I so wish I had said this first, but Hippo got the jump on me. He was born in 460 BC and is the father of modern medicine.
Ever heard of the Hippocratic Oath that all doctors take? I think Hippocrates would be very disappointed to see where we have ended up. His focus on the gut as the major cause of disease seems to have got lost along the way.
Here are some interesting facts about the gut:
- 1 out of 10 cases of mental illness is directly related to the function of the gut.
- Most skin conditions start in the gut.
- Many headaches start with the gut.
- Over 80% of the immune system is in the gut.
- Many auto immune diseases start in the gut
- All overweight issues start in the gut
- Most diseases start with gut issues.
How do you know if your gut is working properly? All you have to do is ask your body. Do you get bloated after eating? Is there excessive gas (burping and the other?) Do you suffer from constipation or diarrhoea? Do you have reflux? Do you get pain or little warning when you just have to go? Do you have food allergies and would you know if you did? Do you have persistent headaches? Are you depressed? Is your immune system compromised? And on it goes.
Your gut performs many functions. It processes about 25 tons of food in a lifetime; it makes more immune responses in a day than the rest of the immune system does in a lifetime; it produces key nutrients; it is the prime site of detoxifications and it makes 80% your happy chemicals; but only if it is working well.
The gut is complex. Our ancestors did not have to worry about how their gut was working, because of their natural diet and lifestyle. Unfortunately today we eat processed foods, ingest chemicals, not take in sufficient nutrients and have poor eating habits. The result is poor digestion and assimilation of food, not getting the right nutrients, fostering gut bacteria imbalance, insufficient stomach acid and digestive enzymes, and parasites and fungal infections. These things are the building blocks for chronic disease.
Unfortunately we cannot see what is going on in our gut, so we ignore it. The great thing about the body is that it soldiers on, doing the best it can. It whispers messages, that things are not right, but most of us just pop another anti acid, laxatives, anti-depressant or drug of choice. It is not until the whisper turns into a scream that we are forced to take notice.