HOW IS YOUR GUT BACTERIA EFFECTING YOUR HEALTH?
What is gut bacteria?
Your digestive tract is one of the largest surface areas in your body, stretching 9 meters from top to bottom. The intestinal mucosa of your digestive system contains a balance of good and bad bacteria. These bacteria are microorganisms which are responsible for a number of different actions throughout your digestive system, as well as your body in general.
Symptoms of imbalance
When there is an imbalance in gut bacteria symptoms such as exacerbated IBS symptoms, gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, candida and thrush may occur.
Other conditions that are often associated with an overgrowth of bad bacteria in the digestive tract include:
poor immune function
anxiety and depression
arthritis
intestinal parasites.
When the balance is optimal, gut bacteria is essential for transit of food through the digestive system, immune system regulation, nutrient absorption, digestion and many so many other functions that I couldn't possibly list them all hear.
What causes this imbalance
Many different factors contribute to the imbalance between good and bad bacteria. The most common cause is antibiotic use. While antibiotics are useful to help kill off harmful bacterial infections, they also kill off the majority of our good intestinal bacteria.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the contraceptive pill, physical and psychological stress and a poor diet can all damage gut bacteria.
How to bring back the balance
There is so much that you can do to bring back this balance of gut bacteria.
Diet
The first step would be making sure you have a diet that is high in fibre. Fibre halls to generate new and nurture current good bacteria.
Fibre rich foods include: fruit and vegetables, whole grains such as oats, and seeds such as chia, sunflower, linseeds and psyllium husks.
Other ways you can improve the amount of beneficial bacteria is through consuming plenty of fermented foods. These foods include yogurt (unsweetened), kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut and kim chi. Trying to incorporate these foods in your everyday diet is an easy way to nurture your body, and the digestive tract on a daily basis.
Supplementation
The next thing that you can do is grab yourself a probiotic supplement.
But not all probiotics are created equal. There are hundreds of different types of probiotics, just like there are heaps of different vitamins. Each different probiotic has a different function. In order to get a supplement that best suits your symptoms it is important to see your Naturopath so that they can prescribe you the perfect probiotic.
