How Stress Impacts the Microbiome, SIBO, and IMO

Why do I have digestive issues and why do I get sick?

Our intestinal flora has been compromised due to our unnatural state of being in what we consider as normal life in our society. To answer these questions, we have to take it back to the beginning of life itself.

One of the most natural functions as animals, giving birth, has been dehumanized and in fact, we treat child birth like a disease.  The birthing process takes place in sterile hospital rooms and mothers are hooked up intravenously. They are injected with antibiotics which end up affecting the foundation for the baby’s digestive and immune systems.  The antibiotics prescribed, "to prevent infection," often prevent good bacteria from colonizing in the baby’s digestive tract.

Induced labor often leads to caesarian section births, which is another issue.  A baby in the mother’s womb is sterile. The passage through the birth canal, full of healthy bacteria, is the baby’s first exposure to bacteria orally, which helps to colonize the baby’s digestive tract. This is nature’s first vaccine. This does not happen through caesarian sections, which places these newborns at a disadvantage, medically. 

As they grow, children receive immunizations and injections, but over time, society has begun doing this earlier and earlier in life, so much so that most children today live with a compromised intestinal flora and have never truly been healthy because they haven’t been given the chance to develop natural antibodies on their own. They are given antibiotics for every kind infection: ear , throat, sinus, ect. This leads to a long history of taking antibiotics, which is a common factor in people who are chronically ill. The earlier they are started on antibiotics, and the more they take them, the more complicated their systems are later in life, and the harder it is to find a diagnosis. Even though it may have been medically necessary, some people will suffer just from 1 single dose of antibiotics.

Another factor that has a role in harming our intestinal flora is the food we eat.  The amount, frequency with which we eat, and even how we combine our food, even if we eat all organic, can affect our digestive health. Many food combinations, like mixing vegetables and fruits in one sitting, are harmful to our good bacteria.

We continually have foreign invaders traveling down the digestive system. They can only take up residence in our digestive system when there is no good bacteria there to keep them out. Once there, these foreign invaders are fight for the valuable nutrients that our cells need to survive.  They feed off of junk food, and food that has no nutrition value what so ever. Parasites then attack our weakened cells and tissues, literally eating them for lunch, while viruses are invading and taking over our cell's DNA, making our own cells manufacture more viruses. This attack in the intestinal wall has several consequences:

1.     Preventing the body from absorbing nutrients that the body needs to produce hormones, neurotransmitters, and other cells.

2.     Exposes immune system to a plethora of antigens.

3.     Depletes the second brain  forcing all immune responses, hence preventing the body from completing many primary functions.

Creating an environment that good bacteria thrive in will help keep the invaders out, and is the foundation for good health.

Having a compromised digestive system can affect you in every area of your life, from the common cold to, pneumonia, to depression.  Our digestive system is the second brain of the body, and the importance of a healthy intestinal flora cannot be over stated.