Look at me doing everythingcorrectlyand these skinny jeansstillfeel skin-tight, my 37-year-old patient Denise said during our first consultation.
Im gassy, bloated, feel emphatically un-sexy, and often get depressed for absolutely no reason.
That wasnt even the shocking news.
Just like antibiotics, birth-control pills can totally wreck your gut, I said.
The pill creates mayhem on your gut that can manifest in numerous not-so-pretty ways.
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(For the record: These women had a history of smoking.)
The root of the problem?
Lets start with Denises weight-loss struggles.
Conversely, when patients lose weight, they also lower inflammation, whichimproves5gut and overall health.
Then theres depression, which Denise blamed on genetics, but I saw as a gut problem.
Did you know that about 80-95 percent of serotonin ismanufactured6in your gut?
Newer studies, though, suggest that might not be the entire story.
Instead, depressionmight occur7due to chronic inflammation itself.
And then theres leaky gut.
Quit the sweet stuff.
I asked Denise to keep a food diary and we pinpointed several sneaky sugar sources including almond milk.
(Some varieties contain sugar, so read those labels and choose brands without added sugar!)
Studiesconnect10psychological stress with IBS and other inflammatory gut diseases.
Focus on anti-inflammatory nutrients and foods.
Wild-caught fish is an anti-inflammatory rock star, and Denise wasnt eating enough of it.
(Yuck, she replied when I asked her to eat more wild salmon.)
Studiesadd12impaired immune function and increased inflammation to the numerous issues poor sleep habits create or exacerbate.
