All Up in Ya Guts

Admit it, you’ve probably wondered how you’d look with a glistening six pack, abs broken up into cobblestones with those little ripples trailing down the sides as you flex. While you’d be sure to turn heads at the beach and gym, you still might not feel as awesome as you look. Your body has a second brain found in the gut, and if you fail to eat right and take care of your gastrointestinal health, you may find yourself feeling as unnatural and disharmonious as Rebecca Black’s autotuned voice.

It All Starts and Ends at the Core

What you might not realize about your gastrointestinal system is that it affects everything from your memory and mood to your immune system and overall brain health. When you think about the fact that your large and small intestines stretch a whopping 25 feet (marinate on that image for a moment) and are essential to your digestive and immune systems, it makes sense they have so much sway over the rest of your body’s functions.

When you make an effort to improve your gastrointestinal health, you allow your body to create more of the healthy bacteria that essentially shifts into Ryan Gosling and says to your brain, “Hey, Brain: It’s okay for you to relax yourself and settle down.” Marinate on that image for a moment! All of that glowing bacteria churning in your guts has a positive impact on mineral and vitamin absorbency, vitamin production, hormone regulation, your body’s ability to give toxins their walkin’ papers, and your immune response.

A Bad Feeling in Your Gut

If you know anyone with irritable bowel syndrome, Celiac disease or leaky gut, then you might already have an idea of how likely it is for a person with a bowel disorder to have autoimmune disease as well as a mental issue such as depression or anxiety. Even if you don’t have a bowel disorder, you can still tell your guts are in need of some Tender Lovin’ Cleansin’ if you experience:

•Bloating after eating
•Abdominal discomfort
•Flatulence
•Headaches
•Weakened immune system
•Fatigue

Your intestines are more likely to become inflamed or irritated whenever you eat heavily processed foods or foods to which you’re sensitive. What’s happening is food proteins are flooding your bloodstream like frothing Beyonce fans and kicking your immune system/security team into action, which can result in mood changes and debilitate your cognitive functions.

Diet Is More Important Than Ever

So what can you do to keep bad gastrointestinal health from making you feel like a bourbon-swillin’ detective in a film-noir flick? You can look into advanced diagnostic testing to determine if you have any food sensitivities of which you might not be aware. If there are certain foods you can’t have that contain nutrients you need, research healthy alternatives. A nutritionist can help you develop a well-rounded diet focused on the the four Rs of digestive and gastrointestinal health: Remove, Repair, Restore, and Replace.

You can also take a more low key approach. Start by cleansing your guts by eating:

•Dark, leafy greens
•Cayenne
•Fennel seeds
•Oregano
•Peppermint
•Chia seeds

Once you’re done with the removal phase, you can begin to repair, restore, and replace with:

•Probiotics, such as natural yogurt and kimchi
•Ginger
•Bananas
•Fiber
•Water (to replace what you lost while cleansing)
•Citrus fruits
•Eggplant

While you may never have slabs of steel masquerading as abs, you can most certainly have the healthiest GI tract in town. I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere, I just need to squeeze it out.