Our Bodies Tell us What We Need
During our Fuel Your Body Month, it is important to understand how our bodies work and what they are trying to tell us about what they need.
As winter comes to an end and people begin to show signs of wanting to get outside and start doing things again, many have noticed that they just don’t have the energy they used to and they feel kind of “BLAH”. Some had been sick with colds or the flu over the winter and ended up going to see their medical doctor and being put on antibiotics to get over it. Some even experienced multiple bouts with winter bugs and the antibiotics that are supposed to rid them. And, some got sick, didn’t take any drugs, seemed to get well without them and still don’t feel quite right.
It’s actually quite common for people to develop winter time digestion and intestinal problems, so much so that the winter is commonly referred to as “flu season.” The thing is, the germs or “bugs” that make us feel sick are pretty much always there. Some even live in our systems full time, waiting for an opportunity to multiply and take over. Their chance usually comes right after the holiday season when our immune systems are at a low due to the overindulgences in sugar and the other holiday “treats” that we allow ourselves because it’s a special time.
You see, the bad bugs thrive on glucose and their populations explode when we fill our bellies with carbohydrates that turn into glucose in our guts. The bad bugs eat glucose and will actually send messages to your brain telling you to find and eat more sugar to feed their growing families. The good bugs – the ones that we all need to stay healthy – don’t eat sugar and get crowded out when the internal environment shifts against them. With lowered competition, the bad bugs run rampant and start to give off toxic chemicals and substances that make our bodies sick, destroying our health and robbing us of our energy as they steal the nutrients from our food.
By the time we start to get the signals from our bodies that something is wrong, the bad bugs have taken over and now our internal environment is crying out for help. There must be something we can do.
Limit Sugar and Carbohydrates to Promote Immune Supporting Microbiotics
First of all, the very last thing we want to do is take another antibiotic. Antibiotic drugs do not have filters on them which tell to only kill off the bad bugs. In fact, most of the good bugs are more susceptible to the drugs than the bad bugs are and our internal flora gets wiped out. The bad bugs are then able to repopulate our guts because there are fewer good bugs than bad and the good bugs are weakened because there is nothing or very little for them to eat. It’s bad bug Valhalla. The good bugs are so depleted by the drugs that it could literally take a year or more to get them back to normal population IF you can get the bad bugs under control.
Before you give up hope and decide to let the bad bugs run rampant, there is a solution to this problem. Like all things that are good for us, it does require some work and dedication to get the results you so desperately need but the benefit to your health, your life and your well-being far outweigh the effort it will take.
As was pointed out earlier, the bad bugs eat sugar so Step #1 is to deprive them of sugar. Once you do, they will literally starve to death and not be able to maintain their population in your system. Now, starving these bugs of sugar may sound simple until you realize that “sugar” is not just the stuff in a candy bar. Sugar means anything that you eat that either IS or BECOMES glucose in your body. These things include sugar of course. Sugar is glucose. And, it also includes anything that you read on a food label that ends in -ose, like fructose, anything containing HFCS or high fructose corn syrup, honey, agave and others. Even the sugars that are sold as “healthy” are still sugar and ultimately food for the bad bugs and that also includes fruit which is a key source of fructose.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there. All carbohydrates are converted to sugar in your body. This includes starches like rice and potatoes and long-time staples like bread. When you are trying to clean your body of bad bugs, cutting out carbohydrates is of utmost importance so avoid all grains and root vegetables like carrots. Hey, nobody said it would be easy.
Feed the Good Bugs in Your Gut
Then, once you starve the bad bugs, you need to feed the good ones. Good bugs eat resistant starches. These are starches which your body cannot break down into glucose or break down so slowly that they do not provide a significant source of glucose in your gut. These are the high fiber foods like avacados, seeds and nuts. Avacados are an awesome source of fiber and healthy fats and should be enjoyed regularly.
So, what can you eat and still allow your body to heal from the invasion? Keep it simple and stick to green, leafy vegetables, salads with oil and vinegar dressing, not store bought, healthy fats like avocado, olive or coconut oil and organic proteins like grass fed beef, pastured chicken and eggs and wild caught fatty fish like salmon and herring.
Whether or not you’ve taken antibiotics to get over your bad bugs, it’s important to include pre- and pro-biotics in your daily regimen. Pre-biotics, like inulin, provide a consistent food source for your good bugs and pro-biotics help to repopulate your good bugs and give them a leg up on the bad bugs. Taking these together insures that your good bugs have a food source and can restore your gut to normal while starving out the bad bugs.
Because of all of the things in our environment that challenge our internal flora, doing more things to keep our good bugs healthy will ultimately keep you healthy longer. Make feeding your good bugs a normal part of your daily routine, just as you make Chiropractic care a regular part of your routine to keep your body functioning at its best! Contact us today to make an appointment!