by Wally Bishop | Jul 3, 2023 | Gut Flora
Last time, we discussed the benefits of fiber in improving the balance of your gut flora. In the final part of our gut flora series, we want to continue discussing fiber and how increasing your five can improve your gut flora.
Increasing Fiber Gradually
The only negative to fiber intake is increasing the intake too quickly. It can cause bloating, gas, and potentially loose stools. Therefore, individuals following a lower-fiber diet must slowly increase their fiber intake.
A simple way to increase your fiber intake is to increase it by 5 grams per week until you reach a healthy level. If you understand that fiber is the only food your healthy bacteria get, you should see that the more fiber you get, the healthier your gut flora and microbiome balance will be. I believe a minimum of 30 grams of fiber daily should be a goal for everyone. However, increasing your intake slowly will minimize any adverse side effects, such as extra gas and bloating.
Where Do I Find Fiber?
The best fiber sources are avocados, low-starch vegetables, low-sugar fruits, beans, lentils, peas, nuts, and seeds. WebMD provides a great list of high-fiber superfoods. One of the items on this list is whole grains. However, they can be higher in glycemic values, which means they can raise blood sugar and insulin levels quickly (not a good thing to happen). The best sources of grains are found in the bran and germ, such as rice bran and germ.
Fiber is the only food your gut bacteria get. Fiber is filling, satiating, soothing, and cleansing. It removes bad fats, slows blood sugar absorption, provides food for our healthy gut bacteria, makes some nutrients, and reduces the risk of heart disease and some cancers.
Ultimately, a balanced gut helps maintain a balanced immune system. This can help prevent some autoimmune conditions caused by an overactive and nervous immune system. Additionally, a healthy gut can help reduce anxiety and depression in some people!
Improve your gut flora and improve your health!
Fiber supplements can help, but food sources provide the fiber and nutrients in one beneficial package and are therefore preferred. Vive Shake is the ultimate whole food, fiber, nutrient, and antioxidant food! Contact us today at info@viveshake.com or 877-878-3009 for more information.
Vive Shake and the recommendations contained on this site and our blog are not and should not be considered medical advice. They are for informational purposes only. Always consult with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Never quit taking prescription medications unless advised to do so by your doctor.
by Wally Bishop | Jun 26, 2023 | Gut Flora
During our series on gut flora, we’ve talked about what it is, how to balance it, and what kills it. Today we want to talk about the benefits of fiber.
Fiber acts as a prebiotic, providing food for the good bacteria in our gut. And some fibers act as postbiotics creating healthy compounds in our colon, such as short-chain fatty acids like butyrate.
Fiber and Weight Loss
The subject of fiber intake and weight loss has mixed opinions, and studies are not conclusive in either direction. However, the studies tend to more strongly support the premise that the increase of fiber does increase weight loss potential, reduce cholesterol, improve the management of type-2 diabetes, and cut the risk of heart disease and some cancers.
Two Types of Fiber – Soluble and Insoluble
Our diet has two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Both are non-digestible and provide no caloric energy that is either burned as energy or stored as fat.
Soluble fiber is soluble in water, swells, and absorbs water, becoming a gelatinous substance in our gut during the digestive process. It is soothing to the digestive tract and binds with fats helping to lower cholesterol and triglycerides and slowing down the absorption of sugars, thus reducing blood sugar levels. Ground flax seeds and chia seeds are excellent sources of soluble fiber. In addition, soluble fiber may help with diarrhea and constipation.
Insoluble fiber helps with constipation and keeps the digestive tract clean by moving the digestive process along. It’s essential to drink plenty of water when increasing your fiber intake.
Both types of fiber are filling, providing satiation leading to lower calorie consumption. However, it is essential that those looking to lose weight follow a lower glycemic diet that is higher in fiber. Fiber sources in the diet should be from low-sugar fruits like berries and low-starch vegetables like avocados, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, spinach, and winter squashes. Don’t forget the powerhouse of fiber – legumes. Legumes (beans, lentils, and peas) are the highest source of fiber in our diet.
Why Fiber is Good for You
Dietary fiber does many great things for us. I believe that fiber should be a part of everyone’s diet. There is no question that fiber from low-starch plant foods is vital to a healthy diet. A fiber-rich diet rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, and seeds offers abundant vitamins, minerals, enzymes, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, and additional phytonutrients. But, unfortunately, the average American only gets 1/4 to 1/3 of their minimum daily fiber requirements. Maybe it’s one of the contributing reasons there is so much obesity, disease, and illness in our great country.
Certain fiber types can do more harm than good if you have specific digestive problems like colitis, ulcerative colitis, or Crohn’s. Make sure you work with a qualified health professional experienced with digestive disorders.
To see how Vive Shake can help with fiber and gut health, contact us today at info@viveshake.com or 877-878-3009. Next time, we’ll finish our gut flora series by talking about how increasing fiber improves your gut health.
Vive Shake and the recommendations contained on this site and our blog are not and should not be considered medical advice. They are for informational purposes only. Always consult with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Never quit taking prescription medications unless advised to do so by your doctor.
by Wally Bishop | Jun 19, 2023 | Gut Flora
In our continuing series on gut flora, one of the questions we must ask ourselves is whether we are damaging our gut flora.
Did you know that your gut flora can impact your brain health? Do you find yourself battling depression or anxiety? Do you have trouble concentrating on tasks? It could be a gut flora imbalance. The gut-brain axis is real. Our gut is called our second brain for a good reason. Our gut health can affect our cognitive ability, memory, moods, and more.
Your Diet Impacts Your Gut
So what kills or damages our gut flora? In one word – diet. Remember the old saying, “You are what you eat?”
The American diet is loaded with processed foods that contain gut inflammation-producing ingredients and very little fiber. In addition, these processed foods have a host of chemicals that can kill our good bacteria while feeding the harmful bacteria and funguses. For example, a study in February 2022 showed that artificial sweeteners like Splenda, also known as sucralose, kill your gut flora.
Some medications, like antibiotics, also kill all the gut flora, good and bad. And don’t forget all the food preservatives, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, food colorings, unhealthy fats like soybean and corn oil and hydrogenated fats, GMO foods, gluten, water with chlorine, and mercury-containing vaccines and foods.
Taking in Junk Leads to Bad Gut
The result of all of that is a microbiome that’s in horrible health. Our gut flora is imbalanced. The technical term for the imbalance of our body bacteria and microbiome is dysbiosis. Our digestive system has many parts, and most of those imbalances occur in the small and large intestines.
Your microbiome, the types and amount of bacteria living in your gut, are critical to your overall health and very critical to the health of your digestive system! The wrong foods produce the wrong bacteria that cause gut and whole-body inflammation.
Improving your gut health is the first step to improving your overall health. To see how Vive Shake can help improve your gut flora, contact us today at info@viveshake.com or 877-878-3009. Next time, we’ll talk about the benefits of fiber on our gut flora.
Vive Shake and the recommendations contained on this site and our blog are not and should not be considered medical advice. They are for informational purposes only. Always consult with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Never quit taking prescription medications unless advised to do so by your doctor.
by Wally Bishop | Jun 12, 2023 | Gut Flora
Last time, we talked about what gut flora is. Today, we want to discuss ways you can balance your gut flora.
Are Bacteria Really Good for You?
Sometimes we want to think that bacteria are harmful, but it serves a great purpose in our gut! Out of the trillions of strains of bacteria, we want to ensure we have the right amount of those good bacteria.
These good bacteria do many things to help us, including:
- Breaking down foods.
- Supplying the gut with energy.
- Making some vitamins.
- Producing anti-inflammatory compounds called postbiotics in the colon.
- Breaking down toxins.
- Protecting against pathogens by setting up camp where the harmful bacteria normally would and by producing anti-microbial chemicals that defend the host against them
- Helping make neurotransmitters. Our gut flora is essential for producing at least five neurotransmitter compounds.
- Improving our bone, brain, gut, heart, skin, and immune system health.
How Can I Improve My Gut Flora?
There are multiple ways you can improve your healthy gut flora. Those include:
- Increasing your fiber intake through your diet. Foods with digestive-resistant starch are great at populating beneficial gut bacteria in our colon.
- Taking a probiotic, but only if your diet is low in fiber, for a short-term boost, or if recommended by a qualified health professional.
- Eating and drinking fermented foods.
- Eating a whole food plant-based diet. It will contain lots of fiber.
- Limiting the intake of processed foods. They have chemicals that kill your gut flora.
- Avoiding sucralose (Splenda). Studies show it kills gut flora if consumed regularly.
Challenges with Imbalanced Gut Flora
At least 80% of my clients have some type of digestive issue. They range from leaky gut syndrome, GERD (reflux), heartburn, bloating, cramps, constipation, and a smaller amount with a blend of constipation and diarrhea. If symptoms last long enough, it can become irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or irritable bowel disease (IBD) such as colitis or Crohn’s. Unfortunately, most people never consider their food’s impact on their digestive health.
This is very important: your health is highly impacted by your gut health.
It impacts your neurological health, heart, vascular system, bone health, nutrient absorption, immune system, detoxing ability, and more. In addition, according to Psych Central, an imbalance in your gut flora can cause depression and anxiety. Your gut is your second brain!
Get your gut healthy, and many adverse conditions can improve significantly and even disappear.
Next time, we’ll talk about what damages our gut flora. For more information on how Vive Shake can help with your gut flora, contact us today at info@viveshake.com or 877-878-3009.
Vive Shake and the recommendations contained on this site and our blog are not and should not be considered medical advice. They are for informational purposes only. Always consult with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Never quit taking prescription medications unless advised to do so by your doctor.
by Wally Bishop | Jun 5, 2023 | Gut Flora
Are you embarrassed when you squeak one out that you will run everyone out of the room? Or hate to use a friend or family member’s bathroom out of fear that you totally bomb their bathroom? It could be that out-of-balance gut flora is to blame! Over the next few weeks, we’re going to talk about gut flora and its impact on your overall health and wellness.
What Is Gut Flora?
Our gut has approximately 1,000 strains of bacteria that number in the trillions. That’s our gut flora. According to the National Library of Medicine, gut flora plays an important role in, “supplying essential nutrients, synthesizing vitamin K, aiding in the digestion of cellulose, and promoting angiogenesis and enteric nerve function.”
What’s the Downside of Unhealthy Gut Flora?
Certain conditions like stomach bugs or food sensitivities can cause that bacteria to get out of balance. This condition is called dysbiosis. For example, Brussels sprouts and cabbage can cause smelly gas and bloating in some people sensitive to the type of fiber and sulfur compounds those cruciferous plants contain. When your gut is out of balance, your flatulence and bathroom trips might be very smelly.
What Happens When You Balance Your Gut Flora?
If you balance your gut flora, most of the foul smell will likely disappear. And in fact, did you know you can even get your digestive system used to foods like legumes (beans) that generally cause a lot of gas in some individuals?
The more balanced your gut flora, the less offensive and smelly your emissions should be.
Most of my clients don’t believe me until it happens. For example, a coaching client recently told me their emissions were barely noticeable now, and we’re just six weeks into their coaching program. So, realize it takes time to heal the gut and bring balance to our microbiome. For some, change can be quicker, and for others, it may take longer. Did you know that Vive Shake helps balance your gut flora? Contact us today at info@viveshake.com or 877-878-3009 for more details! In our next post, we’ll talk about good bacteria and ways to balance your gut flora.
Vive Shake and the recommendations contained on this site and our blog are not and should not be considered medical advice. They are for informational purposes only. Always consult with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Never quit taking prescription medications unless advised to do so by your doctor.
