I believe the gut is the focus of our health issues.  Everything that happens goes through the gut.  Are we depressed or anxious?  It affects the gut.  If we’re stressed it affects the gut. 

Anything that happens to our body affects our gut so the gut is very important. It helps us absorb life-giving food and helps get rid of the food after it’s been digested. Here’s an example of a client whose gut was affected.

This young gentleman (in his 30’s which is younger than me so he’s young) who had a history of seasonal depression started getting anxious several years ago  for no reason.  When he got anxious, his heart rate would go up very much so.

In the month before he started seeing me, he started having a lot of gut issues which would increase after eating. We treated his body at the visit so he felt better for several days which was a promising sign. We did tests to see if he had a small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. The test was negative but he still had gut symptoms. We have to dig deeper but we will get to the bottom of what is going on.

His symptoms started off with anxiety several years ago  but the most recent symptom he had was of the gut.

The anxiety increased his stress.  The stress affected the immune system.  The immune system when off affects the gut.  So his gut started feeling the effects of his anxiety. 

So I would recommend that you pay attention to the gut.  Eat what is good for the gut.  Fiber is good for the gut.  We are supposed to be eating 25-30 grams of fiber daily based on the American Heart Association eating plan and the standard American diet has about 15 grams fiber daily. 

More fiber means there is more fuel for the large intestine bacteria.  More fuel means better good bacteria in our gut which is always good.