Gut Health
Good health begins in the gut!
Bloating, gas, cramping, mushy bowel movements, watery diarrhoea or constipation are all signs that your digestion isn’t working as nicely as what it should be. This means you won’t be getting the most nutrients from your food, nor will you be effectively eliminating toxins.
Naturopaths love talking about digestion, and while it can feel a bit weird chatting in detail about things like your bowel movements, to a naturopath, examining digestive patterns and the gut micro biome provides a wealth of clues!
Correcting digestive disturbances is not as simple as taking a probiotic (although you’d be forgiven for thinking so!) An imbalance of bugs, stress and emotions, food intolerance, sensitivities or allergies, antibiotics and medications and our immune systems can all influence digestive patterns and disturbances.
The gastrointestinal tract is responsible for two primary functions: absorbing nutrients and screening out the toxins. If the guts mucosal barrier function is compromised, also known as gut permeability or ‘leaky gut’ there is absorption of normally excluded substances, and larger substances, but still very small cross over to the bloodstream. Bacteria and toxins enter the bloodstream through these defective tight junctions and wreak havoc throughout the body, causing bloating, gas, cramps, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as well as fatigue, food sensitivities, joint pain, moodiness, irritability, sleeplessness, and skin problems like eczema and psoriasis.
Researchers now recognise the possibility that increased intestinal permeability can lead to disease processes distant from the gastrointestinal tract including metabolic, hormonal, neurological and immunological problems.
Identification and treatment of the root cause of the problem is the initial focus. In some patients, it may be necessary to do a CDSA – comprehensive digestive stool analysis – to ascertain the exact nature of the problem and then specifically target treatment.
Treatment may then proceed by removing the inflammatory load on the gut by avoiding reactive foods and irritants for a short period of time before strategically re-introducng these. A gentle detoxification program may be implemented including mucosal healing and protection, gastric acid and digestive support, nutritional supplements and a low reactive diet. Specific strains of beneficial probiotics are identified and will be added to reinoculate the system and any nutrient deficiencies will be addressed.
All patients receive an individualised treatment and management plan according to their specific health concerns and presentation of symptoms.
And regarding those bugs such as Dientamoeba fragilis (D. fragilis) and Blastocystis hominis (B. hominis), specialised functional stool testing is available to determine if you still have these troublesome bugs living in your tummy!
