Gut Health 101

 

What is the gut microbiome and why it is important?

Research shows that the health of a person’s gut / digestive system, dictates the overall health of the person. Further, 70%-80% of your immune system is housed in the gut and is an eco-system if you will, of about 100 trillion bacteria with over 1,000 different bacterial species. Our mouth is part of this system and has bacteria as well and affects our entire system.

Yes, we are more bacteria than human cells and this is the exact reason why it is crucial to maintain a healthy balance between the good and bad bacteria as they each have their job. The friendly bacteria is what helps our system to digest food, absorb nutrients, and destroy harmful disease-causing bacteria. What we don’t want is to have an overgrowth of the bad bacteria as that is what causes health concerns and the not so fun symptoms. 

Many studies have shown that diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, obesity, anxiety, depression, weight gain/loss, eczema, painful periods, autoimmune and more have been associated to lower bacteria diversity aka less good bacteria and more bad bacteria.

So, it is safe to say that any symptom(s) someone is dealing with is because of the gut being imbalanced. Now, how the gut became imbalanced is due to many factors, it is usually not just one thing. Factors such as food, food additives, stress, environment, antibiotics, medication, chemicals and more have a negative impact on our system allowing the opportunistic bacteria (the bad) to flourish. Stress management is something we talk about often and why the Ultimate Guidebook- “Little Black Book” was created. Read more on that HERE.

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Benefits of a healthy gut microbiome:

✅ More Energy + Better Sleep

✅ Stronger Immune System

✅ Lessens Lactose Intolerance

✅ Aids in Regularity + less Stomach Problems ie: gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, acid reflux

✅ Healthier Skin

✅ Less various skin rashes

✅ Aids in Hormonal Balance

✅ Less Pre-Menstrual Cramps (Regular Cycles)

✅ Aids Glucose regulation

✅ Stronger Bones

✅ Less Allergies + Asthma

Plus*

 

So, how can you help keep the balance and not allow the bad bacteria to flourish?

Besides daily mindful habits, you want to repopulate the good bacteria on a daily basis. This is where probiotics (and pre-biotics) come in. Probiotic supplements are marketed all over, yet because they are supplements they are not regulated and far from created equal. Of course focusing on a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole functional food is important as well.  

What is important in a probiotic is that it is diverse in bacteria strains and quantity of CFU (Colony Forming Units) count.

Kefir has also been shown to be an anti-inflammatory, antitumoral, antimicrobial, immunoregulatory, antiallergenic, antidiabetic and much more. You can see it is so much more than just a probiotic.

After years of research, this is where traditionally prepared kefir is superior and preferred and PrimalRoot Wellness only advocates Kefir for repopulating the gut microbiome.

 

 Kefir + Kefir Grains

What is Kefir?

Traditional Kefir is a fermented beverage and one of the most studied functional foods. Cow or goat (any dairy milk) milk is fermented with kefir grains (like you see in the picture above) grain-like colonies of yeast and lactic acid bacteria and what produces the natural forming diverse bacteria strains. The microorganisms in the kefir grains multiply and ferment the sugars in the milk, turning it into kefir (thus making it 99.9% lactose free)

Fun Fact:  Kefir - the name- is derived from the Turkish word keyif, which means “feeling good” after eating. It is a daily healthy beverage in many other countries and has been used for thousands of years.

Kefir may contain up to 61 different bacteria strains (natural forming) thus making it a much more potent source of probiotics than many other fermented dairy products such as yogurt that may have 1-5 strains.

Also, because it is liquid, it start repopulating in the mouth, down and out, which is very important.

Nothing man made here like in probiotic pills. Many probiotic pills are created with chemicals to help them survive the GI tract. One of the most popular probiotic supplement brands uses titanium dioxide (used as a colourant in food, drugs and cosmetics). This chemical not only is known to trigger a significant immune response but also causes inflammation in the gut.

Because our gut microbiome is an eco system, so diverse in bacteria strains, we want to repopulate it with the most diverse of strains, without chemicals and that is why Kefir is superior.

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We hope you have found this information helpful and enlightening. If you need more information or have questions on any of the above information or questions, please reach out to us HERE and we will respond within 24 hours.

 

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This page is for information purposes and is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.