The most important health tip that we can give you at this moment in time is to look after your guts! In today's fast paced world where many of us consume convenience (processed) foods regularly, suffer with unnatural levels of stress, take pharmaceuticals and are bombarded on a constant basis by EMF's, our guts are suffering. Once our gut flora becomes damaged and compromised, all hell breaks loose. Most of our immune system functions within our gut. We really are what we eat.
So what are the main causes of damaged gut flora?
Processed Foods
Processed foods should be avoided at all costs! They are no longer foods. They are so far removed from their natural state they should no longer be considered foods. Processed foods have had many dangerous chemicals added to them that our guts do not recognise and struggle to deal with. Often processed foods have been pasteurised (heated) which destroys the nutritional content. These "foods" increase fungi, worms and other parasites. The high sugar content in processed foods make them highly addictive.
Sugar
Once called "the white death", the consumption of sugar in the west has massively increased in the last century. Sugar has been shown to deplete the body of vital vitamins and minerals. For example, to metabolise one molecule of sugar, the body requires 56 molecules of magnesium! Most people understand that sugar causes the blood glucose to roller coaster, but what many people do not appreciate is the damage that sugar does to the gut flora and the immune system.
Soya
Or to be more precise, soy protein isolate. This is the form of soya used in the west that is typically used as a meat substitute. The soybeans are put into aluminium tanks and given an acid wash. The acid makes the soybeans absorb the aluminium, a heavy metal that is wreaking havoc in the western world and has direct links to Alzheimer's and dementia. The soybeans then have chemicals added to them including nitrates that are linked to cancer. Soya is a natural goitrogen, meaning that it has an ability to impair iodine absorption and reduce thyroid function. Virtually all soya products are genetically modified and, as a result, are extremely damaging to our gut health.
Grains
Our ancestors were hunter gatherers. Omnivores or "opportunivores". All indigenous tribes regard meat as the healthiest of foods and only source other foods if meat is scarce. Grains are a fairly recent introduction into our diets given our long history. Grains like wheat have become hybridised over the last century by the agricultural industry in order to maximise profits. Hybridised wheat has a much larger gluten content that has caused many health problems in the west. Virtually all grains have been heavily sprayed with hazardous chemicals that destroy our gut flora.
Antibiotics
There are various ways in which antibiotics enter our bodies. Many of us have been prescribed antibiotics in the past, but did you know that all farm animals and poultry are fed antibiotics? Even farmed fish and shellfish have antibiotics routinely added to their tanks. A lot of fruit, vegetables, nuts and legumes are sprayed with antibiotics to control disease. We all end up consuming antibiotics through our diet. Antibiotics have a devastating effect on the human body, not only in the gut, but in organs and tissues as well. Antibiotics cause severe damage to our immune systems leaving us more susceptible to disease and infections.
Other Factors
Long term psychological stress and physical stress can cause permanent damage to our gut flora.
Physical exertion, old age, alcohol, ionising radiation, exposure to toxic substances, EMF's and pollution can have a profound effect on our friendly gut bacteria.
We have a battle on our hands! But we at NN strongly believe that these problems are not insurmountable. Processed foods, sugar and grains can easily be eliminated from our diets. We can grow our own fruits and vegetables and eat as organically as possible. Bio-dynamic farming is slowly gaining in popularity and is worth checking out. The healthier we are, the less likely we are to get sick and require dangerous antibiotics. With a growing collective desire to regain our health, many solutions are being devised and put forward.
Yes it's an extremely challenging time to be alive right now, but we believe it's an exciting one as well as more and more people are waking up to the horrors of the food and pharmaceutical industry and are finding more and more solutions to these problems.