Can a Healthy Gut Prevent Disease and Improve Overall Wellness?

The tummy is surprisingly one of the most vital centers of physical and mental health in the human body, but it is much more than just a converter of foods into cellular energy.

“It’s the connection to so many different systems in our body: our mood and our cognitive health, as well as our immune system,” says Monique Richard, a registered dietitian, nutritionist, and spokesperson for the National Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

First off, the “gut” is much more than just your stomach. The “gut” consists of many parts and organs including the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, the anus, and the digestive tract.

Nearly 100 million nerve cells line the digestive tract. This “enteric nervous system” communicates with our brain and can have a direct impact on how we’re feeling. Good gut bacteria produce neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which helps to modulate our moods. Proper gut bacteria metabolize many different vitamins and micronutrients. The metabolic processes that take place in our digestive tract produce short-chain fatty acids, which help with our overall cognitive (brain) health.

Inflammatory inhibitors, cytokines, and other immune defense mechanisms are modulated in the gut, and good gut bacteria play a big role in shutting down inflammation throughout the body.

When we concern ourselves with the wellness of our gut, we protect our entire body, mind, and spirit connection.

So how do we develop a healthy gut?

It’s not that complicated really — because it all starts in the mouth. But this is one of the most forgotten steps to getting a good gut.

It may be harder to accomplish than you think though, because we may have to break old habits of quickly devouring our food. By eating more slowly and chewing your food more thoroughly before swallowing, your digestive system can perform more easily and efficiently, putting less stress on the rest of your entire digestive tract.

The trick with this first step is to not let yourself get too hungry before mealtimes. Try munching on healthy snacks like carrot sticks or celery in between meals so that when it’s time to eat, you’re not “starving.”

Then there is the 20-minute rule — and this may take a little extra discipline. The 20-minute rule is this: it takes approximately 20 minutes for your gut to tell your brain that it’s had enough to eat. So by eating more slowly and masticating (chewing) your food properly, you can accomplish two things: better digestion and eating less — both good for the gut.

Try placing a watch in front of you during meals and time your main course for 20 minutes. Separate your meal into four separate sections and eat each section slowly for 5 minutes each. Don’t start on the next section until each of the 5 minutes is up. You may be surprised how quickly you fill up by eating less food — and you could also lose some weight as a bonus.

Now, our gut is only as good as what we feed it, so lots of green leafy vegetables should be part of every meal, even for breakfast. Also, include vegetables from a variety of species and colors, as this diversity helps with our gut bacteria to break down food.

Eat your fruits early in the day (so your body has all day to process and use up the sugars) and also before a large meal, as fruits have the potential to ferment on top of the meal you just ate, throwing off the entire digestive system.

Incorporate unroasted seeds into your salads and stick to unroasted “raw” nuts. Some of the healthiest nuts include almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, and Brazil nuts. These nuts are rich in healthy fats, protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, offering various health benefits such as improved heart health and reduced cholesterol levels.

Basically, if it’s grown in nature, it’s good for our gut. Supplemental probiotics, which deliver lactobacillus and bifidobacterium to the gut, can also be useful.

Now when it comes to carbohydrates, keep the portions minimal in quantity — but here’s an interesting fact: approximately 90% of the world population subsists on rice as their food staple, and these are some of the thinnest people on the planet. They must know something we don’t! Why is it they go to such a tremendous amount of effort to grow these delicate grasses in water beds, then painstakingly harvest by hand, just to remove the outer husk to reveal the simple, clean white carbohydrate we call rice? Something to think about for sure.

As we age, protein becomes more and more vital to retain muscle, ligament, and joint health. Keep your portions below 6 ounces at each meal and stick to lean meats like chicken and well-cut steak, and eat lots of fish high in Omega fats such as salmon and sardines.

Gut bacteria need to eat too, which means we need to balance our diet with healthy plant foods, according to Teresa Fung, a nutrition professor at Simmons University in Boston. “We want beneficial bacteria, and they need their ‘food’ to thrive,” she says. “The beneficial bacteria in our gut thrive when we eat whole grains and minimally processed fruits and vegetables.”

Incorporate raw honey into your daily diet. Unprocessed, unpasteurized, pure honey has many beneficial properties, including antifungal, antibacterial, and antimicrobial qualities, and is loaded with many beneficial nutrients and enzymes.

Combined with the PureWave Cell, this could recover your gut health very quickly and boost your immune system and overall wellness targets immediately.

Did you know that the PureWave Cell is scientifically proven to kill or neutralize harmful bacteria and pathogens within minutes, but also promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria? The PureWave Cell is perfect for gut health when placed or rubbed on the tummy.

So if you really want to live longer and healthier, then first start with your gut. You’ll feel better, be happier, maybe lose some extra weight, and more than likely, you will become more active and social — which is all good for your overall physical health, mental clarity, and emotional wellness.

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