HOLISTIC HEALTH NOTEBOOK

That heady title is the header of an article I just read on the importance of maintaining gut integrity. (GALT is an acronym for Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue.) The statement of purpose for the article encapsulates just how important the gut is in terms of whole body health. Ancient healers say that "all disease begins in the colon." Perhaps we could also say that all health begins in the colon, as we nourish and heal this important tissue.

carolSIMONTACCHI csimontacchi@earthlink.net Parenthetically (trivia question of the week), how much food does the average person consume in a lifetime? Answer to follow below…

We can easily suppose that dysfunction within the GI tract results in typical digestive diseases as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and even colorectal cancer. But the point the author makes is that gut issues are related to many other conditions, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and an imbalanced immunologic function, creating or contributing to a whole range of problems like Type I diabetes, Hashimoto thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis.

As with any other health condition, we like to approach GI health from a holistic perspective. I like to start by eliminating factors that irritate, like food allergies, non-foods, and stress, and help the body compensate with medications like antibiotics are required. Antibiotics kill both friendly and pathogenic bacteria. Friendly bacteria are incredibly important to the body, as they aid in the digestion of food, synthesize some vitamins, help produce energy, modulate immune system function, assist in epithelial cell differentiation (to help prevent cancer), and keep pathogenic bacterial from taking over. New evidence shows that the persistent interactions between us and our friendly bacteria may constantly alter the immune system. According to the author of this article (himself a practicing medical doctor), altered GI flora is found in nearly 15 percent of the population who are affected by IBS. The immune dysfunction of IBD is influenced by gut flora.

The most common probiotic bacteria are bifidobacterium (25 percent of adult colonic bacteria and 95 percent of a breastfed newborn), lactobacillus (broken down by many different strains), and saccharomyces boulardii, a yeast product that inhibits the growth of pathogens.

I have found that diarrhea or other gut distress can often be stopped dramatically by oral dosing with saccharomyces boulardii.

He also favors the use of probiotics like fructooligosaccharides (FOS) that help the bacteria implant and grow where they belong.

Answer to the trivia question: 30 to 60 tons of food. Wow! Hats off and profuse thanks to farmers.

— Carol is a certified lifestyle educator at the offices of Dr. Alan Gruning in Fort Myers, 939-3303. She owns the Island Nutrition Center on Sanibel, 472-4499.