Gut Health Problems - September 2017

3
GET CONSISTENT SLEEP
This is important! Cytokines -
or inflammatory messengers - have
circadian cycles that are dictated by our
gut critters. When cortisol levels go up
in the morning, the gut bacteria inhibit
production of cytokines, and this shift
defines the transition between non-REM
and REM sleep. Hence, disruption of the
gut bacteria can have significant negative
effects on sleep and circadian rhythms.
To balance the gut, break through
insomnia. The opposite is also true. We
balance our guts by practicing good
sleep hygiene and getting as close to
eight hours of sleep a night as we can. A
May 2014 study published in the journal
PLOS ONE “demonstrated that circadian
disorganization can impact intestinal
microbiota which may have implications
for inflammatory diseases.”
4
LIMIT ANTIBIOTICS
Just because it’s 2017 doesn’t mean
people aren’t still dying of pneumonia.
We can’t afford not to use antibiotics at
certain points in our lives. But regular
antibiotic use kills the diverse community
of our microbiota, and therefore wreaks
more health hazards than we could
have ever imagined when penicillin
was first discovered. Broad-spectrum
antibiotics don’t discern between what’s
beneficial for our health and what’s
not: they hold rifles and start firing at
whatever comes into their view - some
of the collateral damage being strains of
bacteria we need to fight other infections.
American children are typically prescribed
one course of antibiotics a year. The
Sonneburgs claim that amount is enough to
permanently change children’s microbiota
and affect their long-term health. One of
the things that contributes to depression,
and that sets off inflammatory bowel
disease (IBD), is being flooded with
antibiotics when disaster strikes. A person
with a healthy microbiota might have
fared just fine. But by going into surgery
with a compromised gut, your symptoms
of depression and anxiety might persist
despite trying multiple medications.
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September 2017