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What you should know about gut health

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The gut is often seen by health professionals as a “window to your overall health.”

This means that poor gut health can present itself in many different aspects of life, and can potentially become a chronic problem. In fact, Luke Clews of Kingston Natural Therapies says poor gut health is one of the most common patient complaints at his clinic.

“Our gut health can so easily be thrown out of whack if we are eating the wrong foods or not exercising,” Luke says.

“We get a lot of patients who have had chronic problems for years such as bloating, indigestion, constipation or irritable bowel syndrome, which can create broader issues including fatigue or nausea.”

We asked Luke for more information on the causes and treatments of poor gut health…

What are the main causes of poor gut health? 

Luke: There are many potential causes, but they fit mainly into three categories: Poor diet, stress or anxiety and imbalances in gut flora.

Poor dietary choices include (but aren’t limited to) things like excessive intake of sugars, refined carbohydrates, alcohol and highly processed foods. These can feed unhealthy microbes and irritate the lining of the intestines. Basically, we need to make sure we’re eating a majority of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Stress also affects your gut in several ways; it compromises digestive secretions (think stomach acid and digestive enzymes), alters motility (the rate at which we digest our food) and suppresses appetite. This last point is pretty important because if we’re working at a great rate, we probably need good foods more than ever.

A healthy balance of microbes in our gut is crucial and can be influenced by diet, antibiotic usage and the oral contraceptive pill (or other long term medications). So it’s definitely a complex situation and yet simple to rectify.

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Eating enough vegetables can play a key role in good gut health.

What are some examples of symptoms?  

Luke: We’d be looking for symptoms like indigestion or reflux, nausea, bloating, pain or discomfort in the belly and constipation or diarrhoea.

Some patients have quite obvious symptoms, but we also see patients that have become so used to them that they consider them “normal”, even though regular loose stools or bloating is generally considered to be an indication of dysfunction.

What are the most common gut health issues that you see in your patients? 

Luke: Many will arrive complaining of vague symptoms but we also regularly see people with diagnoses of IBS, Crohn’s disease, diverticulitis and GORD (reflux).

How common is poor gut health? 

Luke: Very. Given that these are problems that can be driven by a wide variety of common triggers, I would say that 80 per cent of our patients either present with gut health as their primary concern or they have some of the symptoms above.

However, time for the good news: digestive difficulties are usually very straightforward to treat with naturopathy.

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Experts believe easing stress can also play a part in good gut health.

What are some of the treatments you offer? 

Luke: Well, we need to do the basics well: a nutrient-rich diet that is easily digestible and doesn’t contain large amounts of processed, additive-ridden food. We gently stimulate digestion with some herbs and we repair any damage to the lining of the gut. This means that our lovely, nutritious diet is actually absorbed and is used by our bodies.

Of course, if other contributing factors (such as stress) are active, we can integrate its management into a well-rounded treatment regime.

How can these treatments improve quality of life? 

Luke: I’ve had patients who were literally scared to eat because they knew it would involve discomfort and sometimes pain. There are many people who walk in here with severely restricted diets that bore them to tears but are necessary to avoid flare-ups of gut (and other) symptoms: people who are fatigued, people who can’t lose weight, people with skin conditions, you name it.

Your digestion is the core of your health. If you don’t digest your nutrients, your body can’t make new tissue, repair damage or resolve inflammation. It’s that simple. The nice thing is that once your gut is back to good health you’ll likely be able to eat a wider variety of foods with much less worry about them coming back to bite you.

As well as gut health, Kingston Natural Therapies’ services include anxiety, fatigue, arthritis, migraines, allergies, blood sugar problems, menopause, acne and more. Find more information here. 

This is a sponsored post but all opinions are the author’s own. For more information about our sponsored post policy, click here. 

The information provided in this article is provided for information purposes only. You should seek assistance from a health care professional when interpreting these materials and applying them to your individual circumstances. If you have any concerns about your health, consult your general practitioner. Information provided in this article does not imply endorsement of third-party services or products and cannot provide you with health and medical advice.

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