4 Reasons Your Digestive Tract Isn’t Working Properly (And How To Fix It)

By Melissa Gundersen | July 10, 2015

Heartburn, Crohn’s Disease, IBS, IBD, colitis and Celiac Disease all have one main thing in common — these are all digestive disorders that can cause individuals to suffer greatly. When your digestive tract isn’t working properly, your heath seriously suffers as a result.

Let’s face it, no one wants to go out and enjoy a delicious dinner with friends or family, just to have the night ruined by gastrointestinal issues. So how do you keep digestive issues under control? To answer that question, you must understand why your digestive tract isn’t working properly in the first place. Below is an infographic that highlights 4 reasons you may be having such issues (article continues below).

Now that you know some of the main issues, let’s talk about how to fix them.

Gut Flora Imbalance

To balance out bad gut bacteria with good gut bacteria, start taking probiotics. Probiotics are living bacteria and yeast that, for the most part, live in the intestinal tract. This good bacteria helps to balance out the bad bacteria in the digestive system. To get your daily dose of probiotics, you can eat probiotic foods and/or take a probiotic supplement.

Some probiotic foods include:

Live-cultured yogurt
Fermented vegetables, such as sauerkraut and pickles
Miso soup
Dark chocolate
Kefir
Kimchi
Mircoalgae
Tempeh
Kombucha Tea (get a kit to make your own kombucha – 50% of now!)

Heavy Metal Toxicity

Rid the body of metals and toxins by detoxing. Along with changing your diet, some doctors recommend visiting the sauna daily to sweat out additional toxins.

Magnesium Deficiency

Up to 80% of Americans suffer from magnesium deficiencies. It’s recommended that adult women should have somewhere between 310 to 320 mg of magnesium daily, with adult men between 400 to 420 mg.
Here are some ways to boost your magnesium level:

Juicing
Regular epsom salt baths. Epsom salt is a magnesium sulfate that can easily absorb into the body through skin.
Supplements

Stress

Stress less! I know, this is easier said than done. But, you certainly don’t have to turn to prescription medications to ease stress. Instead try these 5 simple and natural de-stressing methods:

Exercise
Meditate (click here for a mini meditation guide for beginners)
Get enough sleep
Go for a walk or do something outdoors
Journal about what’s fueling your stress

Gut Health Project recommends Perfect Biotics to ensure a healthy gut. Add this probiotic to your daily routine!

Also, take Perfect Flush to eliminate waste and toxins.

Digestive System, Latest Gut Health Articles, Probiotics

Good Bacteria, Bad Bacteria, and Probiotics. What’s It All About?

By Patricia ZelmEmmart | June 17, 2015

What is a Probiotic? What will they do for my health?

Probiotics is a Greek word that means “promoting life”. They are considered live microorganisms and when taken correctly will provide many health benefits. Most of the microorganisms are live bacteria, and when people hear the word bacteria their first thought is that it is bad bacteria. But that is not the case. In fact, to maintain optimal health, our bodies need a balance between good and bad bacteria within our digestive tract. Every one of us has more than 1,000 different types of bacteria roaming around in our digestive tracts waiting to break down the food we eat every day.

Are you experiencing any of the following health issues or symptoms?

Diarrhea
chronic fatigue syndrome
Muscle pain
Gluten Intolerance
Leaky gut
Irritable bowel syndrome
Crohn’s disease
Frequent indigestion
Eczema
Atopic dermatitis
Weight gain
Acne

Research shows that there are about 170 diseases that can be helped or treated by introducing probiotics into your system.

There are foods that naturally contain probiotics to assist in healing your health issues, however, for most people that is not enough or they choose not to include them in their diet. For others, it is just easier to take a probiotic supplement, which is shown to give great results. Each of these foods should also be unpasteurized to receive the full probiotic richness they offer. When the pasteurizing process occurs, it destroys the natural probiotics in the food and will not give health benefits.

Here are some prime examples to help you better understand probiotics:

Sauerkraut
Plain unflavored and unsweetened yogurt
Miso
Tempeh (fermented soy)
Pickles
Kombucha Tea
Fermented Vegetables (cabbage, eggplant, onions, cucumbers, squash, carrots, and turnips)

When it comes to probiotic supplements, there are other questions like: How many billions of microorganisms should each capsule contain? Is it better to purchase the refrigerated brands?

According to research, each capsule should contain at least 20 to 30 billion live microorganisms to offer beneficial properties to the body. With sophisticated technology these days most companies feel their probiotics do not need to be refrigerated, however if that makes you feel more comfortable feel free to do so. Many experts will say that no one single probiotic supplement will work for everyone and every health issue. So, if one brand is not helping your health issues be open to trying another one.

You can stay on top of new research as it becomes available as well as asking questions at your local natural food market, like Whole Foods. This will assist you in choosing the right probiotic for your specific health concerns, which will give you optimal health.

Digestive System, Latest Gut Health Articles

10 Surprising Facts Prove Gut Health is Vital

By Modi Ramos | June 17, 2015

When you think of your general health, there are usually the basic things that come to mind. While we may be consumed with the basics needed for good health, we can forget to pay special attention to something that is crucial for our overall well-being. Gut health. Although gut health can be easily overlooked, its needs are vital in making our bodies happy and balanced to achieve optimal function.

Our digestive system serves two main purposes for our body: to convert food into the nutrients that our body needs and to eliminate waste from it. Here are 10 surprising facts that prove gut health is vital, and just might get you thinking a little differently about its importance:

1. The Brain-Gut Connection:

Our gut is often referred to as our “second brain” and when there are issues affecting our gut it can in turn have a direct effect on our mood.

2. Simple is Better:

Foods with the fewest ingredients listed on its labels are the easiest for the human body to digest.

3. Risk of Cancer:

Colon cancer (also referred to as colorectal cancer) causes more cancer than any other area of the body, only second to lung cancer developed from cigarette smoking.

4. Keep Calm and Pass it On:

Being in a state of stress can lead to a number of digestive issues, such as: bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea or constipation.

5. Is Fresh Breath Worth It?:

Chewing gum tricks your digestive system into kick starting production. The act of chewing triggers stomach acid to overproduce and can leading to symptoms of bloating.

6. By Vast Majority:

There are 10 times more bacteria found in the human gut than all other cells in the human body.

7. An Antacid Dilemma?:

Taking popular antacids (such as Prilosec and Zantac) can actually cause harm as they disrupt the healthy stomach acid production levels in your stomach that are needed for proper digestion.

8. Healthy Gut, Happy Life:

Your gut is responsible for producing up to 95% of the serotonin found in your body, one of the leading neurotransmitters that generates your happy thoughts. Perhaps this is why the saying “trust your gut” originated!

9. Your Body’s Body Guard:

Approximately 80% of your immune system is located in your digestive system. Translation: a healthy gut is critical for a healthy body.

10. Gut Instinct is Only the Beginning:

Researchers have discovered that there is a direct correlation between mood disorders and gastrointestinal issues, some of which including: depression, anxiety, and obsessive compulsive disorder.