Your Gut Knows
Posted on January 1, 2020 by dragonspitapothecary
It’s true our guts are like a second heartbeat in our body. Our gut has instincts warning us of stressors, danger and harm. It also is like a central processing center taking in all we put in our bodies to break it down, sort it out and send it in all directions to our cells. Our gut is the first place we often find the answers to life’s big and small questions, our problems in life and where to look for health. What a powerful system right there in center of our body.
Our body is so intricately designed that it can sometimes be challenging to see the root cause of a problem. So many systems, functions and operations are impacted by a single thing. For example if we feel cold on our skin this immediately races off throughout our body giving us the sensation of being cold while our mind tells us to go get socks on our feet and we instantly start looking at other areas of our body that also may be cold. This same messaging and triggering of activity occurs every time our digestive system starts receiving food, instincts, or is responding to a threat like a germ or virus. Amazingly, our digestive system holds the power of over 70% of our health. This quite honestly makes it the system we should all be looking at first if we are wanting to improve our health. So if we’re constantly fighting sniffles it could be something in our diet that’s preventing us from building immunity against them. If we’re constantly stressed out you can trust your digestive system is responding – most likely with some IBS, upset stomach or cramping. If you want to know how healthy you actually are look at your gut. Yep, just look down and start listening.
Loving My Gut
It can be hard to love something that we’re not fond of. Most of us are not happy with our weight. We have muffin tops, donuts or some other label for our stomach area. We are constantly squeezing our rolls or pushing them into fitted waistbands and complaining about it. To be quite frank I have a love-hate relationship with my stomach region. I love to eat, I love a good meal and yet I fuss about my jeans not fitting or not being able to breathe once I get them buttoned. I get mad at myself and am constantly feeling bloated and am quite tired of not losing weight easily. Seriously it should actually be just as easy to take off as it was to put on!
My relationship with my gut isn’t perfect. We continually love-hate one another. It fusses at me with gurgles, rumbles, cramps and heartburn when I overdo it or try to force changes it’s not ready to receive. I fuss at it for not looking better, being smaller and making me think I’m always hungry. Yet I know we need one another and somehow we need to improve our connection, establish a better relationship and invest in being healthy together. I am not able to emotionally and physically lose weight, feel better or more healthy without including my gut’s needs.
Since January is a month for simplifying things and establishing new routines, I decided this month to apply that thinking to my health. Given the history I have with diets, weight loss programs, failed attempts at curbing cravings and suffering from it all I knew my gut would not easily accept the declaration that I was about to try it again. We would struggle and there may even be tears or even some constipation at times but I am determined to figure out how to get along with my stomach better. If I want to actually improve my health I know I need change this relationship and give some credence to my body knowing what it needs to accomplish and sustain health.