It Takes A Lot Of Guts To Stay Healthy

There is way too much health information out there for us to consume on a daily basis. What do we follow? How do we know who is on the right track?

One clue - do they talk about gut health?

The road to health starts in the gut. That’s where true health can be assessed. As stated in Alejandro Junger’s book Clean Gut – all disease starts in the gut. I guess that’s why some super healthy, lean looking individuals can in fact be carrying a disease.

Everything in the media is about being lean and looking the part, that means you are healthy. In the most part, those that don’t carry excess body fat and have significant muscle size and definition are likely to be healthy. But bad gut health can disguise itself behind a chiseled exterior.

The book Clean Gut puts health into perspective. In society it is often considered unfortunate when somebody gets sick. Genetics is a classic excuse. Almost as often as 'poor me'. Genes can be turned on or off depending on environmental factors. There is a distinct lack of personal accountability given to health. Chances are if you get sick it is to do with your lifestyle choices - maybe recent or perhaps an accumulation over a lifetime. Any time I get a bit under the weather I try to consider what my choices have been of late. I take accountability. Health, either good or bad isn’t luck. It’s about choices. The more accountable you are to your health, the less likely you will be to get sick – both short and long term.

When you get sick you head to the doctor. Do you find someone to ‘paint the brown leaves green’ or do you find someone to ‘repair the roots’. The majority of doctors are not looking for the root cause. ‘A pill for an ill’ keeps the 'big pharma' happy. The road to health lies in treating the roots. Where is the problem initiating? If you get a skin reaction, chances are there is a problem in the gut. If you have asthma or hayfever, chances are there is a gut issue. Sure, some cream or a spray might calm it down. But this is like ‘painting the brown leaves green’.

Next time you get sick think about checking out a functional medicine doctor or a Chinese Medicine doctor. Western Medicine is fantastic at keeping us alive and dealing with the symptoms of disease.  However, often the root cause is not being investigated. Chances are if my Mum and I had the same symptoms we would get the same script at the end of the consultation. A 60 yo woman and a 34 yo man. But did the problem initiate in the same place?

“Before chronic disease there is inflammation; but before inflammation comes gut dysfunction. Gut repair corrects the problem at the source!”.

Removing inflammatory foods from our diet is imperative for long term health. Exercise, exposure to pollution, chemicals and stress are inflammatory. These are not always easy to avoid on a daily basis. Our food consumption is totally within our control. Our health can almost always be improved through the food we consumer. Food is medicine. It can be fuel, but first it is medicine. Eat for health first, training performance and body composition second.

Hippocrates was before his time when he said “death lurks in the intestines and bad digestion is the root of all evil”.

The gut is your 2nd brain. “Gut feeling is the intuition - tiny sparks of electricity show up within neurons of 2nd brain. Your brain is intellectual hardware, your 2nd brain is your spiritual and emotional GPS”. We are more likely to lead our lives in a better direction if we have a ‘Clean gut’.

A healthy gut is a fermentation tank, the flora ridding our body of 40% of the toxins found in the conventional food many people consume. Eating organic, or spray free foods aid our health massively. Choose foods that don’t come in a packet, that don’t have a long shelf life. Eat fresh. “The longer the shelf life of the food, the shorter yours will be”.

We are what we absorb! Better gut health = better absorption of nutrients. Clean Gut recommends the 80-20 rule. Not the 80% good, 20% bad one that is tossed around.

80% Greens and Vegetables

20% Proteins and Fats

“A clean gut means a clean bill of health”, Alejandro Junger.

Think for yourself. Explore your options. Get a 2nd opinion.

RealMOVEMENT has the goal of reaching every person on earth with the opportunity to live with greater health, performance and purpose. This will happen via gyms, rural performance centres, performance experiences, social media and other channels not yet thought of. These systems have worked with the worlds best athletes on a level that no other athletic development system is trying to reach.

Become Part of RealMOVEMENT Project. - Coaches.

I Choose Movement - 10 steps to your health, purpose and performance.