What is all this hype about gut health? Is it just a fad? Obviously digesting food is important because it fuels our body, but isn't my digestive system good enough?? After all, I regularly #2, so I should be good, right? What is regularly going #2 anyhow? It's not like us humans just magically forgot how to digest food... if anything we should be getting better at it, right?! Wait, that's not right? What the gut is going on here?
Well, unfortunately it's not that simple. Food has changed a lot in this world and it's not always for the better. The food industry makes it extremely hard to navigate "truly" healthy food due to advertising and promotional campaigns. Remember that "Got Milk?" campaign? That wasn't for health promotions. On top of that, eating well can be time consuming and expensive.
Fast food is largely promoted due to it being cheap and convenient. Ever wonder why that is the primary food, on top of soda and alcohol, that is served at highly popularized sporting events? Would the athletes that are playing eat the same food that is served at their games? I highly doubt it, and if so, it's not on a regular basis if they want to keep their energy, focus, and consistent performance levels.
Some of our foods are heavily sprayed with pesticides and herbicides that we can't simply "wash" off because the chemicals get embedded into the food. Say hello to a wide spread of gluten sensitivities that popped up in the USA.... ever hear someone say they can eat gluten in foreign countries without a problem, but don't tolerate it well here in America? I personally had this experience on a recent trip to Greece. I had several servings of bread and pasta without a hitch when I was in Santorini. Otherwise, I have skin irritation and increased body temperature making it uncomfortable to sleep when eating gluten here in America. I dare you to look up the Dirty Dozen list by the EWG. Regular exposure to chemicals in our food is very tough on our bodies. We are what we eat.
Lastly, we live in higher than normal stress states. With prices sky rocketing, working more hours per week, the mental health crisis, etc. Stress is detrimental to gut health - this actually can deplete some of the healthy bacteria in our gut and impact our immune function!
Sadly, we cannot just add supplements (probiotics and the like) to make everything better. They definitely can help, but we actually have to change what we are ingesting along with other environmental factors to improve our ability to properly fuel our body.
Want to continue the conversation? Email me!
Dr. Haley
**Check out this lovely seafood pasta dish I had in Santorini, Greece! No side effects after this dish!
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