The post 101 Gut Microbiome – A Beginners Guide To Understanding Your Gut. appeared first on Anna Høgh Groth.
]]>So let’s bring it back to basics so we can actually fully understand what the Microbiome is and what it actually does for us.
What is the Gut Microbiome?
We all have thousands of tiny microorganisms in our guts and these tiny organisms have a major effect on overall health and from research, we now know that they have already been implicated in a variety of conditions, including everything from gastrointestinal disorders to cardiovascular disease to asthma.
The gut microbiome refers to the billions of live bacteria humans have in the gut, but it also includes things like fungi and viruses. It’s estimated that the gut contains approximately 35,000 different strains of bacteria in which the majority are found in the large intestine, particularly the colon, but bacteria can also be found in the oesophagus, stomach, and small intestine.
The gut refers to the place where food is digested, metabolised, and absorbed to be delivered into the cells and provide the body with energy. It is essential in allowing for the removal of waste – this process of breaking down food creates bioactive compounds that either help support health or lead to inflammation, increasing the risk for disease.
What does the Gut Microbiome do for us?
Our gut health has implications beyond simply healthy digestion; the state of our gut health may also regulate our mood (through serotonin production), immune response, and predisposition to weight gain.
The total surface area of our gut is approximately the size of a small studio apartment – this is why diet has such a profound impact on health.
The gut lining can become damaged and leave little holes in it if it’s constantly being exposed to irritants through the diet or environment. This is also known as Leaky Gut. In turn, this causes chronic low-level inflammation and is another example of how compromised gut health can lead to a variety of chronic as well as immune disorders.
Read more on Chronic Inflammation of the body here.
What affects the Gut Microbiome?
- Method of delivery at birth
- Infant feeding
- Genetics
- Infections
- Medications
- Diet
- Age
- Stress
How can you keep your Gut Microbiome Thriving?
It’s important to both support your gut with Probiotics and Prebiotics.
Prebiotics are types of dietary fibre that feed the good bacteria in your gut. Prebiotics can be found in foods like:
- Garlic, Spring Onions, Onions
- Leeks
- Cabbage
- Chickpeas
- Lentils
- Artichokes
- Kidney beans & Soy Beans
- Bananas
- Watermelon
- Grapefruit
- Almonds
- Flaxseeds
- Pistachios
- and many more..
Probiotics are live microorganisms intended to provide health benefits when consumed, generally by improving or restoring the gut flora.
Choosing an appropriate and high-quality probiotic supplement that is suitable for your gut, should be something that everyone strives to incorporate into their diet every single day as it would be near impossible to eat enough probiotic rich foods everyday to meet your standards.
However, incorporating probiotic rich foods are always a good idea – some of them are:
- Kefir
- Sauerkraut
- Tempeh
- Kimchi
- Miso
- Kombucha
- Pickles
But be careful if your gut-flora is out of balance as these might add fuel to the fire.
Now, how’s your gut?
Let me know in the comments below.
Anna xx
The post 101 Gut Microbiome – A Beginners Guide To Understanding Your Gut. appeared first on Anna Høgh Groth.
]]>The post My New Gut Health Journey – Part 1. appeared first on Anna Høgh Groth.
]]>Thanks for tuning in once again to keep me company on my – what seems – never-ending journey to restoring my gut back to a healthy, functioning and pain-free state. Something that I’ve been chasing for many, many years and many, many moons, but now, it seems we might have a breakthrough.
About 1,5 months ago I was led to a beautiful woman called Katherine Hay. She was recommended to me through a dear friend of mine, but naturally, I was hesitant because I’ve been through the mill of medical professionals and natural therapists through the years and my hope was swindling by the day.
However, I was still determined to give it another go, to try and speak with Katherine to see if she could help me figure out why I’m lethargic, fatigued, hormonal, anxious, depressed, bloated, in pain and so much more.
From the instant I met Katherine – on FaceTime because she’s in Byron and I’m in Sydney #YayTechnology – I felt at ease, safe and very connected with her energy and beliefs.
After our consult I felt like I potentially could figure out what was wrong with me, and for the first time – maybe ever – I had a person who believed in my symptoms, who believed my pain and wanted to help me.
The Test:
Fast forward a few weeks, and I did a stool-test. It’s very easy and I did it in the comfort of my own home. Basically the lab, in which Katherine had booked in my stool test at, sent me a home-kit and it all goes through the mail (don’t worry, it’s not that gross) – 3 weeks later you have your test-results back.
Now, I’m not at the liberty to be able to do extended blood-tests and more tests purely because I just can’t afford the money-aspect of it. The stool-test itself was already $390AUD, however, truly all the money worth (and more!).
I received a comprehensive analysis from the stool-test that showed a multitude of things like; whether I had parasites, candida or yeast (negative), overgrowth of certain bacterias (positive), remnants of food in my stool (positive), poor digestion (positive), not producing stomach-acid (positive), re-cycling of hormones (massively positive!) and much more.
By looking at these results, we could now actually target the problems within my gut and body.
For the first time in 14 years, I felt relieved. Relieved that it wasn’t only on my head that I was “sick”. Relieved that someone believed in me (Katherine), relieved that I potentially could be pain-free and live a free life. I balled my eyes out most of that day. It was tears of happiness though.
So, how do I heal my body?
Well, I’m glad you asked.
Katherine and myself both wholeheartedly believe in ‘Food is Medicine’ and want to treat my body that way. Antibiotics, and conventional medicine played a large role as to why I’m even like this in the first place, so the thought of having to go back to that isn’t appealing to me what.so.ever.
Because of the different overgrowth of bacteria in my gut and how they literally feed of certain types of foods – even healthy foods – I’m having to be on a bit of a restricted diet for the next 6-8 weeks.
The restricted diet means:
- No Starchy Vegetables (carrot, sweet potato, potato, peas, corn, beetroot, pumpkin, parsnip etc.)
- No Grains (bread, rice, barley, oatmeal, millet, pasta, crackers etc.)
- No Fructose (basically all fruits, honey, cane sugar, pastries, lollies etc.)
- No Dairy
- No Gluten
What CAN I eat:
- Loads of vegetables, especially those that are bitter as they’ll help produce more stomach acid for me (radish, endive, rocket, watercress, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale etc.)
- Protein (fish, seafood, lamb, chicken, red meat, eggs – although I’ll mainly keep it at fish, seafood & eggs as I’m not a fan of red meat & chicken much)
- Extremely limited Fruits (I can have a handful of berries here and there but very limited – blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)
- Sweets (chia seed pudding with nut-milks)
- Extremely limited grains (I can have about 1/2 cup of quinoa every 2nd day if I really need to)
Supplements I’m on:
- Probiotics
- Glutagenics (heal, seal & repair the gut)
- Enzymes (tablet after every meal to help with digestion)
- Calcium-D-Glucarate (to decrease the enzyme beta glucaronidase from my gut that re-activates oestrogen.)
- Collagen, Ashwagandha & Mucuna Pruriens (I’ve added these myself)
I’ve slowly eased into this diet last week, and I had my 1st day yesterday on this diet fully & wholeheartedly committed and last night; well, I had so much energy I couldn’t sleep (mindblown)
Katherine has mentioned that my tummy might get really bloated or it might not, but it’s a potential as the good and bad bacteria have a bit of a fight in my stomach whilst we basically starve out the bad bacteria that was previously being fed by the starch, grains, fructose etc.
***DISCLAIMER: I wan’t to reassure you that there is nothing wrong with grains, fructose and starchy vegetables if your body is thriving on them. I would like to re-introduce some of these items once my gut is hopefully healed and back to normal. That is my hope and wish for myself, to live a life fully free from being ruled by food, but I also want to feel the very best me and heal, hence why this diet is currently necessary for me.
Thank you for following my journey. I’ll continue to share my learnings & how I’m feeling,
what progress or set-backs I might have, as I go along the way.
Also, you can see more about Katherine here.
Love your GUTS, Anna xx
The post My New Gut Health Journey – Part 1. appeared first on Anna Høgh Groth.
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