When you are plagued with headaches, sleeplessness, bloating and depression, doctors often offer you a one-size-fits-all solution. Antidepressants, sleeping pills and aspirin are prescribed to solve any symptom.
However, these treatments only mask the symptoms and give no consideration to the cause. They do not treat each person’s unique biochemistry and makeup, and they do not investigate why you are feeling the way you are.
Pills don’t address the root of the issue, but only cover up the symptoms. If you want to learn to address the problem, it starts with your gut.
What is Impaired Digestion
Most illnesses, like leaky gut syndrome, begin with the breakdown of our gut microbiome. Your digestion becomes impaired through stress and poor lifestyle choices. These include alcohol consumption, bad eating habits, and lack of exercise and sleep. When your gut becomes impaired, inflammation travels throughout the body. This can cause dangerous inflammatory diseases.
This can lead to chronic inflammatory symptoms such as:
- Bloating
- Acid reflux/ heart burn
- Sinus issues
- Skin disorders
- Gas
- Sleeplessness
- Nausea
- Headaches
- Difficulty losing/gaining weight
- Depression
- Fatigue
- Joint pain
- Food cravings
A constant state of stress can cause chronic inflammation, which can lead to serious inflammatory diseases.
Neurological diseases, like Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis are also linked to the breakdown in the gut.
Healing the Gut
Healing your gut deals with every part of your body, from your mind to your stomach. Here are a few examples of good practices:
- Exercise – A powerful anti-inflammatory in the long run, gentle mind-body exercises, like yoga, can help improve inflammatory symptoms.
- Diet – Processed foods like fast food, white bread, chips and soda can cause bloating, weight gain, fatigue, heart burn and more. Instead, eat a balanced diet of fresh vegetables, fruits and a good source of protein. Just as important as what foods you eat, is where the food came from. The source of the food you eat is critical. Genetically modified foods can introduce harmful chemicals and pathogens into your body.
- Meditation – Modifying the way you think and approach stress can heal your mind, body and spirit. As your anxiety lessens, your digestion symptoms will also lessen. Meditation teaches you to listen to your gut and your body’s individual needs.
Jan Overbay is a nutritional health and wellness coach Reno who focuses on living with a healthy gut and healing inflammatory diseases. Jan is passionate about sharing what she has learned from her personal journey as well as working with her clients.
As Hippocrates said over 1000 years ago, “ All disease and illness begin in the gut.” To learn more about the connection between the gut and your health, join Jan for a class on digestion.