Nourishing Your Gut

The gateway to your health is your gut. The digestive tract starts in the mouth and ends at the anus. Many people suffer from digestive upset somewhere along the tract, whether it's acid reflux, indigestion, constipation, diarrhea, or stomach cramps.

Your healthy gut is important because it:

• promotes immunity
• prevents gastrointestinal infections
• reduces inflammation
• regulates body weight
• synthesizes nutrients such as vitamin K, B12 and short-chain fatty acids
• protects the integrity of your gut lining

Ninety-five percent of serotonin is manufactured in your digestive system. Where there is imbalances in your gut, you may experience the following:

• IBS
• GERD
• Celiac disease
• Food sensitivities
• Food allergies
• Colitis or ulcerative colitis
• Some cancers
• Inability to lose weight
• Heart disease
• Neurological disorders like anxiety and depression
• Skin problems

Why does the gut get out of balance and toxicity creep in?

• Diet high in sugar
• Diet high in processed foods
• Diet low in minerals
• Toxicity in the foods you eat
• Years of taking antibiotics and birth control
• Eating foods that inflame the body

By strengthening your gut, adding good bacteria, denying and eliminating the problem foods, and supporting the immune system, you can reduce inflammation and the symptoms associated with it.

Sugar

A few things that sugar does to the body...

Sugar can suppress the immune system
Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium
Sugar can weaken eyesight
Sugar can cause hypoglycemia
Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children
Sugar contributes to obesity
Sugar can cause arthritis
Sugar can cause heart disease and emphysema
Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis
Sugar can increase cholesterol
Sugar can lead to both prostate cancer and ovarian cancer
Sugar can contribute to diabetes
Sugar can cause CVD (cardiovascular disease)
Sugar can make your skin age by changing the structure of collagen
Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides
Sugar can increase the body’s fluid retention
Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines
Sugar can cause depression
Sugar can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease

Adapted from 146 Reasons Why Sugar is Ruining Your Health by Nancy Appleton, Ph.D.

Four Primary Emotions Behind Emotional Overeating!

In Doreen Virtue’s book, Constant Craving, she outlines the four primary emotions behind emotional overeating.

• Fear: Insecurity; walking on eggshells, generalized fears; abandonment fears; existential fears; control issues; sexual fears; worry; anxiety; depression; intimacy fears.

• Anger: Toward another person; toward an injustice; toward self; feeling betrayed; feeling ripped-off; feeling abused.

• Tension: Stress; frustration; old anger turned into bitterness or resentment; jealousy; impatience; overwork without an emotional release such as fun.

• Shame: Self-blame; low self-esteem; self-loathing; lack of trust in one’s own competence or goodness; assuming other people won’t like you; feeling less than others; feeling like you don’t deserve good.

Did you notice that these four primary emotions spell FATS? We know very definitively what happens when we consume too many fats, however that does't mean we're not to eat fats, but like everything else...moderation is key! Doreen continues by saying that when we bottle up our emotions, it’s akin to putting a cork on a vinegar-and-baking soda combination. The ignored emotion doesn’t go away; it intensifies. The more you ignore the stronger it grows.

When we ignore things in our lives that bother us they often manifest into something that can get out of control quickly. Evaluate where you are and make a change.