Make this your #1 target for maximum health

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Make this your one specific target for nutrients and you simply can’t go wrong, and it will give you a reason to avoid most poor foods.

# The Microbiome There’s an estimated one hundred trillion cells in the human body. But that is dwarfed by the amount of bacteria on and in that body. And this day and age we are consuming record antibiotics and other substances harmful to our internal bacteria and using harsh cleaning agents to sanitize everything. This is disrupting, sometimes heavily, the proper balance of our microbiome. This is an underlying factor in many diseases. The most important location in terms of bacteria is the digestive tract otherwise known as the microbiome. There are trillions of bacteria in there, helping to do all kinds of work. They can produce vitamins, aid the immune system, and most importantly they help immensely to break down and digest foods. There are many different types of bacteria in the gut as well. It is an entire ecosystem and there are certain ratios of particular bacteria that need to exist. We want more of what we call “good bacteria” and less “bad”(although you need some of those bad bacteria, just not too much). These different bacteria eat different types of food. Some thrive best eating simple sugars. Herein lies the first connection between gut health and good food choices. It is well known that America eats more sugar than possibly any civilization in history. So this would justify the argument that the gut bacteria that feed on sugar would multiply given the rich bonanza of sugar we consume here. One common gut dysbiosis is Candida albicans or more commonly just known as Candida. Candida may be one of those sugar craving bacteria, but the research is unclear. But one thing is certain and that is that many people with digestive problems consume way too much sugar, and it doesn’t stop with digestive pains as we’ll discuss shortly. One of the most important functions of our gut bacteria is to protect the gastrointestinal wall from intruders. The gut wall is very thin in places, especially where there are villi which are hairlike extensions that absorb nutrients that need to get into the bloodstream. There are literally mountains of information becoming available right now about how the aptly named leaky gut syndrome can lead to a huge array of problems. Leaky gut is a syndrome where the villi and the wall itself are damaged. Undigested food particles (or worse parasites or viruses) can find their way unmitigated into the bloodstream. Typically this sets off an immune response, and if this is chronic people can develop one of several autoimmune disorders. The villi that absorb nutrients in the gut. Courtesy of wikimedia commons. We have tons of bacteria on our skin too, every centimeter of it. They are another defense system. As a whole we use a massive number of different chemicals and cleaners to try and keep our skins clean, but these cleaners could be wiping out the bacteria in droves, leaving the immune system vulnerable as well as harming the skin. Suffice to say that these bacteria are very important. They are involved in nearly every process in the digestive tract. They help the immune system, and protect the gut wall. They digest and assimilate nutrients. We should strive to keep this ecosystem vibrant and healthy. # The saboteurs So what foods exactly are disrupting the microbiome and causing all sorts of health problems? The answer is most of the American diet it would seem. The average person’s diet is very high in sugar, possibly protein as well, we don’t get enough healthy fats and we don’t get enough vitamins and minerals. We end up not only in a calorie surplus but also we are malnourished. It is perplexing to think that we can eat more than most people on the planet here in America and also be malnourished. Before it was stated that Candida is most likely caused by, among other things, vast quantities of processed sugars. Not only that but sugar can cause glycation which causes protein abnormalities in the blood. There are just too many diseases and disorders that are associated with excess sugar intake to ignore. As a society one hundred years ago the average sugar intake per day was five to ten grams because sugar was a delicacy. Fast forward to today where we consume a whopping 126 grams per day on average. Its not even just the sheer caloric value of such an amount of sugar, its the fact that there is essentially zero nutrient content on top of it. It is the epitome of empty calories. But not all sugars are equal. Processing destroys most nutrients but many natural sugars still can contain theirs, especially in whole form as in fruits and vegetables. Sugar can disrupt the ecosystem of the gut bacteria by, again, causing certain bacteria to expand which shouldn’t be. But there are also other anti-nutrients in many of the foods that are popular in America ranging from artificial sweeteners and preservatives to trace pesticides and other chemicals. There are also other questionable ingredients in today’s culture of highly processed junk foods such as food colorings, dyes, glutamates (like MSG) as well as inflammatory fats like trans fats. Low quality meat and dairy are another duo of destruction for the microbiome. Industrialization of farming presents a whole new set of problems due to the drastic changing of many of the animal’s diets and environment as well as the introduction of growth hormones and other drugs such as antibiotics. Perhaps one of the most overlooked problems with low quality meat, especially beef, is the shift from grass feed to corn and grain based diets. This has produced a shift in the omega fatty acid profile of the meat. What that means simply is that instead of being full of anti-inflammatory and healthy omega-3 fats, the meat now contains much more omega-6 fats which tend to be inflammatory. Due to production and supply needs industrial farming tends to pack animals much more closely together than they are used to. This creates an environment where disease is common. For this reason, many farmed animals are treated with antibiotics at one time or another. There is no doubt that antibiotic residues are present in this meat. The meat is also typically infused with nitrates as preservatives. The science linking nitrates to health problems is scarce but many believe that the link between processed meats and cancer could be linked to the nitrates. Industrialized farming also yields questionable dairy products. Skim milk for example has the fat removed (along with the fat soluble vitamins contained therein such as vitamin D) but those calories are replaced with processed sugar which also serves to preserve taste, a common theme throughout the area of processed foods. There is also ample evidence of drug and pesticide residues in non-organic milk as well as growth hormone. All of these different substances combined have a profound effect on the health of our bacterial ecosystem. As was stated before however, the damage dealt to these symbiotic cells can do far more damage to other areas of the body. # The autoimmune connection Remember the term leaky gut? That is one of many different digestive disorders than a poor diet can lead to. It turns out that digestive problems and the Western diet go hand in hand. Ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome are to name just a few of the common digestive problems plaguing the country. One thing that all of these, and every disease for that matter, have in common is chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation simply means prolonged, low level inflammation of certain tissues. Inflammation is an immune marker. It is usually used as a force for good. When you cut your skin, the area becomes red and slightly swollen. This signals the immune system to come and begin work of fixing the problem and preventing infection. But when this is going on consistently, as in with chronic digestive problems, people can develop what is known as autoimmune disease, where the body is actually attacking itself. There are many different types of autoimmune diseases that occur body wide including multiple schlerosis, fibromyalgia, gout, Hashimoto’s syndrome (thyroid disease) to name a few. Autoimmune disease is on the rise with an estimated fifty million Americans suffering from one. This constitutes an epidemic. There are plenty of experts claiming a clear link between leaky gut and autoimmune disorders, and a disrupted microbiome is correlated with leaky gut. # Nutritional solutions The evidence would point to the fact that the average Western diet promotes dysbiosis and chronic inflammation, both of which lead invariably to disease. So how do we turn it all around and begin to heal the gut and reduce the inflammation, giving our immune system a break? There should be a three pronged approach to improving diet, especially if you suffer from an autoimmune condition. The factors that need addressing are establishing bacterial equilibrium, removing excessive “bad” bacteria and other toxins in the gut, and repairing any damage that may have occurred to the digestive tract, especially the wall. The first step would be restoring the proper ecosystem. This would mean cutting out foods that are feeding the wrong bacteria. Simply put this means cutting out most added sugars. The first things to go would be the obvious offenders such as sodas, candy, processed breads and other high sugar foods. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 40 grams per day for men and 25 grams for women. This can be a difficult task because one bottle of soda typically contains around 70 grams of sugar, so it is very easy to overshoot this number with just one meal or snack. One of the biggest mistakes people make when switching up their nutrition plan is making too many drastic changes quickly, which leads to being discouraged and many times quitting. Start slowly with the end in mind. Remove just one soda or sugary snack a day, eventually swapping these nutrient-devoid foods for healthier alternatives.

Photo by Samuel Yongbo Kwon on Unsplash Sugary drinks and foods can be replaced with healthy (and tasty) homemade smoothies and juices. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be used for vitamins and minerals. A person will find that not only are the inflammation promoting sugars being removed but replaced with nutritious foods, a win-win. That is one of the secrets of good nutrition, swapping anti-nutrients in for essential vitamins, minerals and other beneficial phytonutrients. Also key to restoring the microbiome is the addition of pro-biotic foods. Fermented vegetables are a great way to introduce bacteria into the body. One thing to remember is the simple fact that not all bacteria coming into the body is bad. Examples of some fermented foods are kimchi, pickled vegetables and relish. One thing to remember is that there are trace antibiotics almost everywhere these days, even in the drinking water. Completely avoiding them is an impossibility for the average person. So it is important to consistently use probiotic rich foods to combat this problem. This is not a one time program. It is a life-long nutrition strategy. One thing that is ominously missing from many people’s diets is fiber. This carbohydrate is instrumental in feeding certain bacteria. The best sources of quality fiber are raw or cooked vegetables, especially stalks, as in broccoli or celery. Beans also contain considerable fiber. The current government guidelines are a minimum of 35 grams of fiber per day for men and 25 for women. Raw vegetables, although they should be thoroughly be cleaned, have the added benefit of containing trace bacteria as well as fiber and other nutrients. People that suffer from digestive autoimmune disorders should experiment with very light raw food intake as it can disturb the disorder even more. If this is the case then vegetables can be steamed or otherwise cooked. One thing to consider is that steaming allows the foods to maintain most of the nutrients inside since the amount of physical processing such as heating on a skillet is reduced. The second facet is removing bad bacteria from the digestive tract, shoring up many problems and helping to heal leaky gut. For this there can be employed a special tool of the natural nutrition protocol, and that is natural antibiotics, antivirals and antifungals. There are many foods with natural antibiotic properties. Typically people can tell these foods apart because in their natural state they do not go bad for a very, very long time. Two examples off the top would be honey and garlic. Natural honey is not only a good replacement for other high sugar processed foods, it also acts as a natural cleaning agent inside the body and helps the skin. Generally skin and digestive health mirror each other. Another enhancer great for the skin is, naturally, herbal aloe, which has been used as a sunburn remedy for hundreds of years. It also promotes digestive health and especially targets the villi tight junctions, restoring the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from digested food. This coincides nicely with phase three of the program; healing the gut wall. Aloe does this as does apparently collagen protein which also finds its way into people’s bodies in the form of bone broth. Collagen is one of the most prevalent proteins in structural tissues around the body including tendons, ligaments, skin, and the intestinal smooth muscle lining. # In conclusion There are many goals that people will have when they decide to make a health transformation of some sort. Some want less body fat, or to look better, or to heal their skin, or increase energy or just prevent heart disease. One thing that is linked at some point to all of these problems is chronic inflammation, poor diet and a compromised body-wide bacteria population. If you focus on this area it will not only potentially heal stomach problems but increase the metabolism and increase the amount of nourishment you get out of food. So you won’t to eat as much to absorb the same nutrition. The immune system will be tuned down and won’t be as chronically active, and this will give the nervous system a much needed rest and allow the body to heal. The microbiome is certainly one of the most if not most important aspects of nutritional homeostasis and health and should be targeted for healing accordingly.
Originally posted here: https://steemit.com/health/@zydane/make-this-your-1-target-for-maximum-health