Ahealthy gut is vital to good health. But what is a ‘healthy gut’ anyway? And how do you know if yours is or isn’t? Especially with chronic conditions, some of us ‘live with it’ and consider a level of discomfort normal. So it’s important to first define a healthy gut, then identify what irritates it, and only then can we find ways of avoiding or eliminating gut irritants for a better health experience.
The gut houses more than 70% of our immunity and is so important it has its own specialised nerve network, the Enteric Nervous System (ENS), part of our autonomic nervous system. You’ve heard it said that the gut is the second brain. I’d say it’s actually our first brain: it’s where the human translates the planet. Starting at the mouth and ending with the rectum, it is a long twisty, slippery, sinewy tube, full of nooks, crannies, crevices, one-way valves, ingenious chemicals and a myriad of microorganisms. It works largely unnoticed, processing what we eat, from chewing to pooing.