The road to good health begins in your ‘gut'

[Celebration]

http://www.gjfreepress.com/article/20110422/HEALTH/110429975/1001&parentprofile=1059

Incredulous, yet inquisitive, is the look I often get when I tell my patients we must heal their gut before their disease will heal.

At first blush it makes little sense what a bunch of bacteria and the intestine have to do with autoimmune diseases, urinary infections, sinus infections, bronchitis, asthma, allergies and many types of skin rashes. But it's true that the interaction of a healthy gut with our immune system is the cause, and the cure, for many common ailments.

Consider first that the largest part of the immune system surrounds the gut. The “gut associated lymphoid tissue” (GALT) provides about 80% of the infection fighting white blood cells called lymphocytes. This lymphocyte arsenal includes immune system controllers called T cells, antibody producing B cells, and stealth defenders called natural killer cells.

Second, there are over a trillion bacteria that live in our intestinal tract — more than all the cells in our body — and these bacteria have evolved with us over the eons. They are not just passengers on this journey through life, but rather they are active participants in our overall health. They depend on certain nutrients and behaviors that have been forged over thousands of years. If we do right by them, they will support and modulate our immune system, defend against infections, help break down our food, generate essential vitamins, metabolize hormones and bile acids, supply the intestine with energy, and stimulate the normal motility of the intestine.

The normal functioning gut wall “teaches” the immune system how to behave, and the system is profoundly influenced by what is in the gut and what gets through the gut wall. A normal immune system simply relies on a normal gut. It starts at birth with the “inoculation” of bacteria during passage through the birth canal and is further supported through breast-feeding

[yellerpup]

1. Everyone should know about this.

Also, GMO foods will have a long term effect on our digestive system. We don't know yet what that will be, but I hope 20 years from now we don't find out (like we did about hormone replacement therapy) that it causes fatal illness. :kick: & Rec.

[SPedigrees]

4. HRT does not cause fatal illness.

There is a miniscule increase in risk of breast cancer. (Estrogen does not *cause* cancer, but it will feed cancer cells if they are estrogen driven cells.) And this risk is balanced by a protective effect against osteoporosis which disables more women than cancer. Also if the WHO trial had not been flawed, HRT would have demonstrated significant protection against heart disease.

[Gregorian]

2. Why would someone unrecommend this? Is it controversial?

I'm curious, because it sounds legitimate.

[Celebration]

7. It is legitimate

People will unrecommend any and everything.

There is some recent research that says that taking probiotics substantially reduces the incidence of diabetes in pregnancy.

http://www.nutritionaloutlook.com/news/probiotics-may-reduce-diabetes-risk-during-pregnancy

[monmouth]

3. My mother gave us Phillips Milk of Magnesia every Friday night.

She came from the depression era, I think food was not as clean as it could have been but if you cleaned the body out the chances of illness lessened. This is a great article and makes perfect sense.

[bleever]

5. Maybe Ayn Rand meant, "How is John's GALT?"

Woulda made more sense.

[truedelphi]

6. I am someone who was scheduled for surgery due to diverticulitis.

My husband bought a book about healthy food stuffs that heal diseases, so I could read the chapter about vitaligo.

Instead, the book opened up at the page where the author discussed how acidophillus can cure diverticulitis.

Since the "cure" cost a mere $ 14 at the local health food store, I was willing to try it.

Within three days, I knew something good was happenening to me. A the end of two weeks, I felt like a normal person again. Surgery was cancelled, and I now highly recommend anyone whose stomach and digestion seems a bit "off, to start using acidophillus. (If you have diverticulitis, you'll need to do twice the recommended dose on the bottle. For at least two weeks. Then go to a normal dose for next four to five months.)

[Zoigal]

9. Thanks for this tip. Am going to see if it works for me.....z

[truedelphi]

12. I think one of the reasons that it worked for me is that

In addition to the properties that acidophillus holds and uses to work to rebuild intestinal flora inside the gut, is that I was so ill that I wasn't eating or drinking anything.

Especially not coffee.

Coffee is very acidic and for this cure to work really well, hold off on coffee useage. At least, avoid having it as the first thing in the morning.
And try to get by on less than a full cup. (Until two weeks down the line when you can start going back to normal everyday habits.)

Often they don't even tell a person that the surgery for diverticulitis can be needed repeatedly during the person's lifetime. And that sometimes, after the surgery, the patient ends up using a colostomy bag for life!

[cilla4progress]

8. Profoundly TRUE!

I started tuning in to talk about probiotics last fall. My teenage daughter had "suffered" from years of antibiotics prescriptions - typical routine treatment for childhood ear and other rhino infections, and I'd had my share, as well. Every winter she had at least 2 bad colds, and even during the summer. Miserable...though oh so common.

This year I decided to try KEFIR - a soured / cultured milk drink considered a liquid form of yogurt - a better natural probiotic even than yogurt. I bought actual Kefir grains from a woman at my local health food store, and we have been making smoothies all winter.

Guess what.... NO COLDS OR FLUS ALL SEASON! NONE of us in the family! A stomach bug went around my office at work; I had a stomach ache that night, and since I never get stomach aches, I knew it was the bug at work. I never actually got sick with the virus.

I can't say enough about taking care of the gut, using probiotics, and feeding those good bugs there.

I think acidopholus is similar, by the way.

[Celebration]

10. I have a friend who uses kefir

She was starting to get a whole lot of high blood sugar readings, and she completely turned it around by paying attention to her gut ecology.

[cilla4progress]

11. Cool!

I do have issues with prehypertension AND high LDL cholesterol (though my "good" HDL is also high...). Hopefully the Kefir will help with that?!

[IcyPeas]

13. just read this and wanted to give it a kick.

the things we'll never find out from doctors, eh?