Death (and More) Begins in the Gut

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Death Begins in the Gut Wmk

If you’ve been around here for awhile, you know that I really.really.really (did I say “really”?) care about gut health.

It’s been a huge focus in our household over the years, mainly centering on my struggle with candida and adrenal fatigue, and my son’s struggle with life threatening food allergies and Asperger’s Syndrome.

I’m really convinced that, as Hippocrates’ said, “All Disease Begins in the Gut.”  Well, truth is, there is a lot going on besides the gut, but I think that the gut is one of the most important places to start for overall health.

But how important is it–really?

Let’s find out together, shall we?

So let’s think about this for a minute.

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Signs of Gut Health Problems

Suppose that, on a regular basis, you have

– Belching or gas within one hour of eating
– Heartburn or acid reflux
– Bloating within one hour of eating
– Bad breath
– A sense of excess fullness after meals
– Feel Sleepy after meals
– Have Stomach pains or cramps
– Undigested food in stool
– Sweat with a strong odor
– Nausea
– Food allergies
– Alternating constipation and diarrhea
– A history of morning sickness
– Hemorrhoids or varicose veins
– Crohn’s disease
– Itchy anus
– Cramping in lower bowel region
– Less than 1 bowel movement per day, or constipation
– Light or clay-colored stools
– Excessive foul smelling lower bowel gas
– Cramping in lower abdominal region…..

All of these can be signs that something isn’t quite right in your innards.

But so what? What if your digestive system isn’t working quite right. Is that really a big deal?

Yepperoonies it is.

It’s a massive deal.

Think about it. If food is your body’s fuel and you get at the fuel (calories, minerals, vitamins and other nutrients) by digesting the food, when you aren’t digesting it right, your body isn’t getting what it needs.

So your body malfunctions.

How does it malfunction and how bad can it get?

First of all, you can check out these other posts on gut health:
Some Things I Bet You Didn’t Know about Your Gut
My Childhood and 5 Causes of Gut Dysbiosis
Why I Don’t Have Fermented Foods on My Blog
The “Straight Poop” about Probiotics (What Works and What Doesn’t)

Even though I’ve learned that much, I still wanted to learn more.

I decided to poke around the internet to see just what conditions are linked to gut dysbiosis (imbalance). And believe me–it ain’t good folks. Check out this frightening list.

Gut Dysbiosis (Imbalance) Can Lead to:

1.  Autoimmune Diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s Disease, Hashimoto’s, etc.) Source

2.  Systemic Candida (yeast) Infections (see notes below)

3.  Poor Brain Function – Source

4.  Poor Emotional Health – Source

5.  ObesitySource

6.  Weakened Immune SystemSource

7.  And eventually–Death.

So what’s a person to do?

Work on your gut health, of course!

But it’s easier said than done.

I know. I’ve spent hours and hours perusing the internet and talking with natural practitioners, trying to make sense of all that there is to read about gut health, probiotics, digestive enzymes, fermented foods. Seems like everyone has a different idea about what is good. And what isn’t. What will heal your gut and what will damage it further.

I feel like what I really need is a crash course in gut health.

PLEASE NOTE – the information that follows is about a course that is no longer available.
I’m looking for a course or other help for you all that I can confidently recommend. Thanks for your patience!

Ways to Address Gut Dysbiosis

Healthy Elimination (Bowel Movements)

Maybe you’ve heard that “Death begins in the colon”. Well it’s critical to have healthy bowel movements daily to keep wastes from wreaking havoc on your health. It is really, really important not to go more than 24-36 hours without having a bowel movement (yikes!). Did you know that constipation affects up to 28% of Americans? (I suspect that percentage is much higher). Learn how to get your bowels working optimally on a daily basis, and watch your entire health improve as well.

  1. Food Sensitivities, Intolerances & Allergies

    Approximately 10 to 20 percent of people have food sensitivities (I personally think it’s more than that). Food sensitivity reactions, called “delayed hypersensitivity reactions” and in the past called “serum sickness,” occur when IgA, IgG and IgM antibodies are triggered in response to foods, chemicals, and bacterial toxins.The most common antibody reactions are IgG reactions to mold and foods since exposure to molds and foods is quite high compared to pollens.These IgA, IgM and IgG responses are called “delayed” sensitivity reactions because the symptoms they cause can take from several hours to several days to appear.This makes it very difficult to track down the offending food or substance.Learn why food sensitivities often occur, how to test for them, and how to eliminate problematic foods. Most everyone alive today has several food sensitivities–unaware that they could be hampering their health.
  2. Fermented Cultured Foods & Probiotics Fermented foods can aid with digestion every step of the way. Fermentation offers immense health benefits, such as; Probiotics, Enzymes, Beneficial Strains of Yeasts, Easily Assimilated & Enhanced nutrients – such as vitamins and minerals, Beneficial acids, Predigesting/Breaking down foods for easier assimilation as well as neutralizing the harmful aspects of the given food.They also help with preserving the harvest–you get fresh food year round. The bioavailability of nutrients in our food is improved by the fermentation process. Bioavailability is how available nutrients are for our bodies to absorb.Fermented foods allow nutrients to be more easily absorbed as they essentially predigest the food for us. I’ll teach you the basics on how to get started with proper anaerobic fermentation.Finding the right probiotic supplement can be tricky. I’ll teach you why you may need to supplement, what some of the best probiotics are, and how to implement probiotics.
  3. Holistic Help For Candida Did you know that 1/3 of the world’s population is affected by candidiasis? (I think it’s more.) Candida is a fungal infection of a fungi that belongs to the yeast family–which is why it is commonly called a” yeast infection.” Candida is found in most everyone (in our guts and vaginal cavities) and in small amounts should still allow a person to be in good health.Normally, it’s controlled by good microbes and causes no complications.It’s when the yeast gets out of control, or one goes on antibiotics or is on the birth control pill that candida can grow and get out of hand if not treated properly. Take this Candida Questionnaire if you feel candida is an issue you need to tackle. In this course, Lydia will cover a safe approach to treating candida with food and supplements.
  4. How To Help Leaky Gut – What Supplements To Use Anything that can overstimulate the pores in the lining of the gut and keep them open too long is said to cause leaky gut. Things like food allergies, alcoholism, Celiac Disease, certain drugs, Giardia and other parasites, Intensive illnesses, Malnutrition, Pancreatitis and many more!Learn how to find out if you have a leaky gut, why you have it, and how to heal it.

Let use this information to move (for now) away from death and on–to better health :).

What Gut Health Issue Concerns You the Most?

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16 Comments

  1. I would love to take this course too,(is the discount still available?) just came across your Blog..lots and lots of useful,safe and healthy tips…

  2. Oh my…I have the following symptoms:

    – Belching or gas within one hour of eating
    – Bloating within one hour of eating
    – Feel Sleepy after meals (I thought this was because blood moves away from brain to stomach?)

    Do I still fit into this? I’ve always thought I had some gut issues but mine should be quite mild, as I’ve only three symptoms.

      1. Fair enough…

        I’ve been doing some simple experiments. I found that there are some foodstuff such as bread, grains, flour and related foodstuff that causes me to have more gas, more bloatedness and belching, so avoiding them decreases this problem.

        Also, simple food such as fruits are easy for my stomach to digest, less to little gas (if any).

        The problem is that those “evil” foods are soooooo tempting….think pizzas, ice cream, cakes…sigh.

  3. I have taken a gut healing webinar before but this seems to go into more depth and I love the fact you can access it at any time. My only concern is that I’m still breastfeeding. Will all of this info be useful for a breastfeeding mom?

    1. Hi Rachel. I am sure it will be totally useful to you but Lydia will be by shortly to respond to you directly.

    2. Hi Rachel,

      Yes, absolutely! I have several breastfeeding and pregnant moms in the course currently. There is still much you can do while BFing. I’d love to have you join us and keep in mind if you ever have questions, that’s what the facebook forum is for. And any questions can be asked on each lesson post as well. Plenty of support to make sure you are adding things that are safe for you while you breast feed!

  4. I would love to take this course but alas I will have to miss out due to financial obligations to other things. 1 is medical bills that have come through for getting tested for Candida, Hashimoto’s, adrenal fatigue, Celtic, and many more. Thanks for continuing providing your awesome post daily and look forward to more information.

    1. I am so sorry to hear that. Mainly because this course could very well offset medical costs in the future. I personally think that taking a questionnaire can test for candida so if you are pressured to do that in the future you might think about foregoing it. Not medical advice–just my thoughts.

  5. It sounds interesting, but it feels intimidating too. Perhaps the intimidation comes from lack of understanding on my part. My oldest daughter had h.pylori back in June and has had stomach issues ever since. She doesn’t have h.pylori again, but still feels that her tummy is sore. We did a probiotic powder after she finished her course of antibiotics, and it seemed to smooth things out for a bit. Back in June they also did an x-ray to see if they could see anything going on in her gut. She was backed up, but she’s not been constipated because of it. At least as a mom knowing she’s having regular BM’s didn’t see her as being constipated. ANyway, the dr has her taking miralax at the moment to try and make sure her gut is not continuing to be backed up and would like us to do that for a month so see if things get better. I’m confussed by all of it to be honest as I’ve never really had gut issues. I will say that my youngest daughter has had constipation issues and we’ve used miralax with her occassionally too (dr recommendation). My middle daughter doesn’t seem to have any issues. Like I said, it’s confussing to me and I’m not sure where to start with things. At the moment taking this course may not be in the cards for me (both in the matter of having time to do this as well as the cost), but I thought I’d ask if the information in here is suitable for children as well as adults. Ages in my house range from 5 years to 43 1/2 years. Would the information presented be relavent to all ages.

    1. Hi Karla. Here is the response back from Lydia. I hope this helps.

      Yes – suitable for the whole family any age. There are tons of other moms in the group looking to help their own kiddos and there is a lesson specifically geared towards children 12 and under. Time wise -it’s up to you how much time you put into the course – you could do 1 lesson per month for a year and slowly implement the material and still see amazing benefit! This is the last time the price is going to be so low as well…..

  6. This course looks perfect for me so I went to the website to sign up and found the discount code you offered “NEWMOM” was invalid…..any idea why it did not work?

    Thank you so much, I read your posts regularly and I am learning much!