Gut health is important for optimal wellness for everyone but it is especially important to women! A healthy gut helps to boost your immunity and your mood. It is also important for absorption of nutrients in your diet to help give you the energy that you need to live your life to the fullest.
A healthy gut helps to boost your immunity and can be helpful in preventing Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) and infection that affects half of all women . UTIs can cause pelvic pain, bladder pain, increased urge to urinate, pain upon urination and can lead to blood in the urine. UTIs can lead to kidney infections and in today's climate of bacterial resistance can lead to recurrent UTIs. Studies in The Journal of Clinical Infectious Disease show that improving gut health through probiotics can restore the natural bacterial environment in the gut and help establish a balance of bacteria that will reduce the balance of E-Coli strains that reside there. E-coli is the primary cause of potential UTIs. This was especially shown to possibly prevent recurrent UTIs. As a woman, gut health is very important for urinary tract health.
Gut health is also important in managing and preventing symptoms of Autoimmune Diseases. Autoimmune disease is where the immune system mistakenly attacks one or more parts of your body and recognizes it as foreign. Autoimmune diseases include Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Celiac Disease, Type 1 Diabetes and Multiple Sclerosis to name a few. Interstitial Cystitis or Painful Bladder Syndrome is now also thought to be autoimmune. Women account for 78.8% of all autoimmune diagnosis. When the tight junctions in the gut become weak, substances and toxins from the gut can leak into the blood stream and thus lead to autoimmune diseases or increased autoimmune symptoms.
Improving gut health also helps to boost mood as serotonin is produced in the gut. One in three women will have met criteria for an anxiety disorder at lease once in their lifetime. Another reason for women to improve gut health.
Smart strategies to keep in mind to improve gut health:
Remove foods that may cause sensitivity such as gluten and dairy. Listen to your body and how it reacts. Look for bloating and other GI issues.
Replace packaged and processed foods with whole foods including fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables provide fiber to keep your GI tract moving for natural detoxification. They also act as a prebiotic or food for probiotics.
Replenish good bacteria in your gut with probiotics or fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, or yogurt. Please note that fermented foods are not recommended for those who have bladder pain. The full list of foods can be found in my free report at www.ditchbladderpain.com
Supplements can be helpful and L-glutamine acts as an important source of energy for intestinal and immune cells. Zinc helps to boost immunity and is beneficial in healing the gut lining. You can find the L-glutamine and Zinc that I recommend under my favorites at https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/thefulfilledpharmacist all at 15% off!
An overall healthy lifestyle that includes movement, drinking water and reducing stress all can contribute to improved gut health as well. As women, we all lead a busy lifestyle and improving gut health can boost our energy by improving absorption of nutrients in our foods. It can also help boost our mood and immunity to prevent infection including UTIs and decrease symptoms of autoimmune disease. This is important for all women especially women who have a painful bladder from Painful Bladder Syndrome (Interstitial Cystitis) or Urinary Tract Infections. Good gut health is a smart strategy for overall optimal health for all women!