Your Gut: A Key Player in Overall Wellness Part 1
We are excited to embark on a transformative three-part journey that will take us to the very core of our health: our gut. If health is wealth, then the gut is the treasury. Long underappreciated, it's only now that we're beginning to comprehend the pivotal role the gut plays in holistic health, from physical wellbeing to mental health, from our immune response to our overall vitality.
Our bodies host trillions of bacteria that influence not only our digestion, but also our mood, energy, and cognitive function. In fact, the gut is often referred to as the 'second brain' due to its vast network of neurons and its capacity to produce neurotransmitters like serotonin. One exciting study published in the Journal of Neuroscience affirms this gut-brain link, illustrating how gut health could impact everything from our stress response to our emotional wellbeing.
Beyond the brain, our gut health also correlates directly with our physical health. In fact, the gut is one of the first lines of defense in our immune system. It holds approximately 70% of our body's immune cells. In their research, the team at Johns Hopkins Medicine reveals how gut health can affect various bodily functions, from metabolism to heart health. Moreover, our gut can affect the state of our skin, with growing research suggesting a link between gut health and skin conditions like acne and eczema.
To optimize our gut health, our diet, exercise, sleep and supplementation play crucial roles. We will dive deep into dietary interventions, the tell-tale signs in your stool, and the role of supplements in supporting a healthy gut. In fact, a recent study published this year in Metabolic Engineering highlights the beneficial effects of certain probiotics and prebiotics in the link between our gut microbiome, physical and mental health.
We hope to bring greater awareness to the dialogue that exists between your body, your mind, and your gut.
Inflammation, Chronic Disease, and Diet
Inflammation is one of the body's responses to harmful stimuli. There are many causes for inflammation. Some are benign, such as when you stub your toe or get a paper cut, and there is initial redness, swelling and pain. These reactions are meant to help protect you from further damage and to start the healing process by bringing nutrient-rich blood to the area. Other types of inflammation are seen in more chronic, or long term, disorders. This means that inflammation occurs for an extended period of time and no longer helps the body, but actually causes harm, such as in enlargement of the heart, excess weight on the body, open sores that bleed or painful swelling of the joints.
According to the CDC, 75% of healthcare money is spent on treating chronic diseases. It is estimated that almost 1 out of every 2 adults living in the USA has a chronic disease. Some of the most prevalent chronic disorders are obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and arthritis, as well as digestive disorders such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Stress, physical inactivity, genetic predisposition, and exposure to environmental irritants (pollution, secondhand smoke) can all increase chronic inflammation, as can a nutrient-poor, pro-inflammatory diet.
There is no single evidence-based diet plan called the Anti-Inflammatory Diet. The best diet recommendation for reducing inflammation in the body is a plant-forward Mediterranean Diet. Research that included more than 1 million healthy adults showed that those following the Mediterranean diet had reduced risk of heart disease, death from heart disease and cancer, and a reduced incidence of Alzheimer and Parkinson's diseases. The Mediterranean diet even beat out the low fat diet for reducing cardiovascular disease and obesity!
A plant-forward Mediterranean-style diet does not mean vegan or even vegetarian. This diet encourages a focus on fiber-rich plant sources (vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, healthy oils, whole grains) with small amounts of lean animal proteins (chicken, turkey, eggs, omega-3-rich fish and seafood). The diet attempts to exclude proinflammatory foods and beverages such as red meat, processed meats, refined processed carbohydrates (e.g white flour), high fat foods (including high fat dairy products), added sugars and overconsumption of alcohol. Incorporating foods such as fatty fish (like black cod and salmon), nuts, seeds, legumes, beans, moderate amounts of poultry, and lots of good quality olive oil help to create a healthy, well-rounded and balanced anti-inflammatory diet.