Healthy Gut Is a Foundation Stone to General Health

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Our gut health usually does not concern us too much until we encounter some typical gut issue, such as diarrhea, bloating, or constipation. Before we notice any of these clear signs that something is happening in our digestive system, we tend to neglect the condition of our gut. However, medical experts warn us that the health of our gut is a foundation stone for our general health. A healthy gut is the most important in maintaining a good function of the immune system. Namely, the microflora of our digestive system can affect the body’s capabilities to defend itself against various microorganisms. If microflora is well-balanced, we probably will not get any bacterial or viral infection. Moreover, medical experts say that gut health can prevent many other diseases like inflammation, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, and depression. If good bacteria in our gastrointestinal system (GI) exceed bad bacteria then microflora is well-balanced. To illustrate the influence of the microflora of our gut on overall health, the article “The Importance of Microbial Diversity in Gut Health and Disease” gives us an overview of the effects of its positive bacteria.

All these intestinal microflora are part of your immune system and about 80 percent of it originates in your gut. Researchers have discovered that microbes of all kinds play instrumental roles in the functioning of your body. For example, beneficial bacteria, also known as probiotics, have been shown to:

Counteract inflammation and control the growth of disease-causing bacteria
Produce vitamins, absorb minerals, and eliminate toxins
Control asthma and reduce risk of allergies
Benefit your mood and mental health
Normalize your weight
For all of these reasons, and more, I recommend a diet rich in whole, unprocessed foods along with cultured or fermented foods. If, for whatever reason you are not consuming fermented foods at least a few times a week, it’s wise to consider supplementation.

A high-quality probiotic supplement can be a helpful ally to restore healthful balance to your microbiota—especially when taking antibiotics, and/or when eating processed foods, as both of these tend to decimate the colonies of friendly bacteria in your gut.

To maintain our gut health in a good condition, nutritionists suggest reducing processed food, especially light yogurt, light milk, low-fat products, and products that contain many unknown ingredients. They recommend using probiotics through fermented food, yogurt, and kefir, in order to help our digestive system to stay healthy. Sugar is also an ingredient that should be cut down. On the other hand, there are many other foods that can benefit out gut flora. Nutritionists also suggest increasing intake of good fats, like flax oil or olive oil. Fish and fish oil are also a rich source of nutrients that can help our gastrointestinal system to keep its balance. If we consider a fact that 80% of serotonin is produced in our digestive system, it is clear that the food we eat can greatly benefit our mood. Therefore, to stay happy and healthy, we should focus on keeping a good diet, rich in fresh, high-quality and diverse food.