HEALTHY BITE | Listening To Our Bodies: Are You Listening To Your Body?

Our body tells us things each and every day - it sends us messages each and every day. Are you listening to the messages your body is sending you?


Are You Listening To Your Body?

Our blog post this week with Maria Hunt explores getting the gut college called Body Ecology, getting the gut into balance. She’s got some great tips there. The gut is not only the place where so much of our immune system resides, but it also affects our mood. In fact, our gut is a great reflection of our health. 

What does your poo say about you?

You see our body tells us things each and every day. We don’t need to go off and get expensive lab tests if we’re willing to, I mean, that’s useful. I’m not saying it’s not, but I’m just saying that our body sends us messages each and every day. When we sit on the toilet, there is a message that we should be looking at and thinking about. 

She references the Bristol Stool Chart.  It talks about seven types of stools and the type one, two, seven are outlined from severe constipation, mild constipation, type three and four normal which is, as Maria so eloquently put, sausage that launches, floats, and sinks. A sausage shape with cracks in the surface like a smooth, soft sausage or snake, is normal. 

If you are constipated, then you should be at least having one bowel movement a day, possibly two or three, but one or two a day is ideal. While some people may read that three or four bowel movements a week is normal, that may well be true. It may be what the majority of the population is experiencing but that does not mean it’s optimal and it’s optimal health that we’re striving for. We go from type one and two, which are separate hard lumps and lumpy, it’s dry and you’re only going a few times a week. 

Then the other side, the other end of the scale in type five, six, and seven is mild and severe diarrhea. That tells you something as well. It may be foods that you’re just not suited to. I don’t want to go into too much detail here, but I love chili. I love chili. I could have chili on absolutely everything, but I don’t, I sometimes do, but generally speaking, I don’t because I know what effect it has on me. It’s there for me to see the day after I have chili. 

Stools are an excellent way of listening to your body and responding to it, not just watching it. Look, mood and food is another aspect and we shouldn’t ignore that, how certain foods make you feel and that’s something to explore as well.

Skin is another great indicator of food and your reaction to it. I’ve heard it said that 80 percent of skin conditions are a reflection of our digestion. Recently I heard a podcast from my partner in the surgery, Dr. Lewis Ehrlich on his podcast, mouthing off with gastroenterologist Dr. Pran Yoganathan, who will be a guest on my podcast in the coming weeks and Pran was asked, is the gut the second brain? And Pran answered, No, I don’t. I think it’s more nuanced than that. 

Conclusion

I was thinking, oh, my god, here’s a gastroenterologist. What could he possibly be saying? He went on to say that the gut is the first brain because when you look back at evolutionary history, even before we had brains, we had guts and the gut informed how we lived. So he would argue that the gut is actually the first brain. And I think that’s why the focus in this week’s episode has been on the gut with Maria Hunt, Body Ecology. I would strongly recommend it and we also talked about what does your poo says about you? But I wanted to just highlight that point and reinforce it.

 

This podcast provides general information and discussion about medicine, health, and related subjects. The content is not intended and should not be construed as medical advice or as a substitute for care by a qualified medical practitioner. If you or any other person has a medical concern, he or she should consult with an appropriately qualified medical practitioner. Guests who speak in this podcast express their own opinions, experiences, and conclusions.