8 Ways to Heal Your Gut {Digestion Part 2}

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Did you know that your gut is your “second brain”?

It is true, what you eat, how you eat, and how intact your gut lining is can determine not only your overall body health, but also your mood.   You could be eating very well, and be getting all the nutrients that your body needs in food, but if your gut isn’t working properly than you can still be very sick.

Click here to read part 1 of this series where I talk about how to eat to get yourself digesting.  We do need to retrain our brains on how to eat, believe it or not.  In a culture of fast food and people who often have a really hard time figuring out how to slow down, don’t skip the first part of the series.

Have you heard the common term “leaky gut”?  Leaky gut is happening when your stomach lining becomes a membrane so permeable that it begins to allow food particles pass through it into the blood stream.  This increasing permeable membrane is what is going to cause many of your food allergies.   Often times, this is what can later cause autoimmune disorders because the body sends out attacks on these food particles that should never directly enter the blood stream. Later the body remembers these attacks and will actually attack itself when consuming these foods it has developed a sensitivity.   The body things that these food particles are foreign invaders that are trying to destroy it.  In a healthy body, food is fully digested so that particles are broken down into molecules that the blood stream can handle.

It is important to begin to reverse this process so that you call heal your food allergies, increase your immune system, stabilize mood and at times you can even reverse autoimmune disorders.

Apple Cider Vinegar –Before each meal, take one or two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in water in order to increase acidity in the stomach to allow your stomach to digest properly.  I recommend purchasing a raw and organic ACV like Braggs in order to reap the full benefits.

Herbal Bitters – Bitters have been around since the beginning of time and have been used to strengthen digestive organs in all cultures around the world by being incorporated into the diet.  

Down in the small intestine, the stimulation caused by the bitter taste prompts your liver to increase its production of bile, and your gallbladder to increase bile excretion.^2,3,11 Bile is necessary for fat digestion and the absorption of fat-soluble nutrients such as vitamins A, D and E.¹² Healthy bile flow helps rid the liver of waste products such as oxidized cholesterol and hormonal metabolites, prevents gall stone formation, and provides lubrication of the intestines, easing the passage of stool.^4,12 It should not be surprising that by enhancing movement of waste products out of the liver, bitter herbs have been found to exert a protective effect in liver conditions such as hepatitis and cirrhosis.²   

Bitters: the Revival of a Forgotten Flavor by Danielle Charles-Davies

Artichokes – A 2003 clinical trial from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center revealed that artichoke leaves can be extremely helpful in healing indigestion. And, much like herbal bitters can help improve gall bladder function.

Nourishing Bone Broths – Homemade bone broths that are made by using an acidic medium like apple cider vinegar or white wine to draw out nutrients and then simmering bones for 12 -24 hours or more are the most nutritious.  Gelatin is drawn from the bones and heals the gut along with the plethora of nutrients that is stored in the bones.  Bone broth can be made by any type of animal bones and is best when the animal has been humanely raised on a GMO-free, and anti-biotic free lifestyle.

Powdered Gelatin – Gelatin is an amazing tool for healing the gut lining. There are all kinds of recipes to incorporate the use of powdered gelatin in the diet. This is also great for kids.

Probiotics –  A good probiotic will replenish healthy bacteria in the digestive tract which is important for overall body health.

Fermented Vegetables –  Packed with powerful nutrients and natural antibiotics fermented vegetables should be a major part of almost every diet.  Even if you don’t enjoy the taste, taking a few tablespoons with each meal can be helpful to replenishing the good bacteria in your digestive tract.

Hydrochloric Acid Supplementation – I find that in many of my clients, it is necessary to initially supplement with hydrochloric acid. Due to many of our stressful lifestyles, and poor diets we are in need of more stomach acid and not less in order to fully digest the food we eat.  Once the body begins to make its own Hcl once again a client can be weaned from it.

Don’t forget that the gut can not fully recover when you have offending and sensitive foods in the diet.  Click here to find a quick and easy way that you can test for food allergies at home

Need help with supporting your body to heal?  I use a number of tools and have intense training to help nourish the body and support its innate ability to heal itself.  I have seen wonderful results with my own family and clients.  You can read more here.

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