The gut is often referred to as the second brain because of its importance to overall health and wellbeing. If your gut is unhealthy, it will have a negative impact on the rest of your body. There is more to maintaining a healthy gut than by simply eating well, so how do you make sure your gut is functioning optimally?

Symptoms of an Unhealthy Gut

Indigestion, reflux, bloating, gas, cramping, constipation and diarrhoea are all symptoms of poor gut health. Sometimes you may experience these symptoms only after eating certain foods that irritate your gut. When people experience these symptoms long-term, it generally indicates that their gut is not functioning properly and requires attention.

Improving Your Gut Health

Eating lots of clean, fresh whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, meat and fish not only provides your body with important vitamins and minerals, but it also provides water and fibre to help your gut absorb and process foods properly.

Avoiding inflammatory foods such as gluten, dairy, soy, refined sugars, additives and preservatives is also important when it comes to maintaining a healthy gut. Alcohol, smoking and medications can also affect your gut, and it goes without saying that junk food simply needs to be eliminated.

Hydration is Vital to Gut Health

Another important factor in gut health is hydration. Drinking enough good quality water helps your gut pass stools and prevents constipation from occurring. The amount of water that you should consume depends on a number of factors including your body weight and your daily activities. However, most people are constantly dehydrated without even knowing it, especially here in Singapore!

As a general rule of thumb, multiply your body weight by 0.03 and that is approximately how much water you should drink in litres as a minimum every day. This amount obviously increases with exercise or being outside in the heat.

What About Supplements?

Supplements are a vital component when it comes to balancing your gut microbiome. Your microbiome is made of up of all the bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites in your gut. If your gut microbiome is out of balance due to processed foods, medications or alcohol, it can severely impact your overall health and wellbeing.

In fact, it has been shown that poor gut health can contribute to diseases such as obesity, coronary artery disease, cancer, anxiety, depression and much more.

As part of my treatment protocol, I will test for and prescribe the necessary vitamins, minerals and/or herbs to help improve the health of your gut. I source some of the best quality supplements from the US, the UK and Australia, and using Applied Kinesiology, I can get very specific with exactly what your body needs to help boost your gut health.

Applied Kinesiology and Gut Health

When assessing your gut health, I will take a thorough health history and perform a variety of tests using Applied Kinesiology. I may refer for further testing if required, and I will work with other health care practitioners where necessary.

My treatment may involve a variety of different corrections, including chiropractic adjustments, soft tissue therapy, TMJ corrections, cranio-sacral therapy, meridian therapy, visceral (organ) therapy and emotional corrections.

I will test for different food allergens, nutritional deficiencies and/or bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic infections that may be impacting your gut health.

I will give you the tools that you need to make the required dietary and lifestyle changes to improve your overall gut health, and I may prescribe various supplements to help your gut heal as quickly as possible.

Boost Your Gut Health Today

It’s time to cut out the junk food, reduce the foods that are irritating your gut, increase your water intake and make an appointment to have your gut health checked.

And if you know of anyone who you think could benefit from seeing me, please pass on my details and I would be happy to help them.