12 Oct Healing the Gut
(Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash)
Fantastic information on gut health from Chris Wark, a 10 year colon cancer survivor using all natural healing methods. Feeding the ‘good bacterial colony’ in the gut is a major game changer in physical, mental and emotional health. Science backs this up, and Chris has a great handle on it. I’ll summarize below, but watch his short video (~ 15 minutes) for a fuller presentation.
Unhealthy gut flora = Overgrowth of ‘bad’ bacteria
What creates this: too much meat and dairy, fat, junk food, & processed foods, anti-biotics.
Here are 6 suggestions from Chris to restore a healthy gut:
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- Eat a wide variety of Fruits, vegetables, and starches (read “The Starch Solution” by John McDougall, MD)
- 3 to 5 day water fast. If you are healthy, you can do this unsupervised, otherwise the disclaimer is to do this under supervision Repairs and rebuilds because you give your digestive system a break. Probably not a good idea if you are very thin. Stimulates production of new immune cells
- Supplementing with Aloe gel (suggests between 8 and 24 oz of aloe gel a day)
- Fermented foods like (real) sauerkraut and kimchee, & Apple cider vinegar (2T in a glass of water daily). This re-populates the good bacteria. No, to yogurt and dairy kefir. Kombucha ok, but if you are sick probably not a good idea because it does have a lot of sugar.
- Glutamine as a supplement. He recommends Glutamine Forte which also has curcumin in it.
- Probiotics as a supplement. There are many on the market. Probably a lot of good ones, but the one Chris likes is by Metagenics, Ultra Flora Spectrum.
Health starts in your gut. It also has been shown to affect brain chemistry so you can improve anxiety and depression as a bonus.