Our Microbiome controls the majority of our bodily functions. Recent research has unlocked a new insight into how our gut microbiome helps generate more mitochondria in our cells. This naturally increases our health span and energy while at the same time increasing other responses in the gut and brain that improve our metabolism, mood, and overall quality of life. In this article, we are going to explore all of these areas to help give you the tools necessary to improve your Microbiome, energy, and overall health span.
How Does Your Gut Health Contribute to Energy
Our digestive tract is where everything is broken down into macro and micronutrients. These nutrients are then absorbed into our bloodstream and used as energy. Well, this energy can come from anywhere. Well, our body is only designed to consume nutrient-dense whole foods. When we consume highly refined, sugary foods, processed foods, and fast food, this actually takes our energy away. Leaving us craving them for a constant release of short bursts of energy instead of the long-lasting energy we get from whole foods. Processed foods take our ability to create mitochondria for our cells, the energy part of our cells. When we don't have enough mitochondria, over time, this begins to cause us to feel fatigued and lack motivation and destroys our ability to build new energy cells.
We create sustainable energy by feeding our gut the proper nutrients to make energy cells. These nutrients enable us to continue to have lasting energy throughout our lifespan. These bacteria are created from fiber, polyphenols, and antioxidants. These nutrients can be found in dark leafy greens, ancient grains, and dark fruits and root vegetables. Some foods that contain the most are (beets, arugula, swiss chard, kale, beetroot, berries, flaxseed, chia seed, GF oats, Sweet potatoes, etc.) Having a variety of these foods in your diet helps to boost your body's natural energy production. Your gut microbiome is the centerpiece of energy; the more we take of it, the more it takes care of us.
What is Leaky Gut? How Does It Affect Our Health?
Leaky gut is a condition caused by a damaged gut lining; your gut lining is a cell thick enough for nutrients to be absorbed and used quickly. This lining is protected by my microbiome bacteria that help boost your immune system's ability to identify toxins that don't belong in your Microbiome. These bacteria help to get rid of these toxins. Over time, eating more inflammatory foods in our diet continues to drain our gut's ability to absorb nutrients, putting us at risk for a leaky gut.
When we don't have enough good bacteria in our Microbiome, what happens is any inflammatory toxins that get through our Microbiome the more inflammation we create. This inflammation has been associated with autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, eczema, psoriasis, and other debilitating conditions. Foods high in refined sugar and artificial and oxidized ingredients increase your likelihood of a leaky gut. so eliminating foods like gluten, processed sugar, fast food, candy, prepackaged meals, and TV dinners all contain ingredients that can be destructive to your Microbiome. Also, getting rid of lectins in your diet can be beneficial in preventing a leaky gut. Lectin-containing foods are wheat, beans, nuts, potatoes, tomatoes, & eggplant, which contain proteins that can't be fully broken down in the gut. Now, this doesn't mean you won't ever be able to eat these foods, it's good to limit them until your gut health is back and fully functional.
Polyphenols & Antioxidants= Thriving Microbiome
The only thing our body can recognize as energy is nutrients. These nutrients help our cells communicate clearly with our body to function at their most optimal level. Polyphenols and antioxidants improve this function. These nutrients help decrease bad inflammatory cells and improve healthy inflammatory cells to help heal and rejuvenate your cells at a more optimal rate. These nutrients act on our ATP (mitochondria), which is the fuel for your cells.
Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) is an energy-carrying molecule that captures energy used from broken-down food particles. Not all food is created equal. Eating highly processed foods, refined sugar, fast food, and other unhealthy food items actually removes ATP and speeds up your cell's life cycle, removing energy. Over time, this drastically decreases your endurance, metabolism, and immune system and increases your risk of chronic illness or disease.
Eating high-quality dark leafy greens, Beets, beetroot, Green tea, organic extra virgin olive oil, MCT oil, coconut, curcumin, turmeric, cocoa, chia seeds, flax seeds, berries, etc., all contain high amounts of antioxidants and polyphenols. Having a variety of these foods and a list of more to come in your diet will help produce more ATP and keep your gut buddies happy.
What Destroys Our Gut Buddies?
Our Microbiome is a sensitive and adaptive system in our body. Its main goal is to protect us from damage, so it will take the damage for years until it cannot stand it any longer. Some crucial things take away our body's ability to adapt, such as long-term use of strong medications, inflammatory calorically dense foods, sugar, wheat, lectins, and more.
Antibiotics, antidepressants, and anti-inflammatory drugs kill pathogenic and nonpathogenic bacteria, disrupting our gut ecosystem. When we take these medications consistently, they continue to decrease our good bacteria, setting us up for autoimmune conditions, gut dysbiosis, and constipation. They also make us susceptible to sickness, cause metabolic dysfunction, and, over time, create dependency issues.
Certain foods such as highly processed foods, sugary foods, wheat, and fast food all disrupt our bacteria; with these foods being low in fiber and micronutrients, they slowly destroy the formulation of good bacteria over time. The increased amount of unhealthy saturated fats and wheat increases inflammation, causing metabolic disruption, leading to insulin resistance, weight gain, hormone imbalance, and the disruption of ATP production. The more of these foods we have in our diet, the more need we will have for anti-inflammatory and antibiotic medications. Research has found that increased consumption of these foods decreases serotonin production (Happiness hormone), which increases the likelihood of having depressive symptoms, leading to more of a need for additional medication. All of these are connected to our gut health. The happier our gut, the happier our body will feel, leading to happiness.
How Does Our Microbiome Affect Our Mood?
It has now been shown that 90% of our neurotransmitters are in our gut. If this shocks you, just wait; our gut is responsible for more than half of our mental health responses to certain stimuli. Such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, acetylcholine, and much more. Our gut health is crucial for a solid and resilient mind. Our gut is connected to our brain through the gut-brain axis. This is how the gut communicates with the brain on which signals to send. When we don't have a strong enough Microbiome, this causes inflammation and can cause toxins to cross our blood-brain barrier and a thin layer of cells that protect our brain from toxins; this can increase the risk of mood disorders, mental health conditions, Alzheimer's, dementia, Parkinson's, depression, and anxiety.
Protecting our Microbiome not only helps our immune system and cellular health but also affects our mental health as well. Decreasing exposure to harmful chemicals and foods can drastically improve your gut-brain connection. Along with having healthy amounts of probiotics, butyrate, fiber, essential amino acids, and healthy fatty acids can benefit your gut-brain axis and its longevity. It has been shown that an increased amount of healthy bacteria, vitamin D, Omega 3 fatty acids, and amino acids have a profound effect on preventing depressive symptoms.
Optimize Your Gut to Optimize Your Life
Your Microbiome has more control than you could possibly imagine over your long-term health. Optimizing your Microbiome will set you up for long-term success down the road. Now, let's dive into some of the top hacks you can use to enhance your gut health and thrive.
Detox Periodically: Eliminating toxins and detoxing your body are essential for enhancing your gut health. Because you must get rid of the nasty bugs before implementing the good ones, following parasite cleanses, doing whole food detoxes, 3-day water fasts, and other cleanses will set your gut up for success. Following specific detoxes can help open up detox pathways, helping your beneficial bacteria do their job. They reduce inflammation and bloating, aid in weight loss, and much more. It is crucial to be supervised by a professional following any intense protocol as you detox. It can make you sick if not done correctly.
Essential Amino Acids: Our gut is made up of about 60% amino acids; they are responsible for regulating intentional flora, healthy bacteria growth, serotonin secretion, and microbiome homeostasis. Taking in powder for EAAS can be beneficial, or following your recommended dose of protein, which is 1g per pound of ideal body weight. Incorporating the correct amount of amino acids can help rejuvenate your microbiome and help with digestive motility and digestion regulation.
Fiber (Butyrate): Prebiotic fiber is crucial for developing microbiota and healthy gut buddies. These gut buddies are responsible for digesting and breaking certain nutrients in the small and large intestines. Protecting the epithelial cells in our gut lining is crucial, which protects us from a leaky gut. Food is high in this nutrient can be found in sauerkraut, fermented foods, berries, beets-soaked and sprouted quinoa, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, leafy greens, and other fruits and vegetables. You can also supplement with butyrate powder, but it is best to get it from whole foods.
Magnesium: Magnesium is one of the most important minerals in the Microbiome. Research found that over 60% of the population had magnesium deficiency. You can supplement with magnesium; Bioptimizers has one of the best research-studied products on the market. I have no affiliation with their company and love their products. Magnesium helps aid in digestive motility, so it better poops. It helps aid in the production of ATP, which is more energy in the cell. It helps with the diversity of your gut microbiota. It increases the absorption of nutrients found in whole foods, which is more beneficial for healthier digest enzymes. It also helps improve overall digestion and breakdown of food, so it has a better metabolic rate. for more information on daily recommended doses of magnesium, check out this resource: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/
Fermented Foods: Fermented foods such as fermented meats and dairy products all contain essential bacteria that fuel your body's ability to break down and absorb nutrients. These nutrients also aid in mitochondria uncoupling, which is necessary for forming cells and rejuvenating energy. Incorporating foods like organic goat kefir, goat yogurt, and goat milk all have healthy compounds that feed your Microbiome the nutrients it needs.
Sunlight Exposure: Vitamin D is one of the most essential nutrients for our mental health, hormones, and our Microbiome. Recent research has found that Vitamin D aids in the production of butyrate-producing bacteria and improves gut diversity. Getting adequate sunlight exposure or a healthy dose of vitamin D can enhance your Microbiome and overall vitality.
Takeaway
Overall, the message here is that if you take care of your gut health, it will take care of you. By putting the correct nutrients in your gut, you can increase your energy, improve weight management, and improve your mood and hormones.
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