Best Essential Oils For Gut Health And Digestive Problems
In the words of great Greek physician Hippocrates, All disease begins in the gut.
Health experts believe that our digestive tract is home to more than 500 different species of bacteria. Gut bacteria are spread throughout your digestive tract, colon, intestines, etc. These are vital for proper digestion, immune system, metabolism, and holistic well-being.
These tiny microorganisms, viruses, and fungi create unique micro-biota inside your stomach. A poor choice of diet, unhealthy lifestyle, stress, exposure to toxin elements, etc., can damage your gut health in no time. Poor gut health can make some bacteria turn against the body and give you a tough time.
Some common stomach disorders you may suffer from are acid reflux or heartburn, GERD, leaky Gut, IBS, IBD, diarrhea, bloating, gas, stomach pain, etc. Health experts claim that poor gut health may increase the risk of severe medical conditions such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes type 2, Crohns disease, ulcerative colitis, colon cancer, autism, extreme stress, depression, anxiety, and arthritis.
Clinical and anecdotal data suggest that using essential oils for gut health can naturally relieve much of stomach problems. Essential oils can encourage good bacteria to flourish inside the stomach and eliminate harmful ones.
This article reviews the efficacy and uses of essential oils for gut health.
Morphology Of The Jejunum
Morphology is a good indicator of the status of the intestine . As shown in Figure 1, although no significant differences were observed in villus width, crypt depth, and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth between different treatments , the villus height of the OEO-treated pigs was significantly higher than that of the control . As shown in Figure 2, the villi were scattered and seriously desquamated in the jejunum of the control group, while higher and intact villi were observed in the jejunum of OEO-treated pigs.
Effect of OEO on jejunum morphology in pig. The jejunum was cut off and fixed in 10% formaldehyde-phosphate buffer and then stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Hematoxylin and eosin staining with original magnification ×100. Bars represent 200m.
Repair Intestinal Mucosa To Heal And Seal The Gut
To heal and seal the gut, it is important to reduce gut inflammation.
This often includes a diet that eliminates inflammatory foods, like grains and dairy and adds in healing foods and probiotics. An important addition to this protocol is to consider healing the intestinal mucosal lining as it helps provide the ideal internal environment to balance of flora and feed the cells of the intestinal lining, known as enterocytes.
Healthy Intestinal Mucosa helps to re-establish the healthy balance of gut flora necessary to re-colonize and heal the gut! Think of the intestinal mucosa offers the fertile soil in which the flora can grow, providing raw materials for healthy new enterocytes to grow, replacing compromised leaky gut cells and healing and sealing the gut lining.
Interestingly, Natasha Campbell-McBride notes that the blood-brain barrier is made out of the same cells and flora as the gut wall and the blood-brain barrier also renews itself all the time.
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Lemon Balm Oil For Gerd
Acid reflux or GERD is caused when someone has a low pH in their gut biome. Lemon essential oil is naturally alkaline. Therefore, mixing some in with a glass of water can help balance out pH levels in your system.
Instead of opting for lemon juice for this remedy, stick with this better alternative. Essential oils dont contain citric acid. Concentrated juices in grocery stores add this black mold-based product as a preservative.
Do note, that lemon essential oil may exasperate some cases of heartburn. Remember, were all unique! If that is the case, opt for a cooling essential oil like spearmint or peppermint oil.
When Can People Expect To Notice Changes In Their Gut Health And What Else Can They Do To Help Improve Their Symptoms
Within minutes. For people suffering pain, gas and bloating, symptoms can start to decrease within days and even hours of using essential oils. Although there are no peer-reviewed reports of people being “cured” of leaky gut at the hand of essential oil therapy, there are an increasing number of people online who claim that it has.
Essential oils are fantastic remedies, but are not end-all magic cures. Leaky gut is a complicated disease that requires significant lifestyle changes, and people that are determined to overcome it holistically need to focus on:
- Eliminating all inflammatory foods like sugar, grains, dairy and processed foods
- Regular exercise according to their body type personality
- Stress-reduction techniques like Tai Chi, prayer and meditation
- Incorporate a diet full of probiotic-rich, fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, and kvass
At the end of the day, people that utilize aromatherapy, but don’t change other key lifestyle habits are taking 1-step forward and 2 steps back.
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Leaky Gut Diet Foods To Avoid
What foods should you avoid if you have leaky gut syndrome? Its essential to avoid or greatly limit allergens and inflammatory foods when following a leaky gut diet.
Foods/ingredients to avoid include:
- Unsprouted grains, especially those containing gluten note that sprouting and fermenting grains reduces phytates and lectins, making these foods easier to digest
- Processed foods made with added sugar
- Processed foods made with synthetic food additives
- Conventional dairy products
- Heavy alcohol use
Essential Oils To Treat A Leaky Gut
Before using any essential oils, it is critical that you know how to use them correctly. Be sure to use high-quality oils before beginning any course of treatment, and use them with proper medical instruction. Typically, essential oils are used for aromatherapy, but some can be applied topically, and a few can be ingested. But again, think of them like medication. Get medical advice before using any essential oils for treatment.
Many people with gut health concerns find that using essential oils can help in the following ways:
- Destroying harmful pathogens
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The Expression Of Barrier Tight Junction Proteins In The Jejunum
To determine the effects of OEO supplementation on the intestinal mucosal tight junction, the expression of occludin and zonula occludens-1 was measured at mRNA and protein level. As shown in Figure 4, the mRNA levels of occludin and ZO-1 were significantly higher in the OEO-treated pigs than in the control group . Similarly, OEO supplementation also increased the abundance of occludin and ZO-1 protein in the jejunum.
Effect of OEO on the ZO-1 and occludin levels in the jejunum of pig. ZO-1 mRNA level, occludin mRNA level, ZO-1 protein level, and occludin protein level. Expression of the selected genes was quantified by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. Equal loading was assessed by -actin immunoblotting. Values are means ± SEM, n = 6. Significantly different from the control group. Significantly different from the control group. ZO-1, zonula occludens-1.
What Are Some Ways That People Can Incorporate These Oils Into Their Everyday Lifestyles
Essential oils are volatile organic compounds that are extracted from the bark, stems, leaves, flowers and roots of plants primarily by steam distillation and cold pressing. Traditionally, there are three primary ways to use oils and each technique provides a cornucopia of benefits as essential oils.
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How To Use Oregano Oil
Oregano oil extract is widely available in capsule and tablet form. It can be bought from most health food shops or online.
Because the strength of oregano supplements can vary, its important to read the directions on the individual packet for instructions on how to use the product.
Oregano essential oil is also available and can be diluted with a carrier oil and applied topically. Note that no essential oil should be ingested.
Theres no standard effective dose of oregano essential oil. However, its often mixed with around 1 teaspoon of olive oil per drop of oregano essential oil and applied directly to the skin.
Like other essential oils, keep in mind that oregano essential oil should not be consumed orally.
If youre interested in taking oregano oil extract but currently taking prescription medications, make sure to consult your healthcare provider before adding it to your regimen.
In addition, oregano oil extract is not generally recommended for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
SUMMARY
Oregano oil extract can be purchased in pill or capsule form and taken orally. Oregano essential oil is also available and can be diluted with a carrier oil and applied to the skin.
Looking At Essential Oils For Gut Health
Healing your gut requires major change in eating habits and lifestyle changes. No more soda every day with your Big Mac & Chips at lunch! You should limit white sugar, look into low FODMAP diets and eat more probiotics like kefir, kombucha, probiotic supplements, yogurt and others.
Essential oils, meanwhile, can also be used as supportive tools to heal your gut naturally. They are highly concentrated liquid plant extracts obtained from the aromatic parts of parts. These precious liquids have been found to be effective in improving gut health and managing leaky gut. How? By:
- Reducing inflammation when taken internally *Not all essential oils can be taken internally
- Repairing the gut walls
- Harmonizing with the beneficial bacteria in the gut
- Improve digestive processes
- 4 oz amber glass dropper bottle
Directions
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When To Use Essential Oil For Gut Health
Now that weve talked about essential oils for gut health and oils that can help to heal the gut, we can walk through ways to use DIY essential oil blends for digestive issues. There are dozens of oils and countless blends out there, but a few are especially beneficial for the gut, with several approaches for application and use.
An essential oil is the volatile component of the plant, meaning they are released quickly and evaporate just as fast. This little botany tidbit can help you remember that they work especially well for quick results situations.
In other words, most essential oils are helpful for fast-acting results, such as symptom relief and antimicrobial effects.
This kind of effect matches well with gut health concerns and is amplified as part of a multipronged approach to healing the gut. Diet and lifestyle changes are imperative, and its often worth working with a holistic healthcare professional to maximize your natural efforts using essential oils.
Other Supplements For Leaky Gut
In addition to these, a number of other supplements, herbs, and oils can be beneficial in supporting gut health. Some of these include quercetin, N-acetyl glucosamine, caprylic acid, ginger, curcumin , and vitamin D.
How do you know which supplements and essential oils are best for your gut specifically? Consider consulting with a practitioner to help you answer that question. Practitioners that use ZYTO can scan digital signatures representing these substances and many more. Additionally, the Digestion Biosurvey in particular can be very effective in helping you improve gut health.
AboutSeth MorrisSeth Morris is an experienced article writer with a background in marketing, Web content creation, and health research. In addition to writing and editing content for the ZYTO website and blog, he has written hundreds of articles for various websites on topics such as holistic wellness, health technology, and Internet marketing. Seth has earned Bachelors Degrees in Business Management as well as Literary Studies.
1. Elkaim, Uri. Leaky Gut: What It Is and How to Heal It. US News & World Report. Health.usnews.com.
2. Lamprecht, M., S. Bognar, G. Schippinger, K. Steinbauer, F. Fankhouser, S. Hallstroem, B. Schuetz, & J. Greilburger. Probiotic supplementation
affects markers of intestinal barrrier Journal of the Intl Society of Sports Nutrition 9, No. 45 .
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How Intestinal Mucosa Gets Damaged
The following factors may contribute to inflammation that damages the intestinal mucosa:
- Stress which can change the Ph level in your intestines
- Poor Diet can contribute to food allergies or sensitivities
- Use of antibiotics
- Dysbiosis, or an imbalance gut flora that results in an overgrowth of bugs, bacteria, mold, fungus, yeast and/or parasites. This imbalance causes food to ferment in the intestines instead of being digested, creating gas and bloating.
- Environmental toxins, like heavy metals and glyphosate
- Gut inflammation from food allergies, undigested food, parasites or infections can compromise these tight junctions, leading to increased permeability and allowing harmful pathogens or undigested food to leak into the body.
How To Reduce Inflammation With Essential Oils
Inflammation is a natural defense mechanism designed to protect the body from infection and injury and repair damaged tissue. It allows for an increase in blood flow, bringing fluid, proteins, and white blood cells to the damaged tissue so it can heal. The increased blood supply results in redness, swelling and heat. Pain and immobility also protect the area and facilitate healing.
That said, chronic or prolonged inflammation and immune response cycle left unchecked over time, like that in the gut, can spread elsewhere in the body contributing to health challenges including:
Inflammation is also an immune response and causes even more stress on your system. If your body is focused on fighting the large war, the little battles get ignored, like filtering out the blood, calming inflamed areas of the body, fighting bacteria, regulating the gut, creating an easy tipping point to auto immunity. In the same vein, if you can heal inflammation at its root in the gut you can heal it elsewhere in the body.
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Healing The Gut With Essential Oils
Gut health plays a critical role in your ability to not only digest nutrients, but anti-inflame, detoxify and heal your body. Your gut is the main doorway into the body. It is the channel for both healing nutrients to be absorbed and pathogens to be blocked. If this doorway isnt working properly, the good things that you need for your body to heal are not properly assimilated and the bad things that you do not want in your system are not blocked from entry.
Gut infections and inflammation can set the stage for chronic systemic inflammation which contributes to many chronic health conditions, including food allergies, eczema, autism, ADD/ADHD, Sensory Processing Issues, IBS, asthma, celiac disease, diabetes, and auto immunity.
Fortunately, if you can identify early warning symptoms and heal the gut before any serious complications arise, you can often avoid larger problems. The following symptoms often correlate with gut inflammation:
The Leaky Gut Diet And Treatment Plan Including Top Gut Foods
Leaky gut syndrome is a condition thats thought to affect millions of people, many of whom dont even know it. The good news is following a leaky gut diet can help overcome this condition.
From the sound of it, you might think leaky gut syndrome only impacts digestive health, but in reality it can lead to many other health conditions. For example, according to recent research, the cause of your food allergies, fatigue, joint pain, thyroid disease and autoimmune conditions may be a leaky gut.
What is the fastest way to treat leaky gut? Following a healing leaky gut syndrome diet is one of the best strategies for getting your body back on track.
In this article, I outline specifically how a leaky gut diet works, so you can break through some of the stubborn health problems youve been struggling with.
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In A Nutshell What Is Leaky Gut
Scientists define leaky gut as a malfunction of the intestinal tract junctions within the epithelial lining of the gut. This is why it’s commonly referred to as “intestinal permeability.” Essentially, the gut is lined with a single layer of cells that act as a physical barrier protecting the body from harmful pathogens, undigested food particles and toxins. When this barrier gets broken down it becomes “permeable”, which means that particles that normally don’t pass through can, and often do so. When this happens, they enter the bloodstream and a whole slew of problems ensue.
Endotoxin Levels In The Serum
Endotoxin level is a useful biomarker for evaluating the integrity of the gastrointestinal tract . The effects of OEO supplementation on endotoxin level in the serum of pigs are shown in Figure 3. The OEO-treated pigs showed a significantly lower concentration of endotoxin in the serum than the control.
Effect of OEO on endotoxin levels in the serum of pig. Values are means ± SEM, n = 6. Significantly different from the control group.
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Leaky Gut Or Damaged Intestinal Mucosa
When the intestinal mucosa is damaged it can then throw off the healthy balance of gut flora, leading to inflammation in the gut. This inflammation, commonly known as leaky gut, compromises tight junctions, leading to increased permeability and allowing harmful pathogens or undigested food to leak into the body. This triggers an inflammatory immune response where these toxins and undigested foods are tagged as foreign invaders and attacked by the bodys immune system.
This also damages microvilli along the intestinal lining, impeding their ability to manufacture the digestive enzymes they need to break down the food for proper digestion which both prevents vital nutrients from being properly digested, absorbed and assimilated and can lead to food allergies/intolerances.
Inflammation in the gut can also drive chronic systemic inflammation elsewhere in the body, including the brain. You can read more about brain inflammation here.
This happens because the Gut- Brain Axis is a two way information channel, with both the brain sending signals to the gut and the gut sending signals back to the brain. For example, 80 percent of the bodys immune cells, known as Peyers Patches, can be found in the lowest part of the small intestine, known as the ileum.
