Repair first?
When we’re thinking about building, maintaining and repairing gut health, the repair work has to come first. Let’s not treat the symptoms just yet, but the root cause first. And digestive symptoms are arising because the internal environment of the gut isn’t optimal and this may have caused some damage.
Also, when we talk about the gut we shouldn’t just think about the gut, we need to think about earlier digestive processes to really achieve that healing.
First, let's consider the stomach. We need strong stomach acid, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, your stomach acid breaks down the food you eat well, so that your respond well to the food particles and your immune system doesn’t get all hyped up, it ensures you are able to absorb all the key nutrients which can only happen properly if they are release from the matrix of the food, so broken down properly, and it helps to keep bad bugs at bay as well which is really crucial, your stomach acid is an important line of defence again pathogens.
But, taking a step back from that again, and going even earlier, we need processes in the mouth to be working properly.
By chewing properly, tasting tastes, especially bitter tastes, this helps to prime the stomach and stimulate the release of gastric juices. So, once you’ve got the basics right in terms of what you can do to encourage the right physiology, we can start putting some extra steps in place.
To help with any residual repair work I often recommend starting with Silicol Gel. This is particularly soothing, it helps to protect the lining of the gut whilst it heals, but also helps to adsorb and excrete any pathogens or noxious gases. Then, make sure you’re getting good dietary protein in, rich in amino acids which can help to assist in the repair work (l-glutamine is a popular one to supplement on) collagen, also rich in essential amino acids), and vitamin C which is an important precursor to your natural collagen production.
Next, build.
Then we want to build digestive strength – I’ve talked about those good eating mechanics, starting at the first steps of digestion and working down; plus, good posture, relaxing when eating - these steps all switch on your rest and digest mode, and then add in some digestive bitters as an extra step.
The strong bitter taste sensations in the mouth are gently stimulating for digestion, and you can take this consistently, 3 times daily, 5-10 minutes before meals for best results.
And finally, maintenance
Keep up with the bitters, I like Centaurium or Yarrow, but there are different options out there, and then you can think about your prebiotics and probiotics options.
I like to add Molkosan Fruit which is a source of L+ lactic acid. Prebiotics exist naturally within many plant based foods, so get a nice variety in there, and then when it comes to probiotics, get in a variety of fermented foods and brands like Optibac or Symprove can also be nice options if you want to introduce a higher dose of the healthy gut bacteria.
