Paleo, vegetarian, vegan, high fat, high carb and ketosis-just some of the terminologies you hear when it comes to nutrition. To be fair, they all have the potential to be very positive. However, this really depends on the individual, their epigenetics and what is essentially best for them at that given time. We unfortunately perceive that there is one nutrition outline for the rest of your life, and that’s it. Abiding by this can have consequences, and like most things that you put in your mouth, the area that bears the brunt of this is your gut (and we’re not just talking about that spare tire). As we’ve also talked about here, the gut (gastrointestinal tract) has a huge influence on your well-being.
One simple thing that people rarely ever do is rotate their foods, especially their protein sources. This can cause food intolerances and create an imbalance of the amino acids you obtain from these foods. However, lack of rotation in food is just one example of where we have let our gut down.
In a Rut? Fix Your Gut
The gut is more complex than first given credit to, and in reality we’re only just beginning to scratch the surface of all its functions within the body. However, its nickname is an indication to how important its role is. Meet ‘the little brain’. It has three major lines of defence:
- The digestive tract- helps with immune function.
- The micro flora barrier- helps to protect us from pathogens and toxins.
- The intestinal lining-acts as a selective filter, that’s permeable to nutrients while blocking most bacteria.
It’s almost impossible to dumb down all the functions of the gut, and how important its role is in protecting our body, as well as its effect on body composition. Apart from the points above, it’s also responsible for particular hormones and peptides that help regulate appetite and have a role in blood sugar management. This is a key factor, especially considering that there are people who simply just don’t have an appetite, or conversely those who have no ‘shut off’ mechanism. Does this sound familiar?
Modern Life Is Strip-Mining the Gut
So where is the damage being done? Well the mucosal lining of the intestines and the micro-flora within our digestive system are being depleted badly. This can be due to stress, drug use, environmental chemicals and of course the obvious- ‘nutrition’. The majority of the population is eating less and less ‘real food’. Not only that, but we’ve been living with the saying ‘a little bit of everything in moderation is ok’. Well I’m afraid to inform you that if you’re not getting all the nutrients you require out of the food you eat, little fairies don’t come around in your sleep and sprinkle magic nutrient dust into your mouth!
It’s the nutrients in food that help us function day to day. I’m not just talking about micro-nutrients either. I’m putting even more emphasis on macro-nutrients. The big three of protein, fats and carbohydrates. They have properties that allow us to heal our body. We could use a truckload of examples, but lets just evaluate one to start with. From proteins we derive amino acids. One of these major amino acids is glutamine, which just happens to be the most abundant amino acid in the body. Glutamine has many major roles in the body and it is its versatility that makes it such an essential one. Whilst great for collagen synthesis and, improved nitrogen balance in lean muscle, it also helps heal the gut and plays a major role in our immune system, especially with lymphocytes and monocytes. This is why decreased glutamine can lead to impaired immune function.
If we then apply the same principle to fats, one of the key nutrients we derive from them is omega 3 fatty acids. Apart from having the ability to help with histamine responses, they are amazing to calm inflammation and rebuild healthy cell walls within the gut. They also improve tight junctions between the gut’s linings cells and enable the gut to fend off additional injury.
Lastly lets look at carbohydrates. The benefits of carbs are completely misunderstood, and it does not lie in them giving you seemingly limitless amounts of energy. In fact they almost do the complete opposite, and help to relax the body and dampen cortisol. It is the later benefit that plays the major role in protecting the gut, by restricting the damage that cortisol can inflict on our lining and micro-flora.
The fact of the matter is we could go on and on about all the benefits that individual nutrients and in particular macro nutrients have on the body. We’ve just demonstrated this to pinpoint one major region in the body ‘the gut’. This doesn’t come close to covering all of the additional benefits they have on other organs.
Progress- Good and Bad
Since the quality of the foods we’ve put in our body has started to decline, it’s fair to say so has our health. People eat very little (if any) good quality protein sources. Fats have been neglected for more then 40 years and our carbohydrate sources are a far cry from what was intended. Due to these factors we’re lacking a whole array of key minerals and vitamins.
On top of this we have been led to believe for an extremely long period of time that to stay lean and healthy, the best course of action is to minimise our food intake. The exact foods that will nourish our body, repair our immune system and heal our gut lining. All this message succeeds in doing is withholding the properties (macro and micronutrients) that our body needs to function. The outcome of this is plainly disastrous.
We can no longer neglect the importance of nourishing foods in improving all elements of our health. Not only this, but we can no longer deny the role the gut plays in protecting us from harm. The two combined together are an unstoppable force, and surely the key to a life free from pain, disease and illness!
If you’d like to learn more about how to structure your diet to improve gut health as well as overall health, let’s chat, we’d be glad to help.
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