to your immune system because they keep pathogens at bay. You have microbiomes on your skin, in your gut, your private parts, your mouth—anywhere on and in you.  Today, my focus is on your gut.

Your gut microbiome is a complex community of bacteria living in your digestive tract. It plays a crucial role in your overall health, affecting everything from your immune system to your mental health.

What is the Importance of Beneficial Bacteria?

For a healthy microbiome, you need at least 85% beneficial bacteria to 15% pathogenic bacteria. Your gut bacteria are key to your immune system. Dysbiosis, an imbalance in the microbiome, occurs when pathogenic bacteria start taking over.  Because pathogenic bacteria cause illness and even death, they are very low frequency.  They can affect your mood and your energy.

What are some examples of pathogens, or bacteria that sicken you?  You have heard of some of these I’m sure.

Pathogens include E. coli, Listeria, H. pylori (which we now know causes ulcers), Salmonella, and Staphylococcus. There are four types of pathogens: bacteria, fungi (like those causing athlete’s foot or Candida), viruses, and parasites.

Some of these can cause your gut serious distress.  For example, excess gas, cramps, or more serious digestive issues like SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), Crohn’s disease, IBS, and colitis.  If you’ve known anyone with the latter issues, you know this is a very miserable existence.  These conditions are also lumped into a category of gut dysbiosis, meaning an imbalance in your gut cultures.  

You can also suffer from a “leaky gut.”  You may have heard of it.  It sounds like a made-up problem, doesn’t it?  It can lead to autoimmune problems, which is your immune system attacking healthy tissues.  Why?  Because the thin membranes in your intestinal walls lose their coherence when they are inflamed, leaking undigested food into your bloodstream.  Your body recognizes these foreign particles as invaders and forms antibodies to rid itself of them.  But some of the proteins in your food resemble your own tissues, hence, your immune system gets confused and starts attacking your own cells. You might not have realized this was a gut problem. 

Conventional medicine solves autoimmune conditions by giving you something that weakens your immune system, telling you that your immune system is too strong.  This in turn makes you susceptible to other illnesses.  But the truth is, your immune system was doing exactly what it is meant to do, protect you.

Other symptoms of an imbalance in the gut could be headaches and migraines, inflammation, food sensitivities, joint pain and muscle aches, fatigue, and even eczema.  That sounds uncomfortable, right?  It is.  

What else is in your gut? Beneficial bacteria, like those found in yogurt, include several varieties of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. They thrive when you take care of them and die off when you don’t.  When they thrive, they push out the pathogen.  In a moment, I will explain how to make them thrive.  And as you may have guessed, it isn’t telling you to eat more yogurt.  It’s way easier than that. 

Before I tell you how, let me tell you the Benefits of a Healthy Gut Microbiome.

First, your healthy gut microbiome breaks down certain foods in your digestive tract, such as fiber and certain sugars.  This in turn helps you absorb the nutrients in your food.  In this way, you don’t end up with the uncomfortable gas and bloating, because more is digested rather than sitting there with your bad bacteria creating all that smelly gas.  

It modulates your immune system by releasing signaling molecules from the gut into your bloodstream.  These molecules then enter the bone marrow to stimulate the production of what you need to fight off infection.

Your microbiome is instrumental in producing neurotransmitters such as serotonin, melatonin, and dopamine.  It also produces other important compounds such as several B vitamins and vitamin K, important for helping your blood clot properly. 

Your microbiome controls appetite and weight.  Sugar feeds the pathogens, making them demand more, fooling you into thinking you’re hungry when in reality it’s your gut baddies.  

Your gut regulates good cholesterol by absorbing the excess cholesterol in your bloodstream and incorporating it into your cells.  It can then be sent out of the body through the large intestine.  

Your gut lining is pretty amazing.  It is the largest endocrine system in the body, yes, it produces hormones.  Your gut microbes interact with this system to produce hormones that regulate blood sugar, satiety, and hunger.  This particular aspect has helped my ever-fluctuating weight finally settle down, higher than I like, but the out-of-control hunger is now a thing of the past.  

And here’s what you’ve been waiting for: how to Maintain a Healthy Microbiome

To maintain a healthy microbiome, let’s start with your mouth:

1. You don’t want to disrupt the good bacteria in your gut.  Antibacterial agents which are commonly found in toothpaste and mouthwash should be avoided.  You can find “natural toothpaste” such as Tom’s of Maine, for example.  Of course, avoiding antibiotics where possible is also important.

2. Avoid using antibacterial hand sanitizers before you eat.  Wash them off so you don’t ingest any of it.  

3. Healthy Diet: Eat a diverse array of whole organic produce, especially fiber-rich foods like leafy greens. 

4. Eat bitter foods to feed beneficial bacteria and boost Your immune system. Eat prebiotic foods like artichokes, bananas, asparagus, and apples.  The easiest way to get this is in pill or powder form.  I have some recommendations in the show notes.  This is by far the most effective way to improve your good to bad bacteria ratio in your gut.  Since using this, life has changed dramatically for me.

5. Avoid Dairy: Most people do not have the enzymes to digest dairy properly. It acidifies the body, counteracting the effect of calcium in milk. Get probiotics through other means, such as tablets, sauerkraut, or kombucha (watch out for the sweet ones).  I use probiotic tablets along with a prebiotic powder in my veggie and protein smoothies.  The combination of pre and pro-biotics is powerful. 

6. Avoid Harmful Substances: Avoid sugar and compounds with a high glycemic load, like white bread and potatoes (meaning they enter your bloodstream fast). These feed bad bacteria. 

In addition

1. Avoid gluten, newer strains of grains can damage your gut lining. 

2. Avoid glyphosate (found in Roundup) as it kills gut bacteria. This includes most conventionally grown corn, oats, wheat, soy, and even conventionally-grown almonds. 

3. Artificial sweeteners like saccharine, sucralose, and aspartame can wipe out gut bacteria quickly, much like antibiotics. Use alternatives like xylitol, erythritol, monk fruit, and stevia.

Supportive Activities for a Healthy Microbiome go beyond diet.

Drink at least two quarts or liters of clear water per day. And Exercise for at least 20 minutes a day.  It keeps things moving well through your gut.

Ensure you get plenty of restful sleep.  If you have trouble here, the National Institute of Health has a free booklet on helping you get restful sleep.  It’s quite good, the link is in the show notes. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/sleep/healthy_sleep.pdf

Stress Management: De-stress your life.  There are many ways even without changing much except adding walking, listening to healing audio, or deep breathing exercises. You can get a free 11-minute audio at scientifichealer.com/wakeupbrain. It can lower your blood pressure and stress in moments.  

That’s all I have for you today.   

Make a no-obligation appointment with me to explore receiving healing, learning how to heal, or both, at https://healersu.com/appointment

Share this episode with your friends and give it a 5-star or thumbs-up rating to help promote it.  Stay tuned for the next episode, where I’ll be discussing how to take care of your skin microbiome to further improve your overall health and youthful appearance. Be sure to subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss it.