What influences our gut health? There are a myriad of factors involved in good health, and your gut has a profound influence on it, from your immune system to your mental well-being. It is critical, so taking care of your digestive function is very important. When thinking about our digestive system, it is important to be aware that it can be altered very easily. Modern life, high stress and modern pharmaceutical preparations, such as antibiotics, can wreak havoc on our digestive system, as can refined and processed foods that are produced with a high calorie count but little nutritional value.
The effects of stress on our intestines
So when we address the issue of CBD being good for our gut, we have to approach the whole issue from all angles. If we think about stress and our digestive system, it is a simple survival mechanism that can upset your gut. When we are under stress our body goes into survival mode, this is very primitive and it perceives any stress as a threat to our life, so our body is preparing us to attack the threat or escape. In other words, it is preparing us for physical activity. Unfortunately, in modern life, our stresses do not tend to need us to attack or escape. Bills arriving at our door, threats of losing our jobs, or fear of invisible viruses-all these things cause the same stress reaction in our bodies. Our bodies unconsciously prepare us to attack or run, diverting blood to our muscles to make us active and to our brains to make us alert. But that blood has to come from somewhere, and it comes, for the most part, from our digestive system. So in a nutshell, our digestive system under great stress effectively deactivates itself to move blood to where it is needed, to fight or flee. If we do something physical, such as fight or flight, or the more appropriate modern response of exercising, this helps to dissipate the stress hormones that alert us to the need for fight or flight. As the hormones are dissipated, our bodies return to balance and our digestion works again.
Unfortunately, for many of us, we don't attack, run or exercise because we have created a modern world that is very sedentary, so under high stress we sit and absorb it and begin to develop gut problems caused by chronic stress. This is the classic kind of problem that causes irritable bowel syndrome or IBS (Irritable Bowel Disease). This prolonged, constant stress to which we are not reacting with a healthy response can cause bizarre symptoms, andIBS is certainly one of them. Therefore, the number one thing to do if you know you are under stress is to exercise. In addition, you can calm stress with breathing exercises and meditation, so we highly recommend you do that.
When our gut is working properly our mental health will be more stable and our immune system will also work more effectively. Now, we know that there are more emotional neurons and nerve endings in our digestive system than in our brain, hence the term "gut instinct." Certainly many of us have experienced, during a time of worry or shock, the distress associated with stomach cramps or digestive pain just below the rib cage. This is simply a re4action of our body reflecting our anxieties and fears. Other important aspects of gut health are eating fermented foods regularly and taking a good quality probiotic and prebiotic.
Modern life is quite sterile and we clean everything and live in constant fear of bacteria and germs when in some cases we should be embracing them instead. We don't know how many bacteria there are and in the human body, in fact, there are so many that we can't count them, yet we think bacteria are our enemies. When everything is in balance, bacteria, without a doubt, are our friends; in fact, they are the essence of life.
Consuming fermented foods is also very helpful. They can be prepared directly at home or can also be purchased in well-stocked stores. Those commonly available are sauerkraut and kimchi, which help put all the healthy bacteria back into your intestines. There are a lot of reasons why the bacteria in your gut can get out of balance, so consistently putting in good bacteria will help your digestive system function better and better, reducing the need for unnatural medications.
Can CBD oil be used for gut health? One of the first things we need to point out when talking about the qualities of CBD oil is that we are unable to make any health claims, and any CBD company that does is not acting with integrity or honesty. What we can say is that the cannabis plant has been shown to have an abundance of healthy compounds, so it is easy to see why many people use it when trying to promote a healthy lifestyle.
