A Must to Know -The Gut Health

(3 mint Read)

Our Gut runs the vital duties like the intake and absorption of nutrients from the food we eat and the water we drink, thereby protecting, nourishing and maintaining overall health of our body. If your gut’s function is improper then you are falling prey for diseases.

Ok, so what is this Gut?

Medical science says, “It is a very long tube starting from the mouth and ending at anus”.

Hence, the collection of organs like mouth, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, gallbladder, small intestine, colon and the rectum is called as Gut or Gastrointestinal tract.

Image source-theconversation.com

The Gut And The Brain

“Brain is also considered to be a part of gut, as the brain and gut are in constant communication”. – Dr. Lisa Ganjhu, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Whenever you are hungry or thirsty, it is the work of the gut to pass the information to the brain and in turn the brain gives the signal as to when to eat or drink. Even with the digestion process both works together.

Image source- gutmicrobiotaforhelath.com

For example, if you had a lighter meal the brain signals to follow an easy digestion, and if you had a heavy meal the brain signals it to hold the food in the stomach for a little longer time and results in slow digestion. Only when your food is sufficiently broken down, the gut gets signals from the brain to send it to the intestine.

Brain can affect your gut heatlth and the gut can affect your brain health

Millions of neurons are involved in this connection. The vagus nerve is the biggest nerve connecting the brain and the gut. The neurotransmitters are the chemicals connecting the brain and the gut.

The Gut Microbes Influence the Body and the Mind

When a microbe enters your body the brain signals and makes the gut to be fully aware of that microbe. The microbe can be a bacteria or virus or fungi or a cluster of them. Research has proved that the healthy gut produces single chain fatty acids(SCFA) like butyrate, propionate and acetate. These not only helps to absorb the nutrients but also act as the repairmen of our body.

Image source-scienticficanimations.com

When we get a cut on our skin, the skin starts the immediate process of repairing and covers it with a new skin layer, which we can see through our naked eye. The same process is done by these SCFA inside our body.

Now imagine, when a handful of nails is put in your thin drainage pipe in the sink, the pipe gets teared a lot here and there and thereby leakage starts. Similarly, whenever you eat harmful foods the super soft gut lining undergoes harsh treatment and gets teared here and there causing leakage of microbes into your body. As a result, our internal organs are easily exposed to harmful microbes. They start to attack the internal organs and if your immunity is low then you start to become sick.

Image source-vcahospitals.com

So your gut needs to have ample stock of SCFA inside and repair the leakage of microbes fast. Active lifestyle and healthy fiber rich foods produces lots and lots of SCFA.

The gut microbes controls what is passed into the body and what is excreted. The microbes in your gut are so powerful that its quality dominates your mind and have you under their perspective. So, having good bacteria in dominance is preferred a lot. Below is the image of gut microbes.

Image source-nationalgeographic.com

TIP – If you are craving something like food or drink or a snack, check whether your mind is craving it or it is the cravings of insatiable microbes. If you know this then you can always have a check on these microbes.

As per Dr. Ligen yu (Nanyang technological university),

Not all diseases begin in the gut (intestines), but only the gut (microbiome) can cure all diseases. Because, only the microbiome have all the essential nutrients needed by our body.

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Hope this article helped my readers to understand how important “The Gut” is. I wish my readers to have a healthy gut and stay free from diseases ever.