How To Clean Out Your Gut

Clean Your Gut: 7 Signs Of An Unhealthy Gut & 7 Ways To Remedy It

If theres one thing the medical community agrees on its the fact that normal is a relative term. Every persons body has little quirks and variations.

With that in mind, how do you know what normal digestion feels like? Are your stomach cramps just a normal glitch or a sign that something is out of whack?

Today is the day to put your questions to rest. Read up on the signs of an unhealthy digestive system and the best ways to clean your gut and get everything back in working order.

A Quick Word On Fasting And Elimination Diets

There are endless different ways to fast, ranging from simply not snacking in between three square meals a day, to eating nothing at all for weeks. Although fasting has been practised for thousands of years, its considered an alternative approach by conventional medicine and you should always ask your doctor before you start a fast.

Elimination diets are another growing trend that can be highly beneficial or a total disaster for your gut health, depending on what and how many foods you eliminate. Eliminating junk food, for example, is a great idea, whereas banning carbohydrates could be a huge problem. For instance, we know that the ketogenic diet, which almost eliminates carbohydrates, drastically changes the microbiome . Whether or not this is good news completely depends on the individual. Ask your doctor before eliminating foods, or nutrientslike carbohydratestoo.

Testing can reveal whats going on behind your gut symptoms.

Best Way To Naturally Cleanse Colon And Improve Gut Health

Gut health refers to the balance of microorganisms that live in the digestive tract. Here are some tips to improve gut health naturally:

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Natural Foods That Will Clean Your Gut

Having a healthy gut is pretty essential to have an overall healthy body. Gastrointestinal problems are not uncommon in todays society. We believe this largely due to the fact that the food most of us are eating is lacking in nutrients, and rich with toxins. There are ways to clean your gut, however, so that you can improve your bodys health and wellness, as well as improving your bodys immune system.

Saltwater Flush Can Cleanse Your Colon

A saltwater flush can be done at home and can cleanse your colon when used as part of a detoxification program.

It can be an effective short-term treatment to rid the bowel of waste if you are constipated or concerned about irregular bowel movements.

The process involves dissolving two teaspoons of non-iodised sea salt in four cups of warm water and then drinking the mixture as quickly as possible on an empty stomach. A bowel movement should follow soon after. Best performed in the morning when you have nothing else planned!

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Start With An Intermittent Fast

Just like you, your gut needs a period of rest and rejuvenation to function optimally.

Giving it a break can support antioxidant and anti-inflammatory processes, cellular cleanup and even help shed water weight and reduce bloating.

Studies are coming out all the time supporting the benefits of intermittent fasting, which gives the body a break for a set number of hours each day so that your gut can repair, reset, and rest. Even a seminal research review in the journal Cell identifies intermittent fasting as a key pillar of longevity nutrition .

The night before you start your gut reset, plan to fast for 12 to 16 hours.

To put this in perspectivea 12-hour fast means stop eating at 7 in the evening and don’t eat again until breakfast the next day at 7 in the morning.

Gut Cleansing Could Help You Sleep Better

As we have discussed, the link between your gut and your brain is well-documented, which is why sleepless nights could also be a result of a poor bacterial microbiome.

Along with the production of chemicals such as dopamine, your gut also produces serotonin, affecting sleep-wake cycles. Therefore, a depletion in good bacteria can also mean a shortage of dopamine and serotonin. Both these chemicals play a part in getting a good night’s sleep.

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The Benefits Of Colon Cleansing

Practitioners of colon cleansing say you can reap numerous benefits by removing the toxins from your digestive system. They say it can lead to weight loss, better digestion, increased energy, and clearer thinking. But most of these claims are unproven and lack scientific support.

One small pilot study done in 2016 noted improvement in gastrointestinal symptoms after colonic irrigation in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

But despite the results of the above study, colon cleansing should be approached with caution, as it can potentially lead to colon damage. We outline the possible risks of colon cleansing below.

The list of potential risks associated with colon cleansing is much longer than the list of benefits.

Is Pooping Undigested Food Normal

The presence of undigested food could indicate food is passing too quickly through the digestive tract and not being properly digested See your doctor if you experience any of these symptoms: changes in bowel habits, such as loss of bowel control persistent diarrhea.

Worst Foods for DigestionFried Foods 1/10 Theyre high in fat and can bring on diarrhea Citrus Fruits 2/10 Because theyre high in fiber and they are acidic, they can give some folks an upset stomach Artificial Sugar 3/10 Too Much Fiber 4/10 Beans 5/10 Cabbage and Its Cousins 6/10 Fructose 7/10 Spicy Foods 8/10More items.

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Your Gut Cleanse Needs

• Clean water and herbal teas
• Fermented foods such as kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, and miso
• GMO-free, free-range chicken
• Seasonal fruits and vegetables
• Healthy fats such as salmon, nuts, seeds, olive oil, and coconut oil
• Dairy-free milk such as almond and coconut milk
• Herbs and spices, especially ginger, garlic, and turmeric
• Psyllium husk for more fiber
• Apple cider vinegar, tamari, and coconut aminos
• Super greens including BIOHM Super Greens

How Often Should You Cleanse

This depends on your symptoms but generally you should commit to a cleanse once or twice a year, under the care of a health professional. Post-antibiotic treatment is a must, as you need to nourish the gut and replace all of the healthy bacteria thats been wiped out by antibiotics. After holidays is also a good time to cleanse as alcohol and treat foods wreak havoc on gut bacteria and gut lining.

Post-cleanse you should continue to include gut-friendly foods and nutrients as a part of your regular diet.

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Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting allows the body to take a complete break from the high-energy process of digestion, so the gut can rest and repair.

Intermittent fasting has been shown to:

• Improve symptoms of IBS
• Balance the gut microbiome
• Repair the lining of the gut
• Improve mental health, lower inflammatory markers, and decrease symptoms in people with inflammatory bowel disease
• Promote autophagy, which is a natural cellular detoxification process that removes damaged cells and encourages new cell growth

The easiest way to add intermittent fasting into your life is to stop eating a few hours before bed and wait to eat your first meal an hour or two after you wake up. That way you can reach a 14-hour fast, mostly while you sleep .

While intermittent fasting has many benefits, you could reverse or lessen those benefits by eating inflammatory or irritating foods during your eating window. This is why we use intermittent fasting with an elimination diet. Its best to combine intermittent fasting with an elimination diet for at least a month before reintroducing foods back into your diet.

Intermittent fasting is so beneficial that I still recommend fasting a few days a week for good gut health if you have seen benefits even after you reach the maintenance phase of your elimination diet .

What To Do Today

Throw out your antibacterial toothpaste, dental floss, and mouthwash

Antibacterial chemicals can cause antibacterial-resistant microbes and harm beneficial bacteria in your mouth. A small study found that changes in the bacteria in your mouth can impact how well you absorb nutrients like nitrite which has been shown to lower blood pressure.

Destress

reduces beneficial bacteria and increases harmful bacteria in the gut.

Chronic stress is particularly dangerous because it may increase intestinal permeability and allows the gut microbiota to go where they shouldnt, causing inflammation.

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Get To Grips With Pre

Pre- and probiotics are rising in popularity and are all the rage for customers throughout health food stores who are attempting to get troublesome digestive symptoms under control.

However, are you using them in the correct way? If you suspect the balance of bacteria in your gut is a little off, then it might not be so useful just to load up on high strength probiotics straight away. Firstly, we want to ensure that the internal environment of the gut is being sufficiently supported and we can help achieve this with the help of some prebiotics.

My advice is to introduce a prebiotic, such as Molkosan, first and then after a few weeks of using this daily, you can begin to introduce some good quality probiotics.

What Food Takes The Longest To Digest

The foods with the longest time to digest are bacon, beef, lamb, whole milk hard cheese, and nuts These foods take an average of about 4 hours for your body to digest The digestion process still occurs even when asleep Which means our digestive fluids and the acids in our stomach are active.

The short answer is: Yep According to Food Fix founder Heather Bauer, RD, CND, all those raw veggies can seriously stress out your GI tract I hear over and over again from clients that they start eating salads to be healthier and end up feeling bloated, Bauer says.

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Which Food Reaches Stomach Totally Undigested

Cellulose is not digested at all in the human beings Therefore, both fat and cellulose reach the stomach totally undigested.

From Fuel to Stool: 5 Tips to Speed Up DigestionExercise for 30 minutes a day Food and digested material is moved through the body by a series of muscle contractions Eat more fiber Eat yogurt Eat less meat Drink more water.

Find Ways To Improve Your Sleep

This might feel frustrating because, as we mentioned above, poor sleep is a symptom of gut problems. But that makes it even more important to get your sleep on track. If you dont youre in for an endless cycle.

You can counteract your sleep disturbances by making lifestyle changes.

Get on a regular sleep schedule and stick with it on work days as well as your days off. Eventually, your body will get on schedule.

You can also cut out any caffeine after mid-afternoon. Turn off all your screens an hour before bedtime. This is also a good time to try some stress reduction before bed, like meditation.

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What Are The Worst Foods For Your Gut

Again and again, research reveals that the typical Western diet is disastrous for our gut health .

For example:

We know that eating a high-fat, high-sugar diet starves our good bacteria, reduces diversity and tips us towards disease.

When researchers looked at the gut microbiomes of the Hadza hunter-gatherer people in Tanzania, they found them to be more diverse than those in the West . The Hadza eat as our ancestors did: they gather wild berries, honey, fibre-packed legumes and fruits, and hunt fresh game.

They found that many types of bacteria in the gut that depend on a diverse diet disappear with a Western diet.

The Hadza experience no diabetes, colon cancer, colitis or Crohns disease. Obesity is unknown, and as far as we know, they dont do colon cleanses or gut detoxes.

Food for thought.

Choosing The Right Gut Cleanse Diet For You

Gut cleanse diets arent one-size-fits-all, and the goal is to find the right one for you. In order to do that, lets look at the two main gut reset protocols that benefit many of my patients:

In both of these options, you will want to choose the elimination diet that is right for you. In a moment, will discuss four different elimination diets and who they are best for so you can make an informed decision.

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Add More High Fiber Foods

Adding additional high fiber foods to the diet can provide beneficial gut flora with more to eat. Examples of high fiber foods include:

• raw vegetables and salads
• ground flaxseeds
• beans and lentils

A sudden increase in fiber intake may cause temporary bloating or gas. If this occurs, it is best to follow the diet from day one instead.

What Are The Symptoms Of An Unhealthy Gut

Some symptoms of an unhealthy gut are obvious, like diarrhoea, constipation, bloating and gut pain, along with conditions like coeliac disease, Crohns disease and IBS. As weve seen already, leaky gut and dysbiosis are associated with many conditions both inside and outside the gut.

An unhealthy gut can also make you feel generally unwell, with no specific condition or disease. Symptoms can fluctuate, so you may feel well one day and rubbish the next.

You might have:

• Having trouble thinking or concentrating
• Candida overgrowth

These symptoms are all anecdotal, which means that theyre commonly reported alongside evidence of dysbiosis shown on a comprehensive stool test. Theres not currently any hard proof that dysbiosis causes them, so your doctor is unlikely to investigate dysbiosis as a cause.

The NHS doesnt offer comprehensive stool tests so if youd like to see whats going on with your gut health you can order tests yourself, or go through a nutritional therapist or functional medicine practitioner.

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Cleanse The Gut 5 Simple Steps Gut Healing Protocol

The most important factor in improving your gut will be to adding gut diversity.

This means you should constantly eat different vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds, etc.

But this is the most important factor in maintaining good gut health. If you have bad gut health, here is a 5 step protocol you could try to implement.

How To Clean Stomach Daily

Change your morning drink to something bitter, like Kalmegh Bitters or Neem Bitters.

Bitter food usually has strong digestive and mild laxative properties.

This allows your body to digest food better, and your colon to remove food completely.

The most effective bitters are Kalmegh Bitters, but Neem bitters work as well.

You just need to drink 100ml a day on an empty stomach.

Ideally, you need to continue this for 24 days.

Here is a brief description about how Kalmegh Bitters works

Here is a comparison of all three techniques:

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Focus On Fermented Foods

Fermented foods are a type of probiotic that supports your microbiome and promotes good bacteria. They also improve digestion, decrease inflammation, increase immunity, and may help protect from infection .

Examples of fermented foods include:

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Clean Your Gut With 7 Natural Foods

It always feels like the time of year when everyone gets sick is just around the corner. When you combine a slow digestive system with a poor diet and stress, your body takes a beating during cold and flu season. Is it time for you to clean your gut and rid your colon of waste and toxins? Lets talk about 7 Natural Foods you can add to your diet to help you feel better.

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