It seems to be everywhere now; a gluten-free diet is one of those things that can have a positive impact on your mind and your body. Many people that have a gluten-free diet feel the difference in their gut and mind. But, with this comes the question of if we are doing enough to protect our gut in the first place. For a lot of us, this issue of a bad gut and poor digestion isn’t necessarily down to gluten. Some people have a gluten sensitivity, but others are fully-blown celiac. So while it’s all well and good eating gluten-free foods, are we necessarily tackling the root cause? A good gut doesn’t just improve your digestion, but the well-publicized impact of a poor gut-brain axis has shown to negatively impact us in ways we couldn’t possibly imagine 20 years ago! So, with this in mind, how can we improve our gut so that it improves, not just our diet, and not just our frame of mind, but our life in general?
Knowing The Consequences Of A Bad Gut
Let’s face it, there are so many bad foodstuffs out there tempting us. But we still go for them! Even though there are a plethora of gluten-free products out there, we’ve got gluten-free sugary treats everywhere! And while we could be doing our gut a favor by avoiding gluten, our sweet tooth is still a battle we’ve yet to win. Remember, 80% of your immune system is located in your gut, and as a result, it’s hardly a surprise we are what we eat. While good bacteria is essential for an efficient gut, we still have to look at our own habits when it comes to finding out why we’re not running at our optimum. If you feel constantly tired, or have that dreaded brain fog, it’s not just about tackling the stresses in your life, but your diet. Know this may sound like the absolute obvious, but when we have those dips in our diet, and we feel tempted by the bad things, we increase our bad bacteria. These are foods like refined sugar, alcohol, stress, and even chlorinated water that can increase our bad bacteria. If you’re concerned that you are drinking chlorinated water, this can be offset by having a water filter in the home. Websites like theberkey.com provide water filters so you can have purified water every single day. But what we have to look at when we are increasing our bad bacteria is getting an understanding of the root causes. There’s a handy resource on healthline.com to give you a better idea of what you might be consuming. And from here, what can we do to improve our gut?
The Importance Of Probiotics And Prebiotics
Probiotics are very popular now, and while a rich and varied diet high in probiotics can work to improve our gut-brain axis, a lot of people can be sensitive to probiotics. Probiotic drinks like kefir contain a high amount of histamine, so if you’ve attempted to fix your gut before by consuming a high amount of probiotics like this, and find yourself sneezing, this is why. And while it’s very easy for us to pick up a probiotic supplement, we have to remember that it may not contain the necessary strains that we would benefit from individually. This is where prebiotics come in handy. After all, probiotics need feeding for them to multiply, and if we feed them the wrong things, they will not! And prebiotics, such as chicory root, onions, artichokes, and leeks are all essential to feed your gut bacteria. In many ways, it’s about eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. And while this is stating the obvious, it appears that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, are all essential for healthy gut bacteria to grow.
Placing More Importance On The Gut
While a gluten-free diet is great for the gut, we can still eat things that are depleting our gut bacteria. And this is where we have to give our gut the time to repair itself. Leaky gut syndrome is one of those things that can be caused by gluten, but if we don’t have the tools to fix it, then we may very well be doing our bodies a disservice. And if you have a diet rich in probiotics, prebiotics, and polyphenols, while swearing off any gluten-containing products, you are giving your body the time to repair. Some people find that they can go back onto a gluten diet, albeit sparingly. But you will know if it will help you in the long run. It’s important not to just listen to your gut, but listen to your mind too. After all, if you feel foggy, inflamed, and generally not with it, your body is having a hard time digesting something, and this can manifest itself in so many ways- we are all different!
There have been links with autism and leaky gut syndrome, and this is fascinating. But what people still can’t get their head around is that a poor diet can affect the brain as well as the body. But these two are linked. If you’ve got someone in your life who is constantly tired, a simple gluten intolerance could be the reason, but when this has been fixed, and problems persist, we have to go for the gut. It’s essential that we all have a good gut diet because it will work wonders for every aspect of our lives. In the Western world, we have a particularly poor diet in this respect, but when we look to other cultures, especially in Europe, where there is a definite focus on probiotics, the quality of life is clearly much better, not to mention the life expectancy rates! It’s time for us to address these issues, and if a gluten-free diet has taken you so far, you need to go to the next level, you’ve got to look at a good gut diet.
