Life Changes, One Week at a Time, 3

If you have read Post #1 and Post #2, you would have learned that we changed the following:

Removed Gluten from our Diets

Removed Night shades from his Diet

Started Running for exercise

Removed Pork from our Diets

No more Canola

Change #6 is the paramount change, as it has taken weeks of reading and understanding. Mr. Mind and I are changing our GUTS. I looked at Hubby and I said "I HATE YOUR GUTS AND I HATE MY GUTS!" This popular children tease has some truth wrapped up tight in it's undermining meaning. So let's break it down.

What's your Gut?

From Wikipedia: "The human gastrointestinal tract is the stomach and intestine,^[1] sometimes including all the structures from the mouth to the anus.^[2] (The "digestive system" is a broader term that includes other structures, including the accessory organs of digestion).^[3]

The GI tract always releases hormones to help regulate the digestive process. These hormones, including gastrin, secretin, cholecystokinin, andghrelin, are mediated through either intracrine or autocrine mechanisms, indicating that the cells releasing these hormones are conserved structures throughout evolution.^[4]" 

<sup>There are a number of diseases that effect the Gut and a number of them begin in the gut. So when I told my husband I hated his guts and hated mine, I was referring to the fact that I hate how sick our guts have made us. We needed a cleaning. So where do you start such a major task? I headed straight to the grocery store refrigerated section and picked up a bottle of kefir. I read that it had live cultures and I knew that it was what we needed. I knew the kifer was commercial and may not be beneficial, but I had to start somewhere. But like nearly everything in a grocery store, it's misleading and I was misguided. I had to seek more information. Don't do as I did.

The American diet is deficient in fermented foods. Refrigeration prevented the need for foods to be traditionally preserved or fermented. The benefit of fermented foods was the growth of healthy enzymes that kept the gut healthy. Unlike Americans, many cultures around the world still consume fermented foods in everyday meals. Mr. Mind and I were happy to learn that we already consume a few of those foods. Miso, fish sauce, vinegar, Charcuterie, and wine adorn our plates a few times a month. Through our research we have learn to add more fermented meals including homemade kefir.</sup>

Probiotic

<sup>Probiotics has been added to our diet. (Bringing our GI tract/Gut to balance should have been the starting point for all of our life changes.) There is so much stirring about in the public about probiotics. They can be purchased as capsules, liquid and powder. They can derive from plants/food or human waste, yes you read that right, poop! Probiotics can be sold with 5 million, 10 billion, 100 billion and more cultures. But the most important detail is to buy LIVE cultures. There are so many products on the shelves, even in health food stores, that sell probiotics with cultures that were alive when they began the process but not alive by time you consume them.

My suggestion is do your research and DO NOT get bottled down by all the marketing jargon. Pun intended. Companies hire fast talking, English word flipping, manipulators to sell their products. Trust me, its my career field! Solid facts about live bacteria can be the difference between a healthy family and a sick family. If you are interested in the type of probiotic that Mr. Mind and I are consuming, please let me know.</sup>

^{Life Changes}

^{I would like to thank you all for checking back daily for the last few days to learn about our Life Changes. Check back here in a month as Mr. Mind and I consume probiotics for a total of 45 days. We will share our ups, downs and truths. This is our 6th and final change for a while as we have many things to adjust to. Remember, you can make a Life Change, One Week at a Time.}