Healing Hypothesis
Health begins in the gut
There is a set of concepts I use in my practice to help people heal. I call them the pillars of my practice (there are 8 of them) and together they make up my Healing Hypothesis.
One of the pillars of my Healing Hypothesis is “health begins in the gut.”
Health really does begin in the gut, and in fact, whatever chronic, complex conditions you have impaired gut health may be involved. Impaired gut health adversely affects the body in a variety of ways. Let’s review some of those ways:
If your gut health is impaired, you won’t be able to digest and absorb nutrients from the foods you eat. This means that even if you eat a perfectly healthy diet, it won’t matter much because your body won’t be able to use those nutrients from those healthy foods, and you can end up nutrient deficient. All of the biochemical pathways in your body, which make your body function, run off of nutrients from foods you eat. These nutrients are the fuel for your engine. Without fuel, your engine won’t run, and over time will break down, leading to illness and disease in your body.
Seventy percent of your immune system is located in your gut microbiome. If your gut health is impaired, your immune system will be too.
Impaired gut health leads to inflammation in the gut, which can cause increased gut permeability (leaky gut). When this happens, toxins and food particles escape the GI tract and enter your blood stream where there are not supposed to be.
The result can be:
Food allergies and sensitivities (food sensitivities are a symptom, not a cause of your health problems)
And much, much more
Notice that many of these issues are outside of the gut, so while you may have impaired gut health, you might not even have any gut related symptoms.
Gut health is often overlooked by conventional, Western medicine as an underlying cause of chronic and complex disease, and this is why these conditions remain chronic.
Addressing gut health, even if you don’t have GI symptoms, is an integral part of the healing process and of my Healing Hypothesis as we explore root cause issues, and this is in fact where I start my scavenger hunt to find reasons why you have the health problems you do.
I want to share my favorite analogy with you (one of them at least), about how I’ve started to think about the body. Bear with me. And keep in mind this is not a scientific, research-based description, just an analogy that resonates with me that I heard a colleague mention.
The body is a growth of tissues wrapped around a hollow tube.
That tube is our GI tract. It starts with your mouth and ends, well, at the end if you know what I mean. The GI tract is actually considered to be external to the body in that it interacts with our external environment. We put things in (or things get in), they make their way through the tube, and the tissues that make up our body surrounding that tube extract what they need to survive out of what is passing through.
The tube is a super hostile environment. There is acid, enzymes, bacteria, fungus, and toxins found there.
The tissues lining the tube are specifically designed to let in what is appropriate, and keep out what is not. As hostile as the GI tract is, the lining of it is very delicate, and is about one cell layer thick.
If we don’t put in what the tissues need to thrive and survive, we as the organism suffer in the form of illness and disease.
If our digestion is impaired, and there is malfunction of what’s going on in the GI tract (the tube), we as the organism can’t get what we need from what we put in, also leading to illness and disease.
It’s like having an empty gas tank and either filling it with water (wrong stuff going in), or trying to fill the tank with gas without taking the gas cap off (stuff can’t get in).
This all means that whatever your chronic and complex condition may be, whether or not you have GI symptoms, you need to:
Explore what you put in
Make sure your tube (digestion) works the way it is supposed to
We address this by taking a look at your diet for starters. If you are confused about how to eat (the media and advertisers have successfully accomplished this), I recommend a diet of whole, real foods from all food groups. Of course if you have known food allergies and sensitivities, take that into account.
If you’ve changed your diet and still aren’t getting results, or aren’t feeling better, it’s time to explore your digestive function. My go-tos for this are:
Bicarb test for stomach acid (you can do this on your own): https://jennifercarynbrand.com/stomach-acid-test-diy/
Nutrient evaluation (you’ll need professional assistance)
Comprehensive digestive stool analysis (you’ll need professional assistance)
The point of this story is to help you see just how important your digestive health is to your overall health, and how dependent YOU are on not only what you eat, but also on the integrity of your digestion.
You can schedule a free 15 minute consultation with me to learn more, click here to get on my calendar! I can’t wait to talk to you!
Remember that at any time, if you have questions for me, please respond to my emails. You can also contact me. It’s literally me on the other end of this technology, waiting to hear from you to learn what I can do to support you on your health journey.
P.S. If you know someone that might benefit from this information, please share the love (forward them this link) <3
Your partner in health,
Jennifer, MPH, MS, CNS
Functional and Clinical Nutritionist