5 Reasons Your Gut Isn't Healing

Whether you're new to a gut healing journey or you've been around a while, it's safe to say that pretty much anybody who has experienced persistent gut issues feels alone, frustrated, or discouraged at one point or another.

What's worse than feeling like you've done everything, but nothing seems to be working? Or feeling like you've eliminated every possible food from your diet, but you still experience symptoms? Even worse is having a stretch of a good few days with little to no symptoms, only to have them come back with a vengeance.

If you've been questioning why your gut isn't healing, that's exactly what todays post is about.

5 Reasons Your Gut Isn't Healing

1. Chronic Stress

When you're under chronic, long-term stress, you're in a constant "fight or flight" state. Why is this bad for gut health? Because it shuts down digestion so our body can focus on pumping blood to our extremities and keeping our alertness sharp. When you're in a state of fear or panic, your body has no desire to digest a meal.

This means:

Lowered stomach acid: Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is needed to break down proteins but also signal other digestive organs to begin secreting enzymes and prepping for food entering the body.

HCl kills pathogens as is a huge part of our defence system. Furthermore, stress uses up valuable resources needed to perform methylation and support the immune system.

Ways to improve stress response:

• Improve communication by asking for what we need, clarity, implementing healthy boundaries (with self and others)
  healing childhood traumas
• C-PTSD (basic human needs not being met, comfort, protection, food, shelter etc). Learn your triggers and ways to manage them.
• Have the tough conversations - not protecting your abuser.
• Improve/end your relationships (work, romantic, friendships)
• Re-pattern the brain/nervous system
• Tapping (Sue Cooperstock, Leslieville)
• DNRF - Annie Hopper
• Neurofeedback (Dr Goto, Kaizen Health, Leslieville)
• Practicing mindfulness (Kernel of wisdom)

2. Co-infections

Other infections such as viruses, parasites and/or candida can really impact your ability to heal your gut fully. If you were vulnerable to SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), you may be vulnerable to other infections.

Unfortunately, there are often false negatives when testing so it's important to work with someone who specializes in SIBO and digestive health. Don’t self-treat or self diagnose!

3. Unresolved Bacterial Overgrowth

Have you done one round of our 5R program but still have more than 20 ppm gas levels? Although our 12-week Gut Restore Program is designed to reduce bacterial overgrowth, eliminate triggers that are irritating your gut and promote successful healing, everybody is different and sometimes a second or third round is necessary.

Shoot us an email if you have any questions about the state of your gut health so we can guide you in the right direction.

4. Not Addressing Structural Factors

Our gastrointestinal system is pretty darn complex. From the ileocecal valve, fascial adhesions, to the vagus nerve, there are many factors at play when it comes to healing the gut.

Here are some suggestions:

• Work with an Osteopath
• Stimulate the vagus nerve by gargling water, singing, or taking cold showers
• Acupuncture
• Stress management
• Eradicate infections (like we mentioned above)

5. Continuing to Engage in What Caused Your Gut Issues

The truth is, as much as we can intend to prioritize gut health and practice all of the things that encourage healing, sometimes we need to ask ourselves if we've slipped off the healing-train and fallen back into our old patterns.

These include:

• Unnecessary pharmaceutical usage
• Drugs and/or alcohol
• Consumption of refined foods, especially gluten, dairy, and sugar 
• Consumption of pro-inflammatory foods (those listed in previous point, as well as fried foods, processed foods, and alcohol) 
• High stress lifestyle

Review this list and be honest about what you've possibly been continuing to do.

If you're asking yourself "am I ever going to heal"? The answer is that this is never impossible. It is extremely frustrating, isolating, and discouraging to experience long-term, recurring gut symptoms or relapses, but remember that each day you have the choice to do what's best for you and your body. Nobody else has the power that you hold.

You got this, and we're always here to help!

The IBS Academy