Dieting and eating healthy have become a way of life for most folks. Very few people say they’re at the perfect weight and can eat what they want without worry. The dieting industry advertises and parades things like healthy foods that are supposed to be good for you, but what if they’re not what you need?
What might be healthy for your body could be toxic to another person. Take, for instance, eating wheat bread. It may not bother your stomach or disrupt your digestive system in any way, but your neighbor might get deathly ill when they eat anything with this grain in it.
The gut flora inside your digestive system is responsible for the breaking down your food. Since chronic diseases are on the upswing worldwide, many medical experts look to the gut for answers. The root cause of most illnesses is inflammation in the body, and it can cause things like:
- Swelling and bloating
- Insomnia
- Chronic fatigue
- Skin issues
- Stomach and digestive problems
- Little energy
- Sore and inflamed joints
- Headaches
- Acid Reflux
- Gastritis
Understanding Your Microbiome and the Importance of Eating Healthy Foods
It would help if you strived to reach optimal microbial function, allowing the body to heal itself from disease and thrive. You can buy an at-home test to send in to see what’s going on in your gut. The trillions of microbes interact to create a healthy atmosphere, but yours might be lacking.
While it’s worth investing in this test, you don’t need meta-transcriptome sequencing to discover what’s happening in your body. Your system will give you indications when something isn’t right. For instance, how often have you felt bloated and sick after eating dairy products?
If that cup of ice cream sends you straight to the restroom, you’re likely lactose intolerant. You don’t need a supplement or expensive test to diagnose such a problem. All you need to do is see if the situation improves once you remove dairy from your diet.
Using the process of elimination, you can quickly find what your system lacks and what it can’t tolerate.
Five Healthy Foods That Might Not Be So Good for You
Each person has a unique system with special needs. Balancing your gut flora might be easier than you think. It would be best to change your mindset that healthy foods are good for you and will make you feel fantastic. Here are some things to consider about bringing harmony to your digestive system.
1. Nuts and Greens Good for You, or are they?
When it comes to getting rid of inflammation in the body, turning from processed foods to nuts and greens is wise. However, research shows that this isn’t always the case.
You must consider the oxalate content before eating a heaping helping of spinach or slather some wheat bread with almond butter. While 70 percent of people will easily tolerate this acid, 30 percent don’t have the microbes to process it.
Sure, it’s healthy, but if your system can’t tolerate it, it will cause inflammation. A study from Michigan State University found that these foods can also cause kidney stones in people whose bodies cannot metabolize oxalates properly.
2. Protein Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be if You Have Kidney Issues
Take a quick trip to the supermarket, and you will see an advertisement for “increased protein” on almost everything. High protein helps your energy levels and can make you feel fuller for extended periods. However, too much protein can be too much.
Diets like Keto and Paleo encourage people to avoid fresh fruits and some vegetables in exchange for fat and protein. Some people take things to extremes and feel they can eat nothing but meat all day long. While it might fill you up, it can also cause you to have increased inflammation, as well as shorten your lifespan.
Now having an online test can show whether you’re eating too much or just enough protein. Your body needs protein to feed the fermenting bacteria in your gut. The problem is that sometimes these bacteria will produce things that can damage the lining of your stomach, like ammonia and hydrogen sulfide.
According to Harvard Medical School, high protein consumption puts the kidneys under duress, as it takes more energy to process it. The most significant issue occurs when you consume most animal proteins.
3. Too Much Iron Can Be Toxic
If you consume a lot of sugars and processed foods, your iron levels may suffer. This vital mineral comes naturally in most vegetables and protein. Iron is an essential mineral that everyone needs. When you’re deficient in your body, you become anemic.
Anemia is something that can make you feel very sick, and you’ll be weak, pale, and short of breath. Too much iron can cause an inflammatory condition that causes salmonella to proliferate. Additionally, in some extreme cases where people have hemochromatosis, they can’t eat any extra iron because their body makes too much.
Consuming healthy foods with iron sounds like a great thing to add to your diet, except it isn’t always the case. It would help if you saw what’s going on with your microbiome before making dieting changes that could impact your iron levels.
4. Carbs Aren’t as Bad as You Think
Remember when eggs were considered harmful, and you were encouraged to avoid them due to high cholesterol? Carbs are getting a pretty bad rap right now, but all carbs aren’t bad. If your microbiome is in good shape, you can eat carbs, which won’t affect you as much.
The key is that your gut must transfer these carbs from starch to an amino acid. Now, this doesn’t mean that you can indulge in tubs of ice cream, half a cake, and bags of chips constantly, and it does not impact you, but it means regular intake isn’t as troublesome. It’s the person whose microbiome can’t process the simple carbs that is in danger of inflammation and gaining weight.
5. Low Stomach Acid and Chronic Disease Share a Direct Link to Eating Healthy Foods
The acids in your stomach are powerful; their job is to protect you from the bacteria in the foods you ingest and help indigestion. The problem is when your stomach acid levels are insufficient. This often occurs when people take certain drugs, called proton pump inhibitors, which stop some acid pumps in the stomach from working.
While these people should only use these for a short period, many do overeat them. Acid reflux will usually resolve if people change their diet and lose weight, so there’s no need for these dangerous remedies. You need stomach acid to protect you from all the bacteria that enter your mouth.
There’s a direct link between autoimmune disease and inflammation, and it could all be caused by stomach acid problems not caring for bacteria.
Checking Your Gut
Consuming healthy foods and living a good life is about so much more than avoiding sugar and processed stuff. It would help if you found out what’s going on in your gut. According to the National Library of Medicine, the bidirectional association that transpires between the central and enteric nervous systems is the gut-brain axis.
Medical experts find that many people who suffer from anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems strongly correlate with gut issues. If your gut is unhealthy, it can directly affect your brain. So, it only stands to reason that your microbiome affects your overall wellbeing.
It’s straightforward to have your gut checked to see what you lack and need to do for optimal health. Viome is one company that offers the Gut Health Test Kit, and it’s much more affordable than you might think. For a small fee, you can have your gut flora analyzed and determine what steps to take to feel and function better.
Final Thoughts on Knowing How to Tell When So-Called Healthy Foods Aren’t So Great for Your Body
Do you have chronic headaches, frequent belching, bloating after eating a meal, and chronic problems with your energy levels? It’s possible that your eating is not what you need for optimal health. Sure, you might even be consuming healthy foods that you thought were good for you, but what’s suitable for one person might not work for you.
Inflammatory conditions can cause things like heart disease, so you must find out what’s happening with your microbiome. Armed with answers, you can stop feeling ravenous all the time, lose weight, have more energy, and improve your skin and nails.
Your gut causes so much. Indeed, the one way to fix it is to change how you eat. Having your gut checked can show you the healthy foods that are good for you, and you can stop guessing whether you’re eating the right things.
Each body has different needs, and you need a roadmap to guide you from where you’re right now to reach optimal health. One simple test can put you on the right path to a better life where you feel like living and enjoying it, or you can use the process of elimination.
