“The immune system present in the gut makes more immunological decisions in a day than the rest of the immune system does in a lifetime”.  (1)

If your immune system isn’t behaving itself properly, you might want to consider that your digestive system is the culprit.

Your digestive system has a special mucosal lining over the surface of your intestines, and the health of your gut flora (the complex, extremely important colony of bacteria within your digestive system, also known as the microbiome) has a huge amount of immune decisions to make on a daily basis – it has to deal with bacteria, viruses and food, and decide each time whether it is a friend or foe.

Setting up the gut bugs

The bacteria within your gut are established within the first 20 days of life.  If the bacterial colony does not set up adequately, babies can be immune compromised and can be more prone to immune imbalances later on in life, as well as increased inflammation which is largely controlled by our immune cells.

Frequent use of antibiotics can severely impact on the health of your digestive system.  In some cases, certain bacteria can never recover after they have been killed by antibiotics (2).

The gut reports to the immune system

There is a special type of cell within the digestive system called a dendritic cell.  This cell is responsible for determining whether our immune system should be on high alert or not.  Occasionally this cell will extend a little feeler (almost like a tentacle) and take a handful of whatever is in your digestive system to examine, to then report back to the rest of the immune system whether everything is okay or not.  This can explain why your diet can have an effect on allergic conditions such as hayfever and eczema, as well as autoimmune conditions (3).

Immune cells in the gut

There are also a lot of other players involved in the gut, such as Immunoglobulin A (sIgA) and certain T lymphocytes.  sIgA helps to protect the epithelial layer from being inhabited by bacteria and viruses.  This helpful immunoglobin is actually produced by lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) which are actually created by Bifidobacteria (a good bacteria that exists mostly in the colon).  Unfortunately, Bifidobacteria are easily damaged, especially by antibiotics.

Enzymes do more than digest food

When you think about digestive enzymes, you’ll probably be thinking that they’re there to break down your food so it’s primed for absorbing.  They also have another important role to play, and that’s in breaking down substances that might be harmful to your immune system.  Due to poor eating habits, the secretion of enzymes is compromised in a large proportion of people.  Implementing habits such as chewing each mouthful more and taking time to enjoy and concentrate on your meal are helpful for stimulating the cephalic phase of digestion – where your brain tells the rest of the digestive system to get ready for food, and consequently more enzymes and acids are produced.

Fix your gut to improve your immunity

By now you are probably realizing that keeping your gut healthy is pretty dang important. In order to achieve this, there are a few strategies that can be implemented, all depending on how bad your gut and immune system is to begin with.

I highly recommend working with a practitioner in this, particularly if you are looking to assess and treat specific microbial imbalances, as it can be a complicated process that may require stool analysis, and some gut infections can take a long time to resolve so it’s helpful having the support of a practitioner.

Balance your gut flora: This process may need to start with a stool analysis to see if you’re lacking in certain beneficial bacteria, or whether you have a unfriendly bug that needs killing off. Depending on where your gut flora is at, you may need to look at using some herbal anti-microbial herbs or oils to kill off the unfriendly bugs, and also replacing the good guys with a probiotic supplement, as well as probiotic and prebiotic foods.

Repair the gut lining: There are plenty of options when it comes to gut healing. Things like slippery elm, the amino acid glutamine and glycine are my favorite tools for repairing the gut lining. Other options that can be helpful include Aloe Vera and Bone broths.

You also need ample supply of protein in your diet, as well as the mineral zinc.

Avoid irritating foods: This can be different for everyone, but some of the most common irritants for gut health include wheat, dairy and processed soy. As frustrating as it is, food intolerances can be developed to anything, so if you’re unsure what you’re intolerant or sensitive to it may be worthwhile completing an elimination diet or a food intolerance test.

Processed foods, sugar, alcohol and coffee can damage the gut lining as well so if gut healing is your goal it’s worthwhile keeping these foods out of the diet, or at least to a minimum.

Minimise stress: Interestingly the state of our gut and our mental health are interconnected (you can read more about this here) so it makes sense that if you are stressed, anxious or adrenally fatigued it is going to impair your gut healing journey.

Yep, stress affects everything in our body, and this includes stress of all forms. So even if your house isn’t on fire or something similarly dramatic, it doesn’t mean you’re not affected by stress. In this day and age there are a lot of pressures and expectations on people, everyone is usually in a rush and we’ve also got less support networks and rituals in place to help us deal with these stresses. On top of that, most people consume a diet that is less abundant in the nutrients that our bodies need to cope with stress, so it’s no wonder that stress has such as huge impact on our health and wellbeing.

Of course everyone deals with stress differently so the degree to which it affects your health will vary, but I recommend that everyone (regardless of whether you’re trying to heal your gut or not) incorporates stress management techniques into their day. This can include exercise, yoga, meditation, mental stillness, leisure time, time spent with friends or family, or journaling.

Works Cited

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You’ve probably been hearing about fermented foods recently – things like how you can have a spoonful of sauerkraut alongside your dinner or add some kefir to your smoothie or muesli for a myriad of awesome health perks. I thought it might be helpful to remind you of just WHY health nerds like myself have been banging on about fermented food awesomeness and so I’ve compiled a little list for you:

BETTER GUT HEALTH

The process of fermentation breaks down sugars in the food, and in this process lactic acid is created. This lactic acid helps to feed the good guys in your guts, aiding in a better microbiome.
Eating fermented foods will also introduce beneficial bacteria to your digestive system, again helping achieve a better microbiome.

Here’s just a few reminders on why a healthy microbiome is awesome:

1.  Better immune health
2. Better digestive health with less unhappy gut symptoms like bloating, farting, diarrhoea/constipation and pain
3. Better mood (you can read more about that here)
4. More energy
5. Less inflammation, less aches and pains

BETTER NUTRIENT ABSORPTION

The presence of the lactic acid helps some nutrients to be better absorbed and used by the body. In fermented vegies you get more Vitamin A and Vitamin C, in fermented dairy like kefir and yoghurt you get more B vitamins and in some cheeses Vitamin K2. If grains have been sprouted prior to fermenting the protein is much better absorbed, and enzymes that reduce mineral absorption are limited as well.

Have you noticed improvements in your health from fermented foods? Let me know below!

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Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish made from fermented vegetetables.  Kimchi has a tangy, slightly spicy flavour and is a good side to a lot of dishes.  Fermented food is awesome for your digestive system, because it helps the friendly bacteria in our digestive system to stay in balance, which can help with all sorts of health conditions, especially digestive complaints like bloating.

I’ve been experimenting by making various fermented foods, and Kimchi is my favourites, mostly because it tastes good.  I like to have a couple of tablespoons of kimchi with one of my meals most days and encourage my patients to do the same, as I am pretty excited about the benefits it offers.

I totally get that making your own fermented foods is probably a little daunting, it’s a bit time consuming (not every day though) and sounds weird if you haven’t heard of the concept before – but it’s worth it!

When you ferment vegies, you get a whole heap of benefits:

• The food becomes more digestible
• The vitamins are heaps easier to use by the body
• More enzymes are produced, which help digestion
• Your gut’s good bacteria increase, which means better digestion and better immune health
• Fermented foods help clear out unwanted heavy metals such as mercury and aluminium
• Fermented foods promote an alkaline environment, which is important for general health
• Fermentation is a natural preservation technique, and is actually the only method that doesn’t kill off nutrients in the process.

Ingredients:

Day 1:

• Sea salt (not table salt)
• Half a purple cabbage (normal cabbage is fine, I just like the colour)
• 3 carrots (i used a combo of orange and purple carrots)
• Optional – other vegies can include beetroot, green beans, radishes, seaweeds

Day 2:

• 1 red onion
• 1 red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped
• 8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp freshly grated ginger
• Spices, e.g. cumin, coriander, turmeric, caraway, fennel.

How to:

Prepare the brine by mixing approximately 1 tbsp salt into 1L of filtered water, stirring to dissolve.  You want it to be salt, but palatable.  If you are not using whey, you may need to add more salt to preserve it until the fermentation process starts.

Thinly slice the cabbage using a mandolin or a slicing attachment on the food processor, and either grate, or quarter and thinly slice the carrot.  Submerge these vegies (along with any of the other vegies with the exception of garlic and onion) in the brine and allow to soak overnight.  You can put a smaller plate on top of the vegies and weight it with a can to ensure they’re fully submerged.

The next day drain the soaked vegetables (reserving the brine) and mix through the chopped garlic, ginger, chilli, onion and a generous amount of spices of your choosing to the kimchi.

In the mean time sterilise 2 large jars with boiling water and allow to air dry.

Pack the combined vegies into the jars, pressing down firmly and adding more brine if needed to submerge the vegies fully.  Close or cover the jar with muslin or a clean tea towel and then let it sit in a warm place.  Snap lock jars work best for storing fermented foods, but a screw top jar will be fine.  If you close the lid of the jar rather than cover with cloth you may need to ‘burp’ (open) the kimchi every few days to let out some pressure.

It usually takes about a week for the fermentation process to complete – you know it’s worked when the vegies taste ‘ripe’ and have a sharp acidic smell, but it shouldn’t smell off.  It’s a good idea to check the vegies every 1-2 days so that you don’t let it go too far.  Once it’s complete, seal the jar and store in the fridge.  You can eat it straight away or store for a few months.

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Ever wanted to tame the microbes in your gut?

You’re not alone. Complaints such as bloating, irritable bowel and flatulence are very common in my clinic. Thanks to a certain television ad, most of us are aware that having the right balance between the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ bacteria in our gut (stomach and intestines) is highly important for overall health and well being. You may also be aware that antibiotics, the oral contraceptive pill, chlorine in our drinking water and factors such as stress can interfere with levels of good bacteria in the gut. Antibiotics are particularly problematic because they do not discriminate between the good and the bad bacteria in the gut, killing indiscriminately.

Following antibiotic use or if there are general gut symptoms such as bloating or diarrhoea, many people turn to probiotic supplements to help restore levels of good bacteria in the gut. While this is advisable, in my opinion just taking probiotic supplements in isolation is not enough, particularly when we consider that most probiotic supplements only contain 2-10 species / strains of ‘good bacteria’, yet over 400 bacterial species have been identified in our gut.

The right amount of good bacteria is important for healthy intestinal absorption and digestion of nutrients, and also for enhancing the immune system as up to 70% of the immune system is actually found in the gut.  A healthy gut has been shown to decrease prevalence of allergy in susceptible individuals. The gut is also the site of much of the production of serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for a good mood, so if your gut is not functioning well, your mood may well be affected.  Clearly good gut health is important, so how do we get the balance of good bacteria back into the gut if our intestinal health is not what it should be?

Fermented & cultured foods

Fermented foods (i.e. foods containing naturally occuring healthy bacteria) offer a delicious and nutritious way to get the good bacteria back into your gut. This is because they are a great source of naturally occurring probiotics. Fermented foods are not a new fad; they have been used for centuries as daily nourishment in many countries including India, Japan, Vietnam and Africa. Many people report less bloating, gas, fatigue and bowel issues after using fermented foods. Examples of fermented foods with naturally occurring probiotics include live yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchee, kombuscha, and soybean-based miso and natto.

Fermentation in food describes the process of lacto fermentation, where naturally occurring healthy microorganisms such as the lactobacillus bacteria feast on sugars and other carbohydrates in foods, creating lactic acid as a by-product. The growth of these bacteria in fermented foods affects the composition and function of the bacteria in the gut in many different ways. Their presence not only increases the digestibility of food, they can also increase the nutritional content of the food, for example, vitamin C is more bio-available in fermented cabbage than fresh cabbage.

Fermented foods offer a fantastic way to:

(1) Increase the variety of healthy bacterial strains in the gut;

(2) Increase the quantity of healthy bacteria in the gut, particularly if you feed the probiotics ‘prebiotic’ foods (more on prebiotics below); and

(3) Discourage the presence of the bad bacteria that cause bloating and other gut related symptoms.

Prebiotics promote the growth of good bacteria in the gut as they function as a food source for the probiotic. Prebiotics are things such as inulin and fructooligosaccharides (FOS). You can find these prebiotics in foods such as asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, bananas and shitake mushrooms.

For best results with improving gut health use fermented foods on a daily basis. My top three fermented/cultured foods (in no particular order) are:

1. Kefir

Kefir is a fermented milk drink that tastes similar to natural yogurt. It is one of my favourite fermented foods as not only does it contain high levels of probiotics, it also contains prebiotics such as inulin, which act as a food source for the good bacteria and ensures the probiotics multiply.

My favourite brand of Kefir is the Babushka brand, which you can find at good health food stores. As well as containing high levels of healthy cultures/bacteria (approx 12 billion CFU [colony-forming units] per shot), Kefir is also delicious and perfect for kids as it comes in kid-friendly flavours such as strawberry and honey. Despite the fact that it is a dairy product, it is actually very helpful for those with lactose intolerance. Studies have shown that lactose intolerant adults drinking kefir either eliminated or drastically reduced symptoms related to lactose intolerance. It is believed that the healthy bacteria in kefir possess the enzyme that is necessary to digest lactose.

2. Miso paste

Miso paste is a fermented food that contains healthy bacteria similar to that found in our gut. The healthy bacteria grow during the fermentation process of miso.  Always choose unpasturised miso as pasturisation kills the good bacteria.

My favourite brand is Spiral foods.  Care should be taken not to boil the miso as this destroys the cultures/bacteria.  Add it at the last moment to a soup in place of stock or use cold as part of a salad dressing.

3. Fermented vegetables

Fermented vegetables have been used for centuries. Sauerkraut is a fantastic example of an Eastern European fermented food that many of you will be familiar with. Fermentation by lactobacilli cultures occurs naturally in Sauerkraut as the healthy lactobacilli bacteria multiply on raw cabbage leaves where they grow. Lactobacilli are not the only culture to be found, leuconostoc and pediococcus have also been noted.

When it comes to sauerkraut you are best making your own rather than buying it from a supermarket as quality can be an issue (plenty of recipes exist on the internet). Supermarket versions tend to pickle the cabbage in vinegar, unlike traditional methods which favour just water and sea salt. Water and sea salt is preferable as unlike the vinegar, it promotes growth of healthy bacteria cultures. If you do want save time and just buy some fermented vegetables then my favourite brand is by Life in a jar http://www.lifeinajar.com.au.

I couldn’t miss the opportunity to highlight kimchee, a traditional Korean probiotic-rich food similar to the sauerkraut described above. It is comprised of an assortment of fermented vegetables (usually cabbage, carrot and cucumber) and like the sauerkraut above, the vegetables are fermented over a long period, which ensures growth of probiotic cultures for gut health. If you ever go to a Korean restaurant, be sure to order some kimchee.

Many places now offer classes that teach you how to make fermented vegetables and offer tips on how to add these to your daily meals. Examples include BU Organics in Bondi Junction, partly run by my favourite chef Pete Evans where they teach you how to make cultured vegetables and coconut kefir, yum! If you are interested in reading more on the benefits of fermented and cultured foods check out the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon as she dedicates a whole chapter to them and includes some lovely recipes.

Lisa Costa Bir – Naturopathic nutritionist, Ayurvedic lifestyle consultant, Lecturer & Food Coach web content coordinator

B App Sc. Naturopathy, Grad Dip. Naturopathy

Lisa maintains a practice in South Sydney and lectures at Endeavour College of Natural Therapies.

Connect with her on facebook under ‘Lisa Costa Bir Naturopath’ or check out her site at www.lisacostabirnaturopath.com.au

The post Foods to stop BLOATING and FARTING: Fermented Foods appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.