7 Tips For An Ultra Healthy Gut

The noble Greek physician Hippocrates, instinctively knew the vital importance of gut health over 2,000 years ago when he said,

“All diseases begin in the gut.”

Yet only in the last twenty years has scientific research uncovered the fact that a healthy gut is absolutely essential to total health and well-being. The intestinal flora interact with and affect the brain and organ systems;

When your gut is out of balance and in poor health, it has a profound effect on our quality of life and the way we feel and look.

Fortunately, there are a number of easy to follow tips to turn our lives around and make our guts healthy. This is very exciting news, as we now know more about the private life of the gut, we can take simple measures to make sure that ours is in tip-top condition.

Gut Flora and The Gut Barrier

Medically speaking, the gut (a hollow tube running from the mouth to the anus), is categorized as being outside the body. The intestinal lining accounts for the largest portion of the body’s immune system, and has a remarkably large surface area, which when stretched out, equates to the length of a football field.

Our gut health is reliant on two connected variables:

Gut flora – the flora contains a hundred trillion bacteria, some of which are beneficial and some of which are harmful.

Gut barrier – The gut barrier is the means by which nutrient molecules are absorbed into the body. It’s also is responsible for regulating our reaction and tolerance to the toxic compounds we ingest, and acts as a barrier to stop intestinal bacteria from being absorbed into the bloodstream.

Gut flora modulates metabolism, supports normal gastrointestinal function, and steps in to help protect the body from infection. In order to obtain optimum mental, physical and emotional health, there has to be a constant equilibrium of both good and bad bacteria. An unhealthy gut is responsible for a staggering array of devastating diseases including:

• Obesity
• Type 1 diabetes
• Depression
• Auto immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic fatigue and autism.

Also, the stresses and strains of living in an ultra-modern high-tech world take their toll, and a number of factors encourage unhealthy gut flora.

These include:

• Poor diets which are predominately high in processed food, refined carbohydrates and sugar; and diets low in fermented fiber.
• The use of antibiotics are especially damaging as they generate a shift in the gut flora’s make-up, and generate an intense and fast-paced loss of diversity, which cannot be rectified naturally.
• Birth control pills.
• Steroids.
• NSAIDs.
• Antacids and various other common medications.
• Hormone imbalance.
• Chronic infection.
• Degeneration.
• Brain trauma.
• Stroke.
• And long-term stress also promote unhealthy gut flora.

When people suffer with a leaky gut (if you do, click here) it means the intestinal barrier is perforated, and allows large molecules of protein and bacteria to break through to the inside of the body and enter the bloodstream. If this happens, the body’s immune system sees them as invaders, and initiates an immune attack. The same factors that destroy gut flora can also produce a leaky gut. Bad gut flora and a leaky gut are intertwined, and digestive problems, some of which are not obvious, also start to manifest.

When adverse environmental and genetic factors are present, loss of intestinal barrier protection doesn’t only cause a leaky gut, it also creates inflammation, and leaves us feeling tired, unable to think clearly, miserable and negative. They also contribute to the development of serious autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, heart failure, skin disorders such as psoriasis and eczema, asthma, allergies, celiac disease, metabolic complaints such as obesity, type 1 diabetes, and disorders of the skeletal system, liver, kidneys, pancreas and brain.

The following 7 tips for an ultra healthy gut can miraculously enhance the ratio of your gut’s good to bad bacteria, and ameliorate your body’s digestive processes to make you feel like a completely different person. You’ll be more than delighted, and after a remarkably short time will see and feel a profound change in your physical and psychological health as well as your energy levels. You will also be in a stronger position to fight off disease and infection.

The 7 Tips to a Healthy Gut are as follows:

#1. Implement a Few Positive Changes to Your Diet

Firstly, you should gradually introduce beneficial changes to your diet:

• Minimize processed foods as well as food and drink which is loaded with sugar.
• Be sure to include wholesome plant-based foods such as fruit, vegetables and pulses which naturally contain fiber; use only health giving fats such as olive and coconut oil, and try out fermented products such as miso, yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut, and fermentable fiber including yam, sweet potatoes and yucca.
• Eat plenty of foods rich pre-biotics (precursors to probiotics) such as ground flax seeds.

Here are 5 powerful herbs to heal a leaky gut.

Not only will these additions improve your gut health, they are also beneficial in a myriad of other ways, and are loaded with anti-oxidants to fight off aging.

#2. Let Multi-Strain Probiotics do the Work

Take a top quality multi-strain probiotic which includes lactobacillis and bifidobacteria. This will gradually start to build up the good bacteria strains and fend off the bad ones; it will also boost healthy flora which will release acid to make the environment hostile towards dangerous microbes. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

I take the Up4 Ultra Probiotic because it’s been the most potent and effective brand I’ve gotten my hands on. UP4 Ultra has 50 billion cultures in every serving of seven exceptionally robust strains specifically selected for acid and bile resistance and ability to colonize the gut.

As always they start with the ultimate super-strain L. acidophilus DDS-1. To this they’ve added Lactobacillus strains (L. plantarum and L. salivarius) for small intestine support along with their signature combination of four Bifidobacteria strains (B. longum B. lactis B. bifidum and B. lactis HN019) for the large intestine. 

#3. Boot Out the Parasites

Have an intestinal parasite test done professionally, or buy a home testing kit. Treat any pathogens such as tapeworms with a simple, reputable herbal product, and always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Here are 10 signs that you have a parasite and how to get rid of it.

#4. Stop the Toxins

Eliminate all food toxins from your diet. Avoid wheat products as well as other grains containing the protein that acts as a natural pesticide, which is gluten. This is essential because they contain gliadin, a protein which elevates the production of another protein called zonulin, which has negative health effects and induces a leaky gut.

Here are 10 things that cause a leaky gut.

#5. Stress Management the Celebrity Way

Learn about stress management, and look at the type of practices that you feel would inspire you. These include disciplines such as yoga, mindfulness and tai chi: practices that have been given a huge surge in popularity by famous celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and George Clooney. 

Most of use suffer from stress, more specifically workplace stress. All of us go through it in some regard, and it often translates to higher blood pressure, irritability, anxiety, cholesterol or headaches. Most forms of stress, however, can be avoided by following some very useful and very basic tips which are ingrained in work, diet and sleeping habits.

If you’re struggling, these are my 11 tips to eliminate work stress. 

#6. Repair Your Gut Lining Naturally

Buy a well known, natural gut lining repair supplement which includes:

• Slippery elm
• Gamma oraznol
• Marshmallow root
• L-glutamine, an amino acid which resides in the gastro-intestinal tract and boosts the growth of intestinal cells.

So far, of all of the supplements we’ve tried, my favorite herbal remedy for a leaky gut has been Gastronic Dr.

It’s because I’ve found regular use safely supports digestive health and all organs and structures involved in digestion, as well as the mucus membranes of your digestive tract.

Gastronic Dr. also helps to maintain the natural balance of essential organisms (such as probiotics) in the digestive tract, further promoting easy, healthy digestion.

#7. Assisting Colonization with Peppermint Oil

Pepperment oil has been touted for it’s medicinal benefits for centuries. And I for one love it.

Take an enteric coated natural peppermint oil supplement. This has been shown to assist probiotic colonization. It also helps to relax the intestinal muscles which can prevent uncomfortable gas and bloating. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

For the digestive system Peppermint oil can be effective for the following ailments:

• Colic
• Cramps
• Dyspepsia
• Flatulence
• Nausea.

The 1997 Commission E on Phytotherapy and Herbal Substances of the German Federal Institute for Drugs recommends Peppermint leaves for ‘Spastic complaints of the gastrointestinal tract as well as gall bladder and bile ducts.’

It can relieve pain in cases of:

• Toothache
• Aching feet
• Rheumatism
• Neuralgia
• Muscular pains and aches due to Lyme
• Painful periods.

It’s also useful for the skin ailments such as:

• Dermatitis
• Acne
• Ringworm
• Scabies
• Pruritus
• Itching
• Sunburn and
• Inflammation of the skin.

With vapor therapy Peppermint oil can help with:

• Coughs
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Mental tiredness
• Insect repellant.

As a blended massage oil or diluted in the bath Peppermint oil can assist with:

• Colic
• Cramps
• Back pain
• Inflamed bowel disorders  
• Catarrh
• Colitis
• Circulation
• Constipation
• Coughs
• Diarrhea
• Sweaty and tired feet
• Flatulence
• Headaches
• Muscular pains
• Cramps and spasms
• Neuralgia
• Rheumatism
• Mental fatigue.

These 7 Tips to a Healthy Gut offer a clear and straight forward route to regain your health and wellness levels, and ultimately taking them to a higher plane. Now is the time for action; you no longer have to suffer in silence and put up with the misery of digestive problems and all the other far-reaching associated diseases.

Congratulations!

Health by choice, not by chance.

-David “Healthy Gut” Aston