In my previous posts regarding the stress response I mentioned how damaging stress was to our health and well-being in general and to the digestive system more specifically. The takeaway was that we need to learn to turn off the stress response as best we can … using Self-Regulation strategies … and repair the gut.
This post and the related links offer convincing information for the need and value of repairing the gut lining and the microbiota.
Effective & Safe Options to Drugs
It’s interesting to me that a mainstream scientific publication like the journal Nature and an almost mainstream media outlet like NPR are sharing research about the value of treating brain, mood, and mental issues with gut flora rather than with pharmaceuticals … and it’s about time.
The implication is that the prescription for Prozac or Klonopin could be replaced with a yogurt or a fermented staple like sauerkraut. This is an oversimplification, yet the premise of balancing the flora in the gut to treat mood and related issues is gaining scientific support.
The gut flora, or microbiota, influence our brain chemistry and mood in a variety of ways. The majority of your neurotransmitters are formed in your gut and so is 70% of your immune system.
We’re empowered to care for ourselves more proactively when we realize that a substantial part of what influences our immune system, mood, and cognitive ability lives in our gut and can be supported by how we live and what we eat.
You and Your Gut Microbes Live as One
You and your gut play host to microbes that outnumber the cells in your body by 10 to 1. The genetic material contributed by those gut microbes is 100 times greater than your cellular DNA. The microbiota is crucial to your overall health and well-being and is particularly vulnerable to many modern influences.
What’s important to realize is that damage to the microbiota from stress, prescribed antibiotics and hormones, hormones and antibiotics from food, excess sugars and carbohydrates, gluten, GMO’s, artificial sweeteners, chlorinated water, and the pesticide roundup can dramatically and negatively influence your health.
In the next post I’ll offer specifics for repairing your gut flora through diet and supplementation. For now, you’ll be doing yourself a favor to do your best to avoid the damaging influences that were just mentioned above … and routinely take a high quality probiotic.
Steven Templin, D.O.M., Dipl. Ac. offers a comprehensive mind-body program for addressing the underlying inflammation, toxicities, and stress-induced causes of most pain and illness.
He places special emphasis on resolving the stress response and repairing adrenal gland and digestive system function to address the roots of many common and often difficult to treat illnesses.
He translates emerging research in the fields of Epigenetics, Energy Psychology, and Functional Nutrition into effective practices that you can perform at home.
You can work with Dr. Templin online, or in his Lakeland, Florida office at the Natural Medicine Center. He can be reached at 863-838-2779. You can visit his website at www.stevetemplin.com and contact him via email at drtemplin@gmail.com.
Steve is a retired Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture Physician, and HeartMath Trauma-Sensitive Certified Practitioner with over 35 years of clinical experience in Energy Medicine, Energy Psychology, and Biofeedback.