Toxins and the Gut - Volume 1

THE GUT
#1 Way to Heal the Body = Heal the Gut & Detoxify 
We need to talk about the basics today. The area no one talks about. And that is: How often do you poop? And why is this important you ask? If you are not having 3 solid bowel movements per day (and by this I mean one easy to pass log or snake in the toilet after each meal), then your gut is not healthy. Since all disease starts in the gut, then we need to look at this imbalance and change the course we are on.

What do I mean by the Gut? Well, the gut is the long tube that goes from your mouth to your anus. Where the food goes in to where the poop comes out. The digestive process is designed to break down your food into smaller, more manageable pieces for your body to take in.

We refer to the gut as “The Terrain.” A healthy gut means a healthy terrain. How healthy the gut is, is a direct reflection of how healthy the terrain, or microbiome. What is a microbiome? All the wonderfully beneficial bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms in the gut. But wait a minute…? Aren’t bacteria and viruses bad??? We were taught that, weren’t we?

Millions of bacteria and viruses are needed to create a healthy environment for your body to live and thrive. Many viruses actually help your body detoxify and clear out the newly developed environmental toxins that we are bombarded with on a daily basis.

How do we start healing the gut? Reduce chemicals and eat organic food. And maybe add in some supplementation to help jumpstart the healing process - we’ll get to that later.

GMO’S & CHEMICALS
The chemicals in conventionally grown animals, vegetables and fruit destroys the microbiome in the gut. Glyphosate, Bt toxins, and GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) are to blame.

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Round Up. It’s an herbicide. It is applied to plants and grasses to kill them. Glyphosate kills the good bacteria in the gut. Farmers use Round Up Ready Seeds that are genetically modified to withstand the toxic Glyphosate. Other genetically modified crops actually produce their own insecticides. Again, killing the good bacteria in the gut. BT Toxin is a bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) used as an insecticide. Once the bugs ingest it, the toxins from the bacteria poke holes in the gut of the insects which causes them to die. If this happens to the bugs, what is it doing to our guts?? Studies have shown the negative impact on microvilli health.

We are getting these detrimental chemicals from our fruits and veg, as well as the animal products we are consuming. Do you think USDA beef is fed organic grasses? Nope. They are fed GMO grains.

And then there is the stomach turning piece of these GMO foods, that they are injected with different types of viral strains that contain altered RNA, and this RNA translates into our DNA eventually, and as our DNA replicates, it gets altered. THE GMO FOODS ARE LITERALLY ALTERING OUR DNA. 

PROCESSED FOODS
The less a food has been altered, the closer it is to its original state, the healthier it is for the body because the body can recognize what it is. When the body doesn’t recognize something as a nutrient, it takes a lot of energy to clean up afterward. Each processing step of the altered foods brings it further and further away from the original, and it looks more and more like a non-food to the body.

So we need to eat REAL FOOD.

What is REAL FOOD?
Anything you buy in a can, box, or receive through a window is not real food. Go around the outside of the grocery store. Pick the organic veggies and fruits, the organic and pastured meats, the pastured butter. Only go down the aisles for the coconut oil and spices. Organic and Biodynamic food has 100-fold more intact vitamins, minerals and other nutrients than conventionally grown food. Did you now that? You would have to eat 12 bushels of conventional lettuce versus 1 plate or bowl of organic lettuce to equal the same amount of nutrients. You might get some fiber from that conventional salad, and a few trace nutrients. But that’s it. And we wonder why we are a sick nation!

This will involve cooking your own food. Learning how to cook. We are becoming sicker and sicker because we are not eating real food. Or we are eating food someone else cooked and it’s devoid of nutrients and filled with so many chemicals, that the body can barely recognize it.

Non-foods include: McDonalds & other fast food, Coney dogs, most restaurant foods, processed foods, packaged foods, dressings and condiments with labels you can’t read. I can’t believe it’s not butter?? That’s because it’s not. And there is nothing in that tub of rancid oils that is actually good for you. Occasionally you will find a Farm-to-Table restaurant that is getting their food locally, but ask the manager if they are purchasing all organic. The answer is typically no.
​
What to eat at each and every meal – protein, veggies, and fat:

• Organic protein: pastured beef, pastured chicken, organic nuts or nut butters, hemp seeds, etc
• Organic Vegetables: eat the entire rainbow every day, different colors have different antioxidants and nutrients. (½ to ¾ of your plate should be veg.)
• Organic Fats: Coconut oil, Pastured Butter, Organic olive oil (drizzled on, not cooked), avocado

Steer clear of canola and vegetable oil – bad for the heart and rancid by the time it arrives at the store.
​
If you would like a consultation on YOUR body and the nutrition it needs, book a New Client Wellness appointment HERE.
Stay tuned for our next installment of “Toxins and the Gut” where we talk about disease.