What do you think of when you hear the terms “leaky gut” and “food intolerance”? What symptoms would you associate with these conditions? Pause and reflect on this for a moment.
Often times when it comes to gut health we think specifically about symptoms associated with the gut: stomach pain, bloating, issues with bowel motility. And these would all be indications that something in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is off! But, more often than not, signs that we are experiencing a food intolerance or GI issue show up elsewhere in the body. So often, in fact, that it’s estimated that a staggering 75% of people don’t feel either food intolerances or dysbiosis (flora imbalance) in their gut. 75% of people are walking around with some level of leaky gut (I’d argue that that figure is higher) or some degree of food intolerance and don’t think anythings wrong with their gut health because they don’t experience specific GI-related symptoms. I used to be one of them. I personally struggled with chronic anxiety, IBS, and hypothyroidism for years. And it wasn’t until I understood that not only were they all related, but that they all stemmed from lifestyle choices contributing to my poor gut health, that I was able to begin to walk myself out of them. Which, over time, I did successfully.
Below is a chart outlining some of the ways that the body manifests food intolerances and/or gut dysbiosis outside of the intestinal tract:
So often we start to accept on or many of the above conditions as our “normal” when really they’re our body trying to alert us to something being off. And, more often than not, these conditions started in the gut. This isn’t to say that gut health is solely responsible for the above, but it’s without question that it plays a large role in both symptom and management of a range of conditions. Which means, then, that it’s crucial to do all that we can to foster a healthy environment in the intestinal tract if we want to begin to decrease or undo any of the above.
We’ll dive further into this during our live meeting on week 1 of the 21 Day Gut Reset course, but my hope is that the information above has started to paint a picture for you in terms of how gut function ties into whole body health. Our body wants to be well. Our body tells us, sometimes YELLS at us, when it’s not. All we have to do is listen, arm ourselves with and apply the correct tools and knowledge, and we can start to work our way back to optimal health.
If you want to dive into any of this before we meet, you can book a one-on-one coaching session with me by CLICKING HERE.
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