Most people do not think about their gut health unless they feel sick, but your gut health significantly impacts your overall health.
The connection between your gut and your immune system cannot be overstated; 70% of your immune system resides in the gut. Gut health is also directly related to your skin, brain, and hormones.
Dr. Mark Hyman explains, “The health of the 100 trillion bugs in your gut is one of the biggest things that impacts your health.” When the healthy gut bacteria is out of balance with the bad gut bacteria, we are set up for trouble.
Hyman says that obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, autoimmune disease, asthma, eczema, and even depression are affected by the health of your gut flora. So, taking care of your gut is imperative.
Let's look at how to support healthy gut flora by weeding, seeding, and feeding.
What Happens to the Gut
When your gut lining breaks down you develop a ‘leaky gut.' This can be caused by using antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids, or excessive alcohol use. It can also be affected by stress, a diet of processed foods, or food sensitivities (foods generally considered "healthy," but aren't working for your body).
Once you develop a leaky gut, your immune system must deal with the food particles, bacteria, and microbes that leak into the body through the compromised gut barrier that would normally keep them from gaining access.
This creates havoc in your system and triggers an immune response. This can lead to autoimmune issues where your immune system attacks your body. (Hashimoto's thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, chron's disease, ulcerative colitis, etc.)
Ways to Support Gut Health
We need the proper balance of bacteria to establish a healthy gut.
- “Weeding” - reduce bad bacteria by reducing sugar, alcohol, and processed foods. In some cases, it may be important to reduce the amount of bad bacteria through herbs or prescription medicine.
- “Seeding” - increase the good bacteria through probiotics. Eat fermented foods like kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, and yogurt to increase the good bacteria in your gut. Most people would also benefit from a quality probiotic supplement.
- “Feeding” - provide prebiotics (food for the good bacteria in your gut). Eat a variety of onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, asparagus, leeks, carrots, bananas, apples, and almonds to feed the variety of "good" bacteria.
What to Look for in a Probiotic
In his book Healthy Gut, Healthy You, Dr. Michael Ruscio explains the 3 main categories of Probiotics.
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In our culture, being tired can seem like a badge of honor. Being sleep-deprived implies you have important things to do. If you say you feel great and are well-rested, you may be greeted with a statement like "It must be nice."
However, sleep is essential for the basic repair of systems of the body. This includes the neurological, endocrine, immune, musculoskeletal, and digestive systems. Without adequate sleep, you cannot be healthy.
Let's shift our perspective on sleep and realize it is an important task we need to prioritize every day.
Make Sleep a Priority
Take a minute to ask yourself if you believe that sleep is important. You may know it is good for your health, but do you personally value it? If we are truthful with ourselves, we may find that we do not think it is important enough to put ahead of other priorities.
In one study, researchers put a group of people in a stimulus-free room with no clock for 14-24 hours daily. Subjects didn’t know when they went to bed or woke up. Participants slept an average of 12-20 hours the first couple of nights. Over a few days, the participants' sleep began to average approximately 8 hours a night.
Many subjects seemed to be catching up from chronic under-sleeping. How long do you think you would have slept? You can do a little experiment to determine how much sleep your body needs by testing your reaction time. Here’s how...
- each morning at the same time after waking up, take the reaction time test here https://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime.
- make a note of your score each day.
- try moving your bedtime up by 30 minutes on the fourth day. Continue with that amount of sleep for 3 days, checking your reaction time each morning.
- notice if your score is significantly different with more sleep. Pay attention to how you feel throughout the day. How is your energy level? Is your mental functioning better?
- after a few days, try moving your bedtime up another 30 minutes. Pay attention to your reaction times and how you feel.
- repeat the steps in this experiment again until you find a bedtime that seems ideal for you.
Control Your Exposure to Light
Our ancestors generally slept when it got dark and woke up when the sun came out. Now we are constantly exposed to artificial light which can disrupt our circadian rhythm and melatonin levels. We can address this by...
- avoiding screens two hours before bed (computers, smartphones, television, etc.).
- using blue light-blocking glasses.
- installing blackout shades to ensure pure darkness in your bedroom at night.
- turning off digital devices that give off light (cover your alarm clock).
- wearing a sleep mask.
- getting natural morning light.
Get Adequate Movement
Moving your body throughout the day is another important aspect of getting adequate sleep. It doesn't have to be strenuous; even gentle movement has been shown to improve sleep. Here are ways to incorporate movement into your daily life.
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Our ancestor's survival depended on the ability to move their bodies. They moved to secure food, shelter, and safety. There was no need to go to a gym because movement was incorporated into their daily life.
Hunting required fast agile movements and endurance to outlast prey. Once secured, they had to carry it to the village. Without indoor plumbing, they had to bring water to the village too.
Today we see how naturally children incorporate movement into their daily lives. They play at the park, run down the sidewalk, wiggle in their seats, spin in circles, and tip upside down.
Unstructured movement is good for their growing bodies. In fact, we would benefit if we reclaimed some of this natural movement ourselves.
Let’s learn from our ancestors and children how to include natural movement in our lives today.
Natural Movement
There was a purpose to our ancestors' movement. They were not doing repetitive movements to strengthen individual muscles; they were running, lifting, throwing, and pushing things. These movements are what the human body is designed to do.
Movements that functionally engage multiple muscle groups are more natural movements. Isolating specific muscle groups may create imbalances that can cause pain over time. We see this with overuse injuries in young athletes if they are not guided to strengthen and stretch multiple muscle groups.
Practical Ideas
Movement doesn't have to be strenuous. It could be as simple as walking to the water fountain, standing up for a phone call, or stretching in your seat. It is easy to incorporate it into your daily life if you are intentional about it
- park at the far end of the parking lot
- walk when you meet with a friend or take a call
- walk barefoot outside to engage your muscles in different ways (especially on an incline)
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take the stairs instead of the elevator
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carry your child instead of using a stroller
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shop with a basket instead of a shopping cart
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play with your kids when they are running in the yard
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sit on the floor instead of reclining on a couch
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dance to music around your house
Remember the Fun
Let’s change our mindset around movement. It's not just what we do in the gym and does not need to be strenuous to be beneficial. Rediscover the joy that can be found in movement by thinking about what you did as a kid. Did you like gymnastics? Maybe you can't do the flips anymore, but could you roll down a hill? Perhaps your balance beam days are over; where else could you practice your agility? If you enjoyed playing sports when you were young, a local club or class at the
Warrenville Park District might interest you.
Let me know how you include fun functional movement in your day when you come in for your next appointment. And, if you need help coming up with ways to do this we can brainstorm together.
Take a moment to think about one of the special moments that brought you joy this summer. Were you able to be fully in the moment, or did worrisome thoughts pop into your mind? Researcher and author Brene Brown calls it “foreboding joy” when heavy thoughts crowd our joy.
While you would think special times would bring pure happiness, Brown explains that it can also lead to negative thoughts. She says that you may experience a sense of dread that something bad will happen to interrupt the goodness.
It is a way to protect yourself from hurting so much if a tragedy strikes. It happens subconsciously, so we do not understand why we feel uneasy at a time when we think we should feel joy.
Let’s look at the issue of foreboding joy so we can embrace the happy times more fully.
A Tender Emotion
Joy is a vulnerable emotion. It opens your heart and makes you realize what is precious to you. This knowledge reminds you of what you have to lose. Fear of tragedy may flood your thoughts and you may think of the worst-case scenario. Brown calls this “rehearsing tragedy.”
She explains that we do this to dull the joy we feel so that it will prevent how much a tragedy would hurt. The subconscious thought is that you won’t feel pain as intensely if you don't feel joy. However, this “emotional armor” does not prevent pain, it just robs you of joy.
What to Do
According to Brown, practicing gratitude is a great alternative to bracing yourself for disaster. So, when you feel something beautiful, lean into it. Think about how grateful you are to know the person or have the experience.
Brown says that “there is no joy without gratitude.” Her research taught her about the importance of establishing a gratitude practice. She expected to find that joy led to gratitude, but discovered it was the other way around.
Developing a Gratitude Practice
A practice of gratitude is developing habits that help you focus on things you are thankful for. You get more benefit from focusing on small things you are really thankful for than from pretending you are grateful for larger things you feel you should be thankful for.
- Meditate on things you are grateful for each morning for 5 minutes.
- Help someone who doesn’t have the advantages you do.
- Find something to look forward to each week.
- Think about someone who has influenced your life and write them a letter.
- Pray to express thankfulness for the good things in your life.
- Choose one word that makes you feel gratitude (hope, life, family, friends, health, etc.). Write the word down and think about it throughout the day.
- Listen to a song you enjoy and take time to appreciate it.
- Practice mindful eating to appreciate the gift of food.
- Create a gratitude journal.
- For more ideas check out 40 Simple Ways To Practice Gratitude.
If you start to feel like you are doing your gratitude practice to check it off your to-do list, it may be time to switch up your gratitude practice.
We know things will not stay the same; what we enjoy may not last forever. However, there’s no need to feel the loss ahead of time. Embrace the moment and risk feeling joy.
Dr. Jamie
*Photo credit: Becci Hethcoat Photography
Every cell in your body contains proteins composed of amino acids used to repair all the tissues in your body. According to Alena Kharlamenko, a registered dietitian, protein helps “build muscles, produce new cells, regulate hormones and enzymes, heal wounds, and promote immune function.”
Protein is considered the most important macronutrient in building muscle. This can elevate your metabolic rate. It also helps you feel full longer, so it is great for those wanting to lose weight. However, the body does not store protein; it depends on your diet to provide adequate amounts.
Let’s look at the healthiest ways to get this protein.
Animal Protein
Meat is a great source of protein if you buy quality meat. You can determine its quality by considering how the animal was raised. Find out what it ate and how it moved. These things impact your health; it is not just in the animals' best interest to be grass-fed or free-range.
Mother Earth News compared eggs from free-range chickens with those produced commercially. Free-range eggs had:
- 2/3x more Vitamin A
- 2x more Omega-3
- 3x more Vitamin E
- 7x more Beta Carotene
In addition, grass-fed beef contains higher levels of vitamins, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory Omega 3 fatty acids than conventional beef.
What about Plant Proteins?
Plants contain many necessary nutrients, however, they are not considered a complete protein. They lack one or more of the essential amino acids. While you can get the nutrients you need without eating meat, it takes care to get everything you need.
Unfortunately, plants contain compounds like oxalates and phytates which hamper your body's ability to absorb key minerals like zinc, magnesium, calcium, copper, and iron. Vitamins in plants often come in less active and bioavailable forms than meat. Anyone who thinks plant proteins are superior or equal to those from animals may want to consider the following example.
To get the same amount of protein in 4 oz. of steak (181 calories) from rice and beans, you need to eat 12 ounces of kidney beans and one cup of rice! That would give you 638 calories with 122 grams of carbs.
As I mentioned above, getting the nutrition you need can be done with a plant-based diet, however, you must be intentional about getting the nutrients your body needs. Here are some plant-based options for protein.
- Whole, organic, non-GMO soy products such as tofu. (Please do NOT rely on products containing soy protein isolates or concentrates that are found in soy burgers, meatless chicken, and protein bars.)
- Nuts & seeds
- Beans & lentils (if your body tolerates them well.)
- Quinoa, rice, and other grains
- Some plant-based protein shakes may be useful, but check the ingredient list carefully!
This Vegetarian and Vegan Guide was created by Mark Hyman, M.D. It is a great resource for vegans and vegetarians trying to eat healthy.
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