Get your gut in order!

Get your gut health in order

Did you know that around 70% of your immune system originates from your gut? If your gut health is poor, it’s not just your digestive system that is affected….as homeopaths, we know that when one part of you is sick, the whole of you is sick.

As the colder months draw in, it becomes particularly important to look after your immune system, and by boosting your gut health, you’re well on the way to doing that.

How do we develop poor gut health in the first place?? Well - there are lots of routes to this one.

First, we have the obvious in road of poor diet - usually high in processed foods, low in fresh fruit and veg, low in fibre, poor- or low-quality proteins; high in sugar, caffeine or stimulants (or worst case - all of the above?!)

Coming up in joint runner up place to destroying gut microbiome we find stress, medications such as antibiotics, antidepressants, steroids such as the contraceptive pill and let’s not forget - the gut health you inherited in the first place. If poor gut health is in your family history, then you’re likely to have a strong disposition towards this too.

If you do find that your health levels are particularly affected by how your digestive system feels, then you’re not alone - and the good thing is there is plenty of support out there for you. I am a great advocate of running homeopathic treatment alongside support from a naturopathic nutritionist - they fit hand in hand in my humble opinion (and personal experience!). But the route to healing (and I’m talking chronic disorders here - gut health is rarely a one trick pony!) can be a bumpy one and there are many excellent homeopathic remedies out there which can support you both in the very moment of gut related illness or on a longer-term route to wellbeing. Have a look at some of the remedies below - they’re a fab little collection to keep in your homeopathic acutes kit at home for you and all the family, and you may even find them prescribed by your homeopath on a more constitutional basis too…..

Gut health remedies

Lycopodium

Flatulence from foods such as cabbage, onions and beans, feeling bloated which is relieved by breaking wind or belching. Feeling worse between 4pm and 8pm, is a strong indicator of this remedy! Feeling full after eating very little but a warm drink makes you feel better. This is the remedy for tummy upsets after eating oysters (if that’s your thing! :-) Feels better for warm drinks, lying down and loosening tight clothes, burping and a having a walk around.

Calc Carb

Think sourness and weakness - sour taste in mouth after belching or heartburn, sour vomiting, nausea and the taste of sour salivation in the mouth. Digestion is slow and weak, and many foods may aggravate. Sweating, heartburn, sleepiness after eating. Cravings for milk, eggs, pastries and ice cream although like creates more nausea. Generally, this remedy feels worse for eating and being cold. Much better for lying down and keeping warm.

Pulsatilla

A great remedy when you’ve over-indulged and feeling all the worse for it…. stomach pain around an hour after eating, with heartburn and distension. Particularly aggravated by eating ice cream, fats, pastries and then we crave the very foods that disagree! Disgusted by pork and aversion to fatty foods in general. Usually thirstless. Feels full and heavy after eating. Pulsatilla feels better for gentle motion, sitting upright, and fresh air.

Nux Vomica

Another great remedy for over-indulgence but this time think cramps and spasms of the digestive system from over-doing it on stimulants such as coffee or alcohol as well as eating too much. There’s cramping in the stomach which can be felt between the shoulder blades, with an urge to bend over double, or move your bowels. Belching with a sour taste, often difficult to release wind this way. Abdominal muscles feel sore to touch, constipation, nausea and vomiting. Often a useful remedy for more highly-strung, workaholic states who survive on caffeine! Feels better for keeping warm, resting, napping and hot drinks.

Bryonia

Think ‘dry-onia!’ Mouth, tongue and throat are excessively dry, with unquenchable thirst for cold water, which makes you feel better. Warm drinks may bring on nausea and vomiting. Worse for flatulent foods such as beans and cabbage, and worse for bread. Some fruits can also disagree, such as melons, pears and strawberries. Constipation due to dryness, stools may be large and hard. Irritability and worse if overheated. Often feels better for lying on painful side of abdomen, rest, with peace and quiet. Worse for any kind of motion, and at 9pm.

Carbo Veg

Think flatulence and a feeling full after only a few mouthfuls, particularly after milk, fats or meat and fish which might have been past its best…. if Pulsatilla doesn’t work, this is the remedy. Coughing after a full meal, ends in vomiting. Feels stagnated, depleted, exhausted. Feels worse for tight clothes, cold air (although feels better for being fanned!). There is a sense of coldness with this remedy, bluish tinge to the lips, think fanning someone with cold air to revive them and you’ve landed on Carbo Veg. Extreme flatulence which relieves. A great remedy for food poisoning and the after-effects of losing bodily fluids through nausea and diarrhoea.

(These keynotes are mainly based on an ACUTE picture - that is, symptoms which have been bothering us in the very short term, such as after indulging at Christmas or a special occasion, hangovers, a bout of gastric flu, tummy upset or food poisoning for example. If you’re experiencing symptoms on a longer-term basis, which may even come and go, then this forms part of your CHRONIC symptom picture for which you need the experience of a professional homeopath to prescribe on.)

As always, if you’d like further information or guidance, or you are considering a full homeopathic consultation, then please do contact me on melissa@bransgore-homeopathy.co.uk as I’m more than happy to help! I’m still offering my free 30-minute homeopathic consultation which can be booked online here. There’s no obligation to book a full consultation, just an opportunity to find out more about homeopathy and how it could work for you.