Focus On Your Gut Health

There is a saying that goes, good health begins in the gut. The digestive system is an extremely important part of our bodies. Even if you eat the healthiest foods, if your gut isn’t working properly, it is very likely nothing else will be working optimally either. 

Today, however, we know that the gut does more than just digest our food. We also know that the gut is a critical part of a properly functioning immune system. Indeed, it acts as part of our first line defense. The gut is also intimately linked with our brain and its health. The gut is the source of much of our serotonin production, and some scientists even refer to the gut as our “second brain”. 

Ultimately, we know that gut health is important. 

Yet, how many people suffer from problems with the gut, such as acid reflux, upset stomach, poor digestion, or even problems with healthy elimination? These sort of problems are quite frequent for many people. To that end, these types of problems with the gut quite possibly could be a sign of something deeper. 

What Does Gut Health Have To Do With Fungus?

Gut health is intimately linked with The Kaufmann Diet, and understanding how yeast and fungus can affect the gut is key to understanding how The Kaufmann Diet can potentially provide relief for health problems not just with the gut, but problems that may be seemingly unrelated to gut health. 

Naturally, we all have multiple pounds of beneficial bacteria lining our digestive system. These good bacteria perform a wide variety of tasks that assist us in maintaining good health. These bacteria perform tasks that ultimately:

• • • Assist in digestion
    • Provide a source of certain nutrients
      
    • Play a role in our immune health

Importantly, too, when these cultures of bacteria are healthy, they prevent other, more virulent organisms from taking hold––organisms like yeast and fungus. 

Naturally, we all have a certain amount of yeasts in our gut. However, when bacterial cultures become damaged, these yeasts can overgrow, and this is when problems can start to develop. 

How Do We Damage Our Bacterial Colonies? 

Importantly, when we take antibiotics––something most people have to do at a certain point in their life––these bacterial colonies can become damaged. Interestingly, antibiotics are actually derived from fungi. These drugs are fungal byproducts––known as mycotoxins––designed to kill bacteria, and they accomplish this job very well. 

But even if you are not on antibiotics frequently, can you still damage your beneficial bacteria?

The answer is yes; there are a variety of ways this can happen:

• • • Poor diet––high in processed foods, sugar, and food additives––is known to affect the microbiome
    • Drugs and alcohol can negative affect beneficial bacterial colonies 
    • Stress can negatively affect the gut and the microbiome

Still, there are other ways the gut can be negatively affected. Our mycotoxin exposure is not limited just to antibiotics. We know that these poisons contaminate many of the foods we eat on a daily basis, such as corn, grains, peanuts, and other foods. If you are regularly eating these foods, it is possible that your beneficial bacteria are being negatively affected. 

Furthermore, if you are eating these high carbohydrate foods and other forms of sugar, you are providing yeast the fuel that it needs to flourish. With a lack of competition for resources due to diminished bacterial colonies, the problem can escalate to a condition known as dysbiois, or an overgrowth of gut yeast. Many practitioners believe that this is the way in which many people who suffer from fungal problems initiate these issues; from the gut, fungi can proliferate throughout the body to cause health problems that can be difficult to diagnose or treat. 

Still have questions?

Join our LIVE Q&A stream every week if you would like to ask a question! Learn more about the live show and join in here: KTC Too! – Doug Kaufmann’s Know the Cause

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