When you hear “gut health”, you might automatically think about how well your stomach works to digest food. And while digestion is an important part of gut health, it goes a bit further than that, directly impacting your overall health.
How does that look, you ask? Here’s Rouenne Seeley, D.O., board-certified gastroenterologist’s response. “Your digestive system contains a healthy amount of bacteria, which helps regulate your digestion, benefits your immune system and, ultimately, contributes to your body’s overall regulation. When the bacteria in your gut becomes imbalanced, you’ll likely experience physical symptoms like gas, bloating, irritated bowel, heartburn and even unintentional weight gain or loss.”
And who wants any of that? Especially when it continues past a few days into weeks and months. When I learned more about this as I got into nutritional supplementation for myself, I was amazed at what was going on inside my body – you know, out of sight but certainly having an impact.
So how do you keep that bacteria balanced in order to keep your gut health – and, therefore, overall health – at its peak?
Seeley, and others have talked about how we need to understand what makes up your gut microbiome.
I appreciate how this gut microbiome got illustrated.
Not only does it exist mainly in the large and small intestines, it is also found all through the body. Some research says it’s approximately 100 trillion micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses) and has the power to encode over three million genes that influence our fitness and health.
A creative way to understand how the gut microbiome works is to compare it to a sports team, explains Mascha Davis, a registered dietitian nutritionist and author of Eat Your Vitamins. Each player has a different role, but they all play for the same team – trillions of unique players (bacteria and microorganisms) digesting food, protecting against pathogens and keeping metabolic functions in check for the body.
Davis says that when all those players are in good health and working together, we generally don’t notice; we simply feel good (and live well into our 80s and 90s). But even though good bacteria and microorganisms are necessary for important functions, the gut microbiome also contains potentially harmful microorganisms, and when the ratio of good to harmful bacteria is thrown off by something like illness, diet or medication, this can throw off the entire balance of the gut.
Now here is the important result we need to know – an imbalance in the intestinal microbiome has been associated with all kinds of chronic diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer, according to Davis.
You can find gut health tests (also called gut microbiome tests) online, but frankly, I learned that digestive symptoms like diarrhea or bloating are major clues. And they don’t go away despite my continuing my regular nutritional supplements. So I turn to Dr. Joanne Conaway whom I met when I was learning about and starting Youngevity nutritional supplements years ago.
And yes, I can usually trace a few triggers like sugar and other bad food routines in which I indulged, probably way over-indulged – or maybe other things of which I am not aware are messing with my health. So I jump into action as I have learned from experience how well it works for me.
My solution, which I have shared with others with the permission of the creator, is called the Flora Restoration Program. The brilliant woman who put together this program is Dr. Joanne Conaway.
Her description is contained in the program handout I have and is relevant here: “…this program is for everyone as we generally don’t get probiotics in the foods we eat and supplementing is a beneficial way to help re-establish all the healthy gut bacteria. People who have problems with absorption, immune function, allergies, autoimmune disorders, bowel problems, skin problems and so on, generally see improvement very quickly once they start the program. Most people have these problems to a certain degree and many don’t realize it. It is good practice to complete this program every 4-6 months to help maintain a healthy balance of good and less desirable gut bacteria.”
So I go to her program instead of just wondering what I did to trigger my digestive problems, or trying to figure out what is going on (I never wanted to become a nutritionist, I just want them to tell me what to do). And the gut and digestive systems are Dr. Conaway’s bailiwick – she authored Why Is America So Sick? Linking Digestive Health to Immunity and Hormonal Issues. If you want to know more about the whole subject, I highly recommend her book.
And yes, I am willing to share the Flora Restoration program of Dr Joanne Conaway. But I want to respect her request that it be shared with specific people who want assistance. Plus, I can help people understand how to get what you need to do the program. This is her updated program (due to new products that boost the effectiveness).
Just hit “reply” if you would like me to provide the one-page protocol/program that outlines what you need and how to do the 20 day routine. Happy for you to get the help I have so appreciated!
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