Over 100 million Americans suffer from digestive problems. These problems are uncomfortable and can sometimes be embarrassing. To make matters worse, we know that digestive problems can wreak havoc over your entire body leading to allergies, arthritis, autoimmune disease, rashes, acne, chronic fatigue, mood disorders, autism, dementia, and more.

Having a healthy gut is more than correcting IBS symptoms or heart burn. It is central to your entire health. That is why we start to help our patients with chronic illness by treating and correcting their gut.

Gut health determines what nutrients are absorbed and what toxins, allergens and microbes are kept out. That is a huge job and it depends on many factors. The microbiome of your gut is a diverse and interdependent ecosystem. All must be in balance for you to be healthy.

There are five hundred species and 3 pounds of bacteria in your gut; it’s a huge chemical factory that helps you digest your food, produces vitamins, helps regulate hormones, excrete toxins and produce healing compounds that keep you healthy. Too many of the wrong ones like parasites, yeasts or bad bacteria, or not enough of the good ones can be detrimental.

Why is it out of balance?

• High sugar, processed food, and nutrient poor diets.
• Overuse of medications like anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, acid blocking drugs, and steroids.
• Chronic overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine, yeast overgrowth, and parasites.
• Toxic damage from mercury and mold toxins.
• Low levels of digestive enzymes – which can come from acid blocking medication use or zinc deficiency.
• Stress! Chronic stress can cause a leaky gut and change the normal bacteria in the gut.

What to do about it?

• Simple things such as removing processed foods, increasing fiber, and increasing plant products will help.
• Remove gluten, dairy, yeast, corn, eggs, and soy for a week to see how your body feels and if symptoms resolve. These foods can be added back in slowly, but we recommend following an elimination diet protocol and being tested for food allergies.
• Find out what is really going on inside your gut! We offer comprehensive stool analysis, which can identify specific imbalances or overgrowths that can be treated.
• Take digestive enzymes.
• Use healing supplements such as glutamine or zinc.
• Take probiotics-Probiotics are the “good guys” that live in your gut and play a critical role in your overall wellness. When buying probiotics, look for a probiotic blend that delivers the highest number of live organisms to the intestinal tract, and by that we mean at least 5-30 billion capsules or teaspoon of powder. A good probiotic supplement should also contain a combination of different strains. We love quality probiotics; they work simply, quickly and effectively, without drugs or negative side-effects.

Call us for help at 574-330-0464 and visit www.wellnessmichiana.com for information or to sign up for our newsletter!