I have noticed an increasing number of people in my practice with leaky gut. These days, more often than usual, when I look at people’s blood during a Live Blood Analysis session, I find an increasing amount of bacteria in the blood. This indicates that food particles can pass through the gut lining creating a toxic environment and overloading the immune system.
Of course, there can be many explanations for that, but it got me thinking about the impact that the liberal use of various kinds of sanitisers could have on our health. When I read the labels of many of the popular sanitisers, I often notice, proudly printed on the side of the bottle, often in big red letters, that it claims to kill 99% of all germs. We all agree that the majority of the immune system is actually located in the gut.
At its best, your microbiome is like a well-functioning city. Everyone works together, not only break down food for nourishment, but also to defend the town from marauding invaders like microorganisms that are multiplying out of control and threatening to cause disease.
The population and diversity of that city are impressive. If you gathered up the trillions of microorganisms in your gut microbiome it would weigh a whopping 2,2kg. Scientists haven’t yet developed a recipe for the optimal gut microbiome. In fact, the “best” mixture of good and bad bacteria is likely unique to each of us. What we do know is there’s a connection between the composition of your gut bacteria and your risk of disease, inflammatory response, and metabolism.
Amid this “pandemic,” there is a lot of fear being spread regarding the transmission of viruses such as COVID-19, and it seems like a good idea to use these sanitisers, or does it? I do think that there is a bit of a Catch-22 situation because a big part of the immune system is made up of microbiome which is often included in “99% of all germs.” Many of the sanitisers are killing the harmful bacteria and also killing off your immune system, compromising your ability to defend yourself against pathogenic bacteria and viruses.
The next onslaught is a little bit more sneaky; your immune system can be likened to any other system in your body, such as your muscles. If you don’t exercise the immune system regularly, it does weaken. When we sanitise our environment all the time, which means that our immune system does not exercise against common bacteria and viruses. The net effect of this is that our immune system becomes lazy and loses the ability to respond as quickly as it needs to. This slow reaction could mean that less aggressive pathogens can get hold of us, and it could become more difficult for us to fight them off.
The third prong of the attack on your gut and immune system is prolonged perceived stress. Continuously living under the impact of the perceived fear that is mostly generated by the media can have an extremely deleterious effect on your gut and your immune system.
At this point in time, it’s been the few months that we have lived in this sterile and stressful environment. What happens when we have spent six months or year sterilising ourselves internally, sterilising everything around, and living under continuous fear and stress. The effects could be much more severe.
The combination of a leaky gut, compromised – and lazy – immune system and high stress environment could leave us in a very vulnerable position in terms of our body’s ability to defend us from many forms of illness.
What can we do about it, though?
Here are my suggestions for improving your gut microbiome starting today:
1. Eat the Right Foods. Fermented foods deliver prebiotics and natural probiotics. Your gut microbiome responds to what you feed it. When you regularly eat a variety of healthy, non-processed, Non – GMO foods, your microbiome can work for you. The more varied your diet, the more flexible your microbiome becomes.
2. Take a high-quality probiotic. Nearly everyone can benefit from supplementing with a good quality probiotic. Probiotics help maintain your gut’s ecosystem as well as the ecosystem of your respiratory tract and urogenital tract.
3. Support your Digestion. Many people have low stomach acid but think they have too much and therefor take antacids. Supplement with a digestive enzyme. This can help you digest your food better and get rid of your symptoms, such as gas, bloating, and heartburn. Glutamine, an amino acid (a building block of protein), can also help to rebuild and maintain your digestive tract and support proper digestion. You may also want to try Betaine HCL if you know you have low stomach acid or, you could simply try drinking lemon and water or 1 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar in a little water before each meal to see if your symptoms improve.
4. Get into a relaxed state. One of the most important factors to healing your gut is your own consciousness. Your gut is your second brain. If your microbiome is out of balance, you may feel anxious, depressed, or tired. You may also suffer from memory problems or brain fog.
In addition to eating the right foods, try to get into a meditative state before eating. Do this by removing all stressors, including stressful people and conversations. If you are eating with others, try not to speak excessively, or talk about negative subjects. Every time you sit down to eat, take a deep breath, pause, and give thanks to all of the plants, animals, and people who helped create your food.
As always C Beyond Health is here to serve you as far as:
• The highest quality supplements,
• Personal recommendations,
• Live blood analysis,
• Organic- non-GMO-, vegan-friendly, gluten-free foods
• Life coaching to guide you through these tough times for and even more health and wellness.
Come see your health differently. Visit our website or come and see us in the Hemel and Aarde Village call: 028 316 2848 or Eastcliff Village call: 028 312 2499.
Warm Regards
Ferdi
How to make easy and delicious, probiotic-rich Kimchi at home
Ingredients:
Cabbage soaked for 3 hours in salt water
2 cups carrots in matchsticks
2 Cups Radish
Spring Onions
Garlic
Onion
Turmeric
Ginger
Chilli Flakes
Tools:
Stainless Steel Bowl
Crock
Blender/Vitamix/Food Processor
Glass Jar
Cutting Board
Knife
Quick Directions:
Cut the Cabbage into 2cm pieces or pieces of about the same size
Add the carrots matchstick size
Add the radish, cut into thin coin pieces
Add the spring onions in 2cm slices
Add 1 tablespoon of salt for every kilogram of vegetables
Mix around using your hands so the salt starts to pull the water out of the vegetables
For the paste:
Cut up 2 yellow onions and toss in the blender
Cut up the ginger (you can leave the skin on) and add to the blender
Add 5 cloves of garlic to the blender
Add Chilli flakes and more salt to the blender
Blend up!
Next pour the paste on top of the veggies in the bowl and massage in with your hands.
Taste your mixture
Add the mixture a layer at a time to the jar so you can push it down and get all the bubbles out.
Next clean the edges of the jar to prevent it from getting mouldy.
Let it ferment for 3-4 days, up to 2 weeks, in a dark cupboard and then put it in the fridge