5 Nutrients For Optimal Gut Health

Hi, my name is Marcie Vaske and I'm a functional medicine nutritionist with Oswald digestive clinic, where we specialize in helping people with gut health.

So if you're struggling with diarrhea, constipation, bloating, or gas, you might want to check us out. You can sign up for an initial appointment and see how much better you can feel when you don't have those things happening.

So today we're gonna be talking about the five nutrients for optimal health.

We're going to start with number one and that's probiotics. We've all heard of probiotics before.

And what is that exactly right?

So probiotics are little bacteria that live in our intestinal tract. They do multiple things, however, sometimes if we are having some digestive issues it can mean that we have poor or not enough of our good bacteria in our gut.

You can eat things like fermented foods. You find lots of good flora in that. Things like kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, maybe some Keifer, and even yogurt. Those are all going to be good foods to help increase some good bacteria.

You just eat them daily and it just kind of slowly populates over time. Now, if you're really having some severe gut stuff going on, you might want to think about using a probiotic. That probiotic, you can get lots of places, but we recommend always getting a top-quality one.

And also if you are gonna decide to supplement is probably best to talk to your nutritionist dietician or health practitioner. So make sure you're getting what you need.

So we're gonna move right on to number two. Number two is an amino acid that does lots of wonderful things. Maybe you've heard about it, but it's called L glutamine.

So L glutamine, you're gonna find in protein, right? Amino acids are what protein has. So one of them that helps to repair lining repair tissue is gonna be L glutamine. So what happens sometimes and why we need it, is that in our intestinal tract, there are tight junctions and sometimes they can get inflamed.

And they pull apart a little bit creating kind of, I guess, we could say little holes that lead toxins into our bloodstream, which then create inflammation in our body. Over time, you could technically have some more sensitivities to some foods. So we want to kind of increase that L-glutamine makes sure you're getting lots of protein.

So where are you gonna find it? Well, I told you three times, right? Protein. That is gonna be great you just wanna make sure you're eating protein at every meal. If you think that you might need to supplement with that, you can, and there are lots of them out there.

Again, get a good one for you, and always talk to your practitioner, nutritionist, or dietician to make sure you're taking what you need to be taking, or how much. Also, glutamine, as I said, can repair tissue. So if you're working out a lot or really into exercise, you're constantly decreasing or needing to build up your muscle, and glutamine can greatly help with that.

Number three is B vitamins. So there are lots of B vitamins, but there are some specific ones that can be really helpful. B1, which is thymine, helps to metabolize our carbohydrates, our proteins, and our fats. And so if you go in B1, you can have possibly, you know, something called SIBO or you're more at risk for it.

So we wanna make sure that you have enough of that B1 thiamine in your foods that you're eating another really important B vitamin is gonna be B6. So B6 can help to regulate our brain chemicals. So things like serotonin and dopamine, and it helps to also keep that inflammation at a good, at a decreased level.

And so where can you get B vitamins in your foods, right? You wanna be making sure that you eat them daily because B vitamins are water-soluble. So we eat them. Our body uses them, and we're constantly having to kind of restore them every day. You can find them in salmon, beef, eggs, and also in some green leafy vegetables.

You wanna make sure that you got enough of that, but if you're struggling with some digestive issues, it might be better to take a B-complex so that you're getting all those B’s, and the two that we really talked about, are gonna be really important. So again, get a high-quality B-complex supplement and talk to your practitioner about it.

Number four, on the list, is vitamin D. And why do we need that? Because what has been found is that in deficiencies with vitamin D, people can struggle more with irritable bowel disease or irritable bowel syndrome. And so if you are having some of those issues, then you wanna make sure your vitamin D levels are high.

Also, vitamin D acts as kind of an antibacterial in our gut and helps to get rid of some of those bad bacteria and keep everything in our happy little home in our intestinal tract. If you think, most people in the Northern hemisphere are a little low in vitamin D because they're not getting that sun and we all know that that's gonna be really helpful. Other options like foods, we can find some vitamin D in Cod liver oil, salmon, those are gonna be high, also an egg yolk.

So make sure you're eating your eggs. If you are really struggling with some gut issues, it might be important for you to supplement with vitamin D and you can do about three to 5,000 IUs per day. Again, make sure you talk to your practitioner, nutritionist, or dietician just to make sure you're getting really what you need, and you're not getting too much also.

So the last start on our list is going to be zinc. Zinc is super important for gut health. Often people, 80% of us, are deficient in zinc. And why zinc is so important is that it helps to keep the integrity of our intestinal tract healthy and happy.

Those tight junctions, I talked about at the beginning with that L glutamine, zinc can very much help in that healing process too. Also, it's going to help with your appetite. This means that sometimes if you're low in zinc, you might not have much of an appetite.

It also helps to increase those digestive enzymes we need to digest our carbohydrates, our proteins, and our fats. So where can you find some more zinc in your diet? Well, good old oysters, nuts, seeds, in some green leafy vegetables, and for sure it's high in proteins.

If you need extra zinc, there's always a zinc supplement, of course, 30 to 50 milligrams per day. And last time I'm gonna say it today, but make sure you speak with your practitioner about it. It is to make sure you're not getting too much and it is exactly what you need.

Here are some Professional Quality Supplements that we recommend and you might want to check out! Below are the links (always check w/ your main healthcare provider first):

Daily Probiotic Supplement: https://flussonutrients.nutridyn.com/...
Glutamine: https://flussonutrients.nutridyn.com/...
B Complex: https://flussonutrients.nutridyn.com/...
Vitamin D: https://flussonutrients.nutridyn.com/...
Zinc: https://flussonutrients.nutridyn.com/...

Thank you And I hope you have a great rest of your day.

If you'd like to explore any of this information further or obtain an individualized nutrition plan, you can schedule an initial appointment at our clinic using the link below.

We also take insurance and some of our clients get full coverage, which is great.