Your Healthy Gut

 

There is a lot of talk these days about having a healthy gut. And for good reason. The gut or gastrointestinal (GI) tract plays a crucial role in your overall health and well-being. It is responsible for approximately 80% of your immune system. Additionally, it is responsible for 95% of your serotonin, “the happy chemical.” Without a healthy gut, you’re vulnerable to a myriad of diseases. So, who can you turn to for help maintaining your healthy gut? Your chiropractor.

The Gut’s Role

The gut is responsible for digesting food, absorbing nutrients, and eliminating waste. It is home to trillions of microorganisms, collectively known as the gut microbiota. Those microorganisms play a crucial role in maintaining the gut’s health and overall health of the body.

When your microbiome is happy and healthy, chances are your overall health will be good as well. However, when factors including toxin exposure, lifestyle choices, and diet lead to a compromised or damaged gut, health issues become a possibility. The gut can literally “turn on” potential disease processes throughout the body. Many of those processes that you might never think originated in the gut.

Origin of All Disease

In fact, it was the father of medicine, Hippocrates, who said “All disease begins in the gut.” Today we understand the full meaning of his words. The gut is foundational to just about every other system in your body. Even if you have an adequate diet and no digestive issues, you can be experiencing health issues that originated in your gut including mental health problems, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, asthma, chronic sinus infections, and autoimmune conditions just to name a few. This list goes beyond the more directly linked gut related health issues which include Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s, constipation, and leaky gut.

Regardless of the health issue, the functioning of your gut is, like every other action in your body, controlled by the nervous system. If your spine isn’t properly aligned, and your internal communication or I.T. system isn’t functioning properly, parts of your body can malfunction, including your organs, including your gut.

Chiropractic Care

Through focusing on the musculoskeletal and nervous systems, chiropractic care improves the function of the entire body, including the gut. Studies have suggested that chiropractic care may help improve gut function and restore balance to the gut microbiota. One way that chiropractic care may improve gut health is by reducing stress on the nervous system. The nervous system and the gut are closely linked, and stress can disrupt the gut-brain axis, leading to gut dysbiosis and inflammation. Chiropractic adjustments have been shown to reduce stress on the nervous system, which may help restore balance to the gut-brain axis and improve gut function.

Another possible mechanism by which chiropractic care may improve gut health is by reducing inflammation. Inflammation in the gut can lead to a variety of health issues, including IBD, IBS, and even autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis. Chiropractic care has been shown to reduce inflammation in the body in several ways, including by reducing the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and increasing the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines.

A third possible mechanism by which chiropractic care may improve gut health is by improving spinal alignment. Spinal misalignments, or subluxations, can disrupt nerve function and lead to a variety of health issues, including gut dysbiosis. Chiropractic adjustments aim to correct spinal misalignments, which may help restore nerve function and improve gut health.

Go With Your Gut…Today

While the research is exciting, we have only begun to fully understand the beneficial relationship between chiropractic care and gut health. However, in the meantime, our not understanding all the benefits does not mean that you can’t begin reaping those benefits today.

Find a 100 Year Lifestyle provider near you today, and get start living 100:100, at 100% for 100 years or more! Your gut will thank you!