Why is gut health so important?
“All diseases begin in your Gut” Hippocrates
This claim was made over 2000 years ago by Hippocrates, a Greek physician regarded as the father of modern medicine.
He was on to something…..
We are now beginning to understand the importance of our gut, our gut microbiome and the role it plays in our overall health.
What is our gut?
The gut is essentially a hollow tube that passes from mouth to anus. Anything that goes into our mouths and can’t be digested passes out the other end.
What is gut bacteria?
Gut bacteria are the community of microbes that live in our large intestine, known as our microbiome. Our microbiome is completely unique to us. It consists of over 100 trillion microorganisms, can be up to 1,00 different species and weighs around 200g, around the same as an adult hamster!
What is gut health?
Gut health means looking after the microbes inside us. These microbes are kept alive by feeding off the fibres of plant-based foods.
We need to think of our microbiome as our own personal army, with each species having its own role in protecting and looking after parts of our body and mind. Each species lives off different plant-based fibres, which is why science now indicates that optimum health is reached by consuming a variety of at least 30 plant-based foods a week.
Whist a healthy varied diet supports our microbiome, a poor diet will minimise or destroy it.
Other factors such as stress and over use of medication such as antibiotics can negatively impact our microbes.
What does our microbiome do?
The gut is responsible for two thirds of our immune system.
Our gut is linked to our brain, via the vagus nerve, this is why when we are nervous or anxious we often feel it physically in our tummies.
90% of Serotonin, the hormone that makes you feel good, is produced in your gut.
A good functioning gut microbiome is the foundation to good health, improving diversity of the gut microbiome is often a starting point for many of my clients.
Please get in touch for a free introductory session if you are interested in improving the health of your gut.
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