Top 10 Gut Killers
Do you know that your immune system is in the gut? About 70 percent of cells that make up your immune system is in the gut wall. When your gut bacteria are sick, so are you. There are numerous health conditions associated with damage to the gut flora, including acid reflux, diverticulitis, Crohn’s disease, some auto-immune disorders. That is why, if you want to be healthy, the first thing to do is to get your gut bacteria healthy.
There are many things that are responsible for the rise of the bowel and auto-immune disorders. Nevertheless, here are the top 10 things you have to avoid to prevent the damage of your gut bacteria.
1. Antibiotics
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Antibiotics damage gut flora and that is why it is recommended to avoid taking them each time you feel sick. Nevertheless, there are many people who stick to antibiotics only when necessary but their gut flora still gets damaged by them. The thing is that quite often, we do not realize that we take antibiotics without any prescriptions, simply by eating certain foods such as meat or dairy.
In the United States, many farm animals are given antibiotics to cope with their deplorable living conditions. If you are what you eat, then cows fed with antibiotics produce milk with antibiotics and, what is more, their meet becomes a source of antibiotics as well. So every time you eat meat or dairy that comes from such animals, you contribute to the damage of healthy bacteria in your gut. But there is a solution: you can always choose organic meat and dairy that comes from grass-fed animals.
2. Drugs
These are not just antibiotics that harm your gut flora. Most of the medications you take are essentially chemicals, including those toxic ones that can cause ill health and death to your gut flora. Drugs that damage your healthy gut bacteria include painkillers, mood-altering drugs, chemotherapy and many more.
3. Pesticides
Pesticides were created to kill life, so the fact that you have to avoid pesticides getting into your body is not surprising. Nevertheless, it is not an easy thing to do as today most of the fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy contain pesticides.
Insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides are used to hinder competition and allow the vegetation to produce more. So when we eat fruits and vegetables grown with pesticides, we allow them to come into the gut and damage its flora. What is more, meat and dairy that comes from animals fed with pesticides-grown fruits, vegetables, or corn, become a second-hand source of these harmful chemicals.
4. Preservatives
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Preservatives are chemicals added by manufacturers to food in order to extend its shelf life. These chemicals create a poor environment for life forms including healthy bacteria. So when you ingest them into your gut, you contribute to the creation of a less healthy environment for your healthy gut flora.
5. Artificial Flavors, Colors, and Sweeteners
You have to understand that chemicals are not food and ought not to be ingested. Both artificial flavors, colors, and sweeteners are laboratory synthesized substances, so they create a less healthy environment in your gut. What is worse, when your body tries to break down such chemicals, they fall into even worse by-products that can literally kill your gut flora and become a reason for the development of numerous health issues.
6. Trans Fats
Trans fats, also known as partially hydrogenated oils, are not natural. They were created by humans to serve as partly natural preservatives. Foods that contain trans fats have much longer shelf life, so if you wonder how pancakes can live up to 2 years in the box, know that it is because of trans fats. When it comes to the effect they have on your gut flora, it is the same to other preservatives. The thing to understand is that apart from negatively affecting your gut flora, trans fats have a number of another side effects. That is why it will be wise to exclude them from your diet. The truth to remember is that no amount of trans fats is healthy.
7. GMO Foods
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Although we do not know about a long-term effect done by eating GMO vegetation, we know that GMO’s were created to withstand the application of pesticides.
First of all, farmers can spray down their crops with chemicals without the fear of killing them. Although these chemicals do not kill GMO vegetation, it does not mean that it does not kill our gut flora.
Secondly, some GMO plants require fewer pesticides as they can produce their own. So eating such plants is equal to eating pure sources of pesticides.
Thirdly, GMO foods affect meat and dairy we eat. It means that is animals are fed with non-organic GMO foods, their milk and meat becomes a source of these chemicals.
8. Halogens In Tap Water
City water systems contain such anti-bacterial elements as chlorine and some other halogens that can easily damage your gut flora. That is why it is wise to avoid drinking tap water. Even if it is stated that water in your region is safe to drink, it is probably not true. It is so, because even as little as 2-3 ppm chlorine keeps bacteria from growing, while municipal water systems allow up to 4 ppm chlorine in the water.
9. Pasteurization
Pasteurized products are those without any bacteria. The process of pasteurization kills both good and bad bacteria, so such foods have nothing to offer in terms of replenishing to the gut. Eating raw foods is always a better option as they contain natural healthy bacteria — an excellent way to replenish the intestinal flora.
10. High-Pressure Processing
High-pressure processing is an alternative to pasteurization. Nevertheless, it does not mean that it is healthier. Life forms in such processed foods are killed by pressure as high as 87,000 pounds per square inch. As you can guess, both bad and good bacteria get killed. What is more, the process contributes to the damage of essential nutrients, so products processed with high-pressure ave zero benefits to your health. In other words, by eating such foods, you feed your body with empty calories.