Why is eating healthy foods so important?
Our gut health is incredibly important to the health of the rest of our body. When we eat a nutrient rich meal, our gut’s job is to absorb the healthy molecules and nutrients that come from these foods. These nutrients help nourish the rest of our body and tissues, one of the most important being the brain. Our brain constantly depends on a supply of blood filled with rich nutrients that will help it grow and keep working as hard as it can for us. Because our brain works 24/7 a day, we need to make sure that it is nourished as well as it can be and most importantly in the healthiest way possible.
What foods should I avoid if I have not been feeling well?
Every single person is different and because of that, we want to emphasize that these are general statements that you can take with you and ask your doctors questions if you have that arise. At our office, we work with a lot of patients that have gut health issues. Whether that be Chron disease, Celiac Disease, leaky gut syndrome, and many others; we typically will give the same dietary restrictions in the first few months to see if there are any changes with the patients gut health. These are the foods that we have found to be some of the main contributors to their problems and quite frequently when eliminated make the biggest change in the health of the individual.
Gluten
Gluten is found to be one of the biggest troublemaker foods when it comes to our gut. Those who have eaten gluten their whole lives may sometimes not realize that it can be inadvertently causing issues within the gut. Because the symptoms of gluten intolerance or sensitivity do not show in the most outward and blunt of ways, it might be hard to realize that what you are feeling is being caused by a gluten sensitivity/intolerance. Those who are sensitive to gluten might feel bloated, light-headed, brain fog, or have cramps in the stomach without any cause. The proteins found in gluten can be particularly hard for our body to digest and there are many who cannot tolerate it as well as others so many people in America today are struggling with some form of gluten intolerance or sensitivity and not realize it just yet.
Dairy
Dairy is also another big troublemaker food. Right up there with gluten, our bodies can have a particularly hard time digesting dairy and breaking it down. We know of many people who have lactose intolerance, meaning that their body does not produce the enzyme, or produce as much of the enzyme necessary to help break down dairy. Lactose intolerance essentially implies that some people are more tolerant of lactose than others. Nevertheless, even those that do not have lactose intolerance can still have a hard time breaking down dairy and digesting it properly. For this reason, it is another main contributor for many of the symptoms people feel when they have bloating and pain in their stomach.
I have been eating these foods all my life and have not noticed problem. Why do I need to change something?
A lot of times we do not realize there is a problem until a doctor and a health professional points it out. More so, a lot of the symptoms we get from eating these troublemaker foods are not enough to hinder us from living our day to day lives. While we might feel bloating and pain in our stomach and even brain fog here and there, it might not be enough to really make us pause and question why we are feeling this way. These issues can be going on our whole lives to the point where we are used to them, so we might not feel it is necessary to fix them. But for those that have been struggling with these issues for a while, they might feel like it’s the time to fix it now. While they might not be the biggest and most painful symptoms, over time the accumulation of all these feelings might be enough for you to want to do something to help it. Call us today for a free consultation, we are happy to answer your questions!
