Your Digestion and Leaky Gut

Most modern diets are high in processed foods, containing large amounts of sugar, sodium, poor-quality fats, artificial colours and flavours, chemical additives, and preservatives. Over time, these ingredients (and the toxic by-products they create) contribute to the deterioration of the gut lining, resulting in the onset of leaky gut syndrome or increased intestinal permeability.

What is “Leaky Gut”?

Think of your gut as a filter. A healthy gut lining acts as a finely woven filter with small, tight junctions that allow water and nutrients to pass through, while keeping toxic debris and waste inside the intestines. When this filter is damaged, the holes are bigger, allowing larger molecules into the bloodstream, where they don’t belong.

A damaged gut lining compromises your health in several ways. First, the damaged tissue becomes inflamed and unable to function optimally. This means it cannot properly absorb nutrients, which negatively impacts every other system in the body and may contribute to nutritional deficiencies over time. Second, the inflammation causes the intestinal tissue to produce more mucous as a buffer for the irritation, which impairs digestion. As a result, these partially digested food particles ferment in the intestines and become food for pathogenic microorganisms, further damaging the gut and perpetuating the cycle of inflammation. And third, as the damage progresses and intestinal permeability increases, the larger molecules of undigested food, waste material, and debris in the bloodstream can trigger inflammatory immune responses elsewhere in the body.

While the symptoms of leaky gut syndrome can vary depending on a variety of individual factors, common symptoms include:

• Constipation / diarrhea
• Stomach pain / cramping
• Gas/bloating / flatulence
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Eczema / rash / acne / psoriasis
• Food allergies / intolerances
• Anxiety / depression / mood changes
• Thyroid disease
• Hormonal imbalances
• Fatigue / low energy
• Chronic joint pain
• Brain fog

If not addressed with dietary and lifestyle changes, leaky gut can lead to serious health issues like Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, gut dysbiosis, small intestine bacteria overgrowth, autoimmune disorders, and even some cancers.

Build a Strong Microbiome:

Your first line of defence against leaky gut is your microbiome – the community of bacteria, fungi, yeasts, and other single-celled microorganisms that reside in your digestive tract. In a healthy microbiome, the interactions of these “bugs” serve several important purposes for digestive health, including:

• Aiding in the breakdown of foods during digestion
• Supporting nutrient absorption (and manufacturing some vitamins)
• Promoting healthy elimination of toxins
• Reducing inflammation
• Strengthening the integrity of the gut lining

Your microbiome is easily influenced by the foods you eat, as well as your lifestyle habits. Frequently consuming processed junk foods can encourage the growth of potentially harmful microorganisms, which eventually crowd out the beneficial bacteria that are necessary for healthy digestion. However, your nutrition and lifestyle habits are also the key to maintaining a healthy gut microbiome and supporting a strong intestinal lining.

Create a Gut-Healing Diet:

When it comes to supporting good health (digestive or otherwise), it’s important to build your diet around natural, whole foods. The majority of what you eat should come from nature – things like fresh fruit and vegetables, lean meat, poultry, eggs, fish, nuts and seeds, healthy fats, and an abundance of herbs and spices are all great options.

Protein, fats, and fiber are essential components of a gut-friendly diet. Be sure to include high-quality sources of protein, as the amino acids in these foods are essential building blocks used by the body to make tissues (including the intestinal lining). Healthy fats are also vitally important to a gut-healing diet because they help to lubricate stool, soften tissues, and support healthy cell membranes. Foods like flax (seeds and oil), chia seeds, fish, eggs, and nuts, are good food sources of omega-3 fats. You can also include a few tablespoons of high-quality oils such as coconut, avocado, olive, or walnut oil (always use cold-pressed, extra-virgin oils for maximum nutritional benefit). And finally, fibrous foods like fruits, vegetables, flaxseeds and/or chia seeds help to keep the bowel functioning optimally and provide fuel for beneficial microorganisms.

While fruits and vegetables of any variety are always healthy choices, eating these foods in their raw state may overburden a weakened digestive system. Cooking these foods can improve digestion and increase the bioavailability of the nutrients. Try baking, sautéing, or lightly steaming your vegetables and fruits to give your gut a break.

There is no such thing as a uniformly perfect diet, but we tend to encourage our clients to observe the guidelines of the Mediterranean diet when designing their meals. As much as possible, try to consume:

• ~15-20% of your daily calories from proteins (meat, fish, poultry, eggs)
• ~50% of your daily calories from carbohydrates (fruit, vegetables, starches)
• ~30-40% of your daily calories from healthy fats (oils, nuts, seeds)

Foods to avoid:

For good gut health, it’s imperative that you remove any irritants from your diet that might prevent recovery or worsen the situation. We’ve already mentioned the dangers of processed foods, which contain harmful or even toxic additives, but there are a few other ingredients to watch out for.

Dairy, gluten, and sugar are all problematic when it comes to gut issues. These foods are not only highly inflammatory, but they can all disrupt the balance of good bacteria in the microbiome and contribute to the development or worsening of leaky gut syndrome. Dairy and gluten are especially problematic as these are both highly allergenic foods and contain proteins that are extremely difficult for the body to digest. For these reasons, we recommend avoiding foods containing these items, wherever possible.

For more information, visit www.practicalwellnessteam.com/blog

A juice cleanse can be an easy way to do something great for your body! Some benefits include: 1) Increased nutrition – cold pressed juice can give you a nutrition boost. 2) Better hydration – from the natural water in fruits and veggies. 3) Boosted energy – from stabilized blood sugar. 4) A digestive break – your system can focus on absorbing nutrients easier. 5) Reduced food cravings – not eating for the sake of eating. 6) Improved sleep and mental clarity – helps to focus and relax your brain. 7) Reduced bloat – by avoiding bloat-inducing foods and additives.

I hope you enjoyed the first monthly edition of the WellnessNews Choices for Healthy Living® here in Moose Jaw! Healthy Living means making positive daily choices and taking personal ownership to enrich our life in areas such as our physical, emotion, social, occupational, financial, and spiritual wellbeing. Moose Jaw has so much to offer, and this monthly resource will help to connect you to so many local supports, deals and offers. Please share with your family & friends, like our FB page, and subscribe to local health tips via email – online at www.skwellnesshub.ca!

Lifestyle changes are an effective way to lower your blood pressure and can be used alongside medication you’ve been prescribed. To maintain or lower blood pressure, it’s important to: 1) Exercise regularly: 30-60 minutes of moderate activity 4-7 days per week. 2) Eat healthy: try the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet. 3) Reduce stress: relaxing, exercising, meditating, and getting plenty of sleep. 4) Limit alcohol and caffeine. 5) Quit smoking. 6) Maintain a healthy weight: maintain a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 and a waist circumference of less than 102 cm (men) and less than 88 cm (women).

4 Natural Solutions for Healthy Digestion

Our modern diets and mostly sedentary lifestyles can deliver a 1-2 punch, contributing to problems with digestive health that can negatively impact the function of every other bodily system. Worse still is that the symptoms of poor digestive health are now so common that many people aren’t even aware that there’s a problem. For many, symptoms like constipation or diarrhea, gas, bloating, cramping, and heartburn are considered a normal occurrence when really, these issues are part of a much larger problem that needs to be addressed (and quickly).

Fortunately, there are several ways to support healthy digestion naturally. The following are simple diet and lifestyle changes that you can make today to start improving your digestion for better health.

1. Chew your food

Although we think of the stomach as the hub for digestion, this process actually starts in the mouth. Specifically, chewing grinds the food into smaller pieces, which mix with the enzymes in saliva to start the process of digestion.

Ideally, your food should be the consistency of applesauce before you swallow and take another bite. This is a standard that very few people actually meet, especially with our modern lifestyle habits of multitasking and eating on the go. However, by not chewing your food properly, you place a greater burden on the rest of your digestive system, which can contribute to gas and bloating after a meal.

Most importantly slow down. Eating slower allows you to be more in tune with your body’s natural hunger and satiety signals so you can honour them and avoid overeating.

2. Consume whole foods

Processed foods contain toxic ingredients like artificial colours and flavours, preservatives, and chemicals, as well as harmful hydrogenated oils, trans fats, refined sugars, and excess sodium. These anti-foods are a common cause of gut inflammation, which impairs intestinal function and can lead to developing a leaky gut, as well as other chronic health conditions. In addition, processed foods have been shown to alter the balance of gut bacteria and encourage the overgrowth of pathogenic microbes in the gut (this imbalance is known as dysbiosis).

In contrast, whole foods are high in essential vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that are necessary for optimal digestive function (plus, without all the chemical junk damaging your intestines, your body can actually absorb these nutrients!). A diet high in whole foods, especially fruits, and vegetables, also helps to replenish good bacteria in the gut and support a healthy microbiome.

Choose a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables (organic and in-season), raw nuts and seeds, lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, and healthy fats/oils. If you do consume processed foods, do so infrequently and always read ingredient labels – if a product contains more than three non-food ingredients (words you don’t know or can’t pronounce), don’t consume it.

3. Increase your fiber

Fiber is something of a superstar when it comes to supporting healthy digestion and bowel regularity. Not only does fiber help to move food through the intestines, but it also feeds gut bacteria – both good and bad. To make sure you’re taking care of your intestinal health, it’s important to consume a balanced diet with the right amount and type of fiber.

Insoluble fiber does not absorb water and can’t be digested by the body. Instead, this roughage acts like a giant brush, helping to pull food through your digestive tract and keep things “clean”. This type of fiber can help to speed up transit time and is especially beneficial for relieving constipation. In the diet, insoluble fiber is commonly found in foods like legumes, spinach, coconut, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, prunes, flaxseeds, almonds, and sunflower seeds.

Soluble fiber does absorb water and swells to create a gel-like substance that controls hunger and slows down digestion to support better nutrient absorption, stable blood sugar levels, and heart health (among other benefits). Because it absorbs water, soluble fiber is also valuable for preventing or easing diarrhea. This type of fiber is easily fermented by bacteria in the gut and can cause bloating and gas if it’s consumed in large amounts. Soluble fiber is found in foods like berries, brussels sprouts, broccoli, and carrots.

Prebiotic fiber is a type of soluble fiber that feeds good bacteria in the gut. Some beneficial food sources of prebiotic foods are garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, bananas, apples, and flaxseeds.

A balance of both soluble and insoluble fiber is necessary for healthy digestive function. Fortunately, many high-fiber foods contain both varieties, so this balance is easy to maintain with a diet high in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds, and some whole grains (if tolerated).

4. Drink more water

In addition to flushing waste material out of the body, adequate water intake is an essential component of every step in the entire digestive process from saliva to stool. When you take a bite of food, your saliva (which is made mostly of water) mixes with your food, making it easier to chew and swallow. Amylase enzymes in the saliva begin the process of digestion by breaking down carbohydrates as you chew. In the stomach, the food is further broken down by hydrochloric acid, which requires water to be produced by the body in sufficient quantities. Bile and other digestive secretions are also produced from water. Finally, water lubricates the stool and is absorbed by soluble fiber in the intestines, causing the fiber to swell and add bulk to stool for healthy elimination.

Although it’s common to assume that you only need to drink when you feel thirsty, thirst is actually a signal that the body is already in a state of dehydration. To maintain optimal hydration levels, it’s good practice to drink half your body weight (in pounds) in ounces of water each day. For example, a 140lb person should aim to consume 70oz of pure, filtered water every day.

For more information, visit www.practicalwellnessteam.com/blog

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