Did you know that almost 70% of your immune system rests in your gut (1)? Healing your gut should be a priority, as your digestive health can directly affect your susceptibility to illness and disease.
Are you suffering from daily abdominal pain, bloating, and/or fatigue? Do you frequently have gas or diarrhea and are embarrassed to be out in public? These are common signs and symptoms of SIBO, a small intestine bacterial overgrowth or a leaky gut (2, 3).
Especially after the winter holiday season, most people have not been eating at their best. A gut reset might be exactly what your digestive system needs.
Thankfully, the integrative medical experts at CentreSpringMD are here to rescue your microbiome from destruction with optimal gut healing strategies.
Healing Your Gut Naturally
Your diet needs a break from sugary cocktails and buttery homemade cookies full of artificial flavoring. Take a break from the happy hour and holiday party appetizers full of processed foods galore. All of these things are the most inflammatory foods and beverages you can put in your body (4).
Visit a doctor.
To understand best how to heal your gut, you first need to see a doctor. For example, a certified integrative physician can do a food intolerance and sensitivity test to see if you are suffering from SIBO or a leaky gut.
Cut out lactose and casein.
Cutting out lactose and casein could help reset your gut health. While dairy has many benefits, it can also lead to stomach problems.
- To start, many people’s bowels (of all ages) cannot break down lactose, the main carbohydrate in dairy consisting of glucose and galactose (5).
- Casein is the main protein in cow milk and is also difficult for many people to digest, leading to abdominal pain, gas, and more (6).
- While many young children have a food intolerance to lactose and casein, other people don’t start to experience this until adulthood. Some people never have a problem consuming lactose or casein.
Remove gluten from your diet.
It’s no surprise now the harm that gluten can do to the body and the gut for many people (7).
- Sadly, gluten-free includes most whole grains such as wheat, barley, and rye.
- Although, oats are naturally gluten-free, so always buy the highest quality, such as unprocessed steel cut oats (8). Specifically, oats are a great fiber source.
Consider taking a hiatus from red meat.
As well as processed meat, such as lunch meat and hotdogs, red meat is also an inflammatory food.
Gut Healing Foods
Anti-inflammatory foods
Healing your gut starts with a diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods to boost beneficial bacteria in your stomach and reduce inflammation.
- Cold-pressed EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) in soups, on salads, and basically anything.
- Green, leafy vegetables (kale, spinach, collards, dandelion, arugula)
- Nuts and seeds
- Fatty fish
- Bone broth
- Berries
It should come as no surprise that a healthy diet, rich in anti-inflammatory foods is a mental health booster and gives you an overall better quality of life (9).
Fermented foods
Similarly, fermented foods and beverages are loaded with probiotics (health bacteria) that are oh so good for your gut (10). Test the waters. Do something different. Pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, Greek yogurt, apple cider vinegar, and miso soup can all be a new food adventure in the making.
Bone broth
As well as being anti-inflammatory, bone broth can heal and strengthen your gut lining (11). Chock full of amino acids and collagen, bone broth is a comforting treat for your tummy.
Wellness
Most importantly, a diet rich in anti-inflammatory and gut healing foods aids in weight loss and weight management. A lack of refined sugars and carbs, combined with a high amount of essential vitamins and minerals allows for better overall health.
Fixing Gut Health
Start healing your gut properly by getting the right medical guidance you need. Integrative medical doctors take a look at your health as a whole to determine the best course of action for your gut.
Book an appointment now at CentreSpringMD to be seen by one of our expert functional physicians. Our patients are treated differently at our family practice, with an in-depth consultation that is much longer than a traditional doctor’s visit.
You can learn customized ways to heal your gut through diet changes, probiotic supplements, and other natural therapies. Start healing your gut now with the help of CentreSpringMD. Strengthen your immunity to fight off disease and feel like yourself again.
Resources:
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2249.2008.03713.x
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/small-intestinal-bacterial-overgrowth/symptoms-causes/syc-20370168
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6790068/
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/foods-that-fight-inflammation
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK310263/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/ejcn2014127
- https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1161/circ.141.suppl_1.P219
- https://gluten.org/2020/11/20/are-oats-and-oat-flour-gluten-free/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095528631300020X
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/fermented-foods-for-better-gut-health-2018051613841
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2898551/pdf/cln_65p635.pdf
