Your gut plays a significant role in overall health, but many people experience digestion issues like bloating, cramping, constipation, and diarrhea due to lack of nutrients, food sensitivities, bad bacteria overgrowth, stress, or inflammation. Inflammation in the gut can also impact the brain and skin, leading to depression or skin conditions. Taking steps to improve gut health like removing inflammatory foods, taking probiotics, enzymes, vitamin D, and glutamine can help repair the gut and reduce inflammation throughout the body.

1. Love Your Gut - 5 Steps to Better Health
Your gut, your belly, your stomach, your core. It’s the very center of
your body and, as evidence in the nutrition and functional medicine
field suggests, plays a significant role in overall health.
We’re all familiar with the standard digestion-related symptoms:
bloating, cramping, constipation, vomiting and diarrhea. One or more
of these symptoms are indeed red flags that something isn’t quite right
in your body.
Before you reach for the Pepto, there are a few things you should know. Your food may not be
digesting properly due to a lack of nutrients that make stomach acid (like zinc) or not enough
digestive enzymes that help break things down properly. Or maybe you’ve developed a food
sensitivity, such as from the hard-to-digest protein in gluten (gliadin) or dairy (casein). Or, like
many of us, you may have an overgrowth of bad bacteria, which can result from too many
medications like antibiotics, ibuprofen or even birth control. Or it could be a result of good old,
chronic stress. As mothers, it wouldn’t be surprising if we were suffering from more than one of
these conditions.
Even if you don’t have any of the standard poor digestion symptoms, you could still have gut
inflammation impacting the rest of your body. We are learning that there are other symptoms,
such as depression and skin issues, that are a direct result of gut inflammation.
The gut-brain connection suggests that the brain is our “second gut”. Often times where there
are gut issues, there are brain issues. For example, our hormones, such as serotonin (which
serves as a primary neurotransmitter that controls mood), are actually more prevalent in the gut
than the brain! Many experts also support the gut-skin connection theory which links
inflammation in the intestines to skin conditions, such as acne and eczema.
So this Valentine’s season, give yourself some extra love and take the steps to improve your gut
health. Or reach out to a local Function Medicine Practitioner to get testing done. Your entire
body will thank you!
5 ways nutrition can improve gut function:
1. The standard protocol for treating gut health is called the 4Rs: Remove, Repair,
Reinoculate, Repair. It is critical to remove all potentially inflammatory and toxic
foods from your diet: gluten, dairy, corn, soy, sugar. Depending on the level of
inflammation, it is commonly recommended to remove these foods for 3 months and
access how you feel.

2. 2. Take a probiotic daily to help replenish good bacteria while eating up the bad bacteria.
Healthy bacteria, which have nutrients as byproducts , such as Lactobacillus acidophilus
and Bifidobacterium infantis, can help restore proper gut ecology and function. It is
recommended to consume probiotics in food and/or supplement form, at least 50 billion
units per day. Food sources include: yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, miso soup, apple cider
vinegar, and kombucha.
3. Consider taking a digestive enzyme to help ensure foods are fully digested and
decrease the chance that partially digested food particles and proteins are damaging the
gut wall. Enzymes help completely break down proteins, complex sugars and starches
which can reduce intestinal inflammation. It is recommended to take one or two capsules
at the beginning of each meal.
4. Get your vitamin D checked! Our main source of vitamin D is the sun, so in the winter
months it is even more important to ensure your levels are where they need to be to
prevent inflammation. Since most of us are deficient, I would recommend
supplementing with a good vitamin D tincture or tablet of 2000-3000 IU/day.
5. Supplement with glutamine, an essential anti-inflammatory amino acid, that repairs the
gut and intestinal lining. The best food sources include meat, poultry, seafood, eggs,
cabbage, spinach, kale, nuts and seeds. As you repair your gut, it is recommended to
take 2-5 grams 2x-3x daily during then healing phase. There are some good powders
out there, such as Design For Health GI Revive, that that you can simply add to a
smoothie.
As a fellow mom and member of the Larkspur/Corte Madera community, I am here to support
you. If you have any questions or would like to set up an appointment, please do not hesitate to
reach out jessicaulin@gmail.com.
Jessica Ulin is a Nutrition Consultant and a mother of two boys at The Cove
Elementary. She is also a consultant for Beautycounter, a non-toxic skincare and
cosmetics company whose mission is to get cleaner products into the hands of
everyone. www.beautycounter.com/jessicaulin