As a trained functional medicine practitioner, I believe that all disease starts in the gut… and when your digestive health is compromised, your body is feeling the impact as well…
Here’s 6 things that are killing gut health…
💣 Antibiotics
Antibiotics can kill the “good” bacteria in your body, along with the “bad,” and upset the healthy balance that makes your digestive system work like it should. Certainly there are times when we HAVE to have antibiotics to kill opportunistic infections, but many people have been overly prescribed antibiotics which has harmed both the quantity of good gut bacteria and the diversity which is super important.
💣 Cigarettes
Smoking has harmful effects on all parts of the digestive system!! Cigarettes can create heartburn because nicotine from tobacco relaxes the valve between the esophagus and stomach allowing stomach acid to back up. It also increases the risk of Crohn’s disease and other gut disorders since it lowers the intestine’s natural defenses, slows blood flow to and from your intestines, and causes inflammation because it weakens your immune system.
💣 Too Much Alcohol
The old health wisdom that says “1-2 drinks a day” is fine, but doesn’t fly when you are talking gut health. Regular alcohol consumption can wreck your gut health because alcohol can stress out the delicate intestinal tissues and feed bad gut bugs. Regular drinking can also knock you blood sugar out of balance, impair liver health and disturb your REM sleep.
💣 Processed Foods and Fast Foods
Fake foods are loaded with all kinds of gut disrupting ingredients – from the wrong kinds of fat, too much sugar, plenty of gluten, and artificial colorings and flavorings. There are also double whammy foods because they hurt your gut AND leach nutrients from your liver without replenishing with vitamins and minerals.
💣 Sugar
Sugar feeds the wrong bacteria that can crowd out the good gut flora – thus creating havoc in your gut. These bad buggers can increase risk of metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes and diabetes because they don’t produce nutrients that we need like your helpful flora. On top of that, sugar-loving yeasts like candida spew harmful toxins that could get into our bloodstream and cause brain fog, sore joints, and many other unwanted symptoms.
If you’re struggling with chronic digestive wellness issues, it’s maybe time for a chat. If you’re interested in learning more, sign up for a free discovery call to chat with someone from our team.
To your health,
Dr. Wanda Bedinghaus, MD, IFMCP
Healing Unleashed
P.S. If you haven’t already, join my free FB Community of like-minded health seekers… or claim your free health consult!
