I was scrolling through my Instagram feed one afternoon when I came across this post from Overheard LA:

I started cracking up laughing and showed it to my friend who proceeded to cackle along with me. “This is actually us, we should probably move to LA,” she said. She wasn’t wrong- I’ve had pretty severe food sensitivities for years now and she was gluten intolerant. Yet, we weren’t the only ones, it seemed almost everyone I knew would get an upset stomach from one food or another.

 

As funny as the concept of “special stomachs” is, it isn’t too far from the truth. Dr. Josh Axe wrote a book called Eat Dirt, which highlights different types of guts and how to take care of their individual needs. Your stomach is central to your immune system, so it’s super important to listen to what it might be telling you.

Leaky Gut Syndrome

Leaky gut syndrome: sounds unpleasant and like something you definitely shouldn’t bring up at the dinner table, right? It’s basically a roundabout way of saying your stomach problems are undiagnosed (1). This can be an extremely frustrating time because you’re experiencing the pain, food sensitivities, and digestive issues without any answers as to what is causing all of these symptoms.

What We Do Know

Doctors theorize that intestinal hyper-permeability could be responsible for some variations of leaky gut. This means that, for some reason, substances may be leaking through the lining of the small intestine and into the bloodstream (1). Au contraire, others believe this may be the consequence of preexisting stomach issues. It’s one of those “what-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg” type situations if you catch my drift.

Gut Types

Dr. Axe does an awesome job breaking down the different types of stomachs into the following categories (2):

Candida:

Causes: diet high in sugar, overuse of antibiotics, hormonal birth control pills, eating an excess of dairy products or cold foods

Results: cravings, weight gain, a slow metabolism, exhaustion, loose stools, bad breath

Dr. Axe recommends: cut the caffeine & alcohol, and go for garlic, grapefruit, and soups

Gastric:

Causes: eating processed foods, large meals, drinking coffee, overeating, and stress eating

Results: acid reflux, bloating, and excess gas

Dr. Axe recommends: eating light portions more frequently, say no to spicy or fried foods, and eat more fruits & vegetables

Toxic:

Causes: an excess of fatty or processed foods

Results: inflammatory skin issues, gallbladder disease

Dr. Axe recommends: dark, leafy greens are essential, be careful with all fats, including overdoing healthy fats (nut butters, avocados, meats)

Stressed:

Causes: stress, caffeine, alcohol, a lot of sugar

Results: fatigue, problems with focusing, a low sex drive

Dr. Axe recommends: ditch the caffeine for an herbal tea, and try foods rich with vitamin B (pssst: our BINTO supplements are rich with vitamin B!) 

Immune:

Causes: food intolerances and allergies (especially those of you who can’t eat gluten or dairy), longtime use of antibiotics, steroid use, hormonal birth control pills,

Results: Irritable Bowel Syndrome, inflammatory bowel diseases, autoimmune disorders

Dr. Axe recommends: an elimination diet is necessary- figure out exactly what is irritating your gut, eat healthy fats, bone broths, coconut oil, and try a probiotic 

Probiotics

Are They Legit?

I’m sure probiotics are all you’ve been hearing about lately, but they aren’t simply hip & trendy- they’re actually super beneficial to your health. They were actually discovered thousands of years ago (even if our ancestors didn’t know what exactly they were) when ancient civilizations started fermenting foods (3). See- probiotics are a classic.

Am I Using Probiotics Properly?

Probiotics are nothing without their prebiotic counterparts. Alone? Well, I’m sorry to say they won’t do much except look pretty.  Lucky for you, our BINTO probiotics come with a prebiotic already included.

 

If you enjoyed this article but you’re still weary about what stomach type you have, you should give Dr. Axe’s gut type quiz a go. 

 

 

Resources:

1.https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/features/leaky-gut-syndrome#2

2. https://draxe.com

3.https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0d86/f85d0ad1249180014f207292cf52616f0267.pdf