As a newer member of the Metametrix team and a Naturopathic Physician by training, naturally, I jumped at the opportunity to talk about Gut Health! Having been asked on a number of occasions to name the most important organ in the body, I find it to be a very difficult task. Indeed, they are all complicated, special, and important in their own rights. However, in offering an opinion on which is my favorite, it becomes a much easier task… because it really is all about the gut!
The GI tract ranges from 15 to 60 feet in length, earning its own prized pedestal placement simply by sheer enormity. And with that kind of size, it’s bound to play a huge role in our overall health. This special, multi-functional organ is not only responsible for integral digestion and assimilation of nutrients, the gut serves as a hormone assembly line, as part of our immune system’s on-the-ground troops, as real estate for our individualized microbial zoos, and the internal body’s communication with our outer environment.
Russian pathologist, E. E. Metchnicoff once stated that “death begins in the colon.” Maybe a little macabre but he was absolutely on to something. Quite simply, he was likely trying to convey the importance of this major organ system. So… because this is the place where many bodily activities occur, with total surface area comparable in size to that of a football field, it absolutely warrants a little TLC and much-deserved discussion.
There are a number of aspects to consider regarding gut health, and in turn overall health. Over the next few weeks, we’ll highlight the following focal points:
- Food allergies, sensitivities, intolerances…dispelling the myths!
- Heal that leaky gut! Repairing your body’s infrastructure.
- Feed that gut! Giving the gut what it wants.
- The Internal Gut Zoo…Why are we so preoccupied with our body’s bugs?
In the meantime, please feel free to check out our GI Effects Complete Profile. It offers clinicians a glimpse into the internal world that’s so very crucial to a patient’s overall health-picture. It also serves to encourage further dialogue about the gut’s modus operandi. Through this test, information on microbiota, including anaerobic species, drug resistant genes, antibiotic and botanical sensitivities, gliadin-specific sIgA, Elastase1, and other inflammatory, digestive, and absorptive markers becomes readily available.
Stay tuned… more to come in the following weeks. —Dr. Marynowski
Your Gut Health – Additional Resources:
