Natural Healing: The connection between toxins and health issues

Today we are going to explore the connection between the gut, vitamins and state of mind.

Anxiety and depression are currently ranked and the most common disease in America, with over 40 million diagnosed. The real question is, why are these types of conditions so common? Maybe we are simply recognizing and diagnosing the condition more accurately.

Certainly, there are multiple probable causes. For today I want to explore the roll of the digestion, and how it’s function can affect the condition and function of the brain. When we look at our digestive system, we recognize that our bodies are designed to host large amounts of bacteria.

Now you may be thinking, bacteria cause infections and disease. While true in some cases, most of the time healthy bacteria in our body is necessary for our health. You see in a healthy body, billions of bacteria are growing and working, particularly in the digestive system.

These bacteria are responsible for stimulating our immune system and helping us digest our food. As a matter of fact, some vitamins, like vitamin K, are only created through bacteria breaking down our food in our gut. Without bacteria doing their job, we simply would not have access to some of the vitamins we need. Now consider how many things we ingest daily that can disrupt our normal gut bacteria.

Antibiotics are not only taken for illnesses, but also are given to animals we eat. Preservatives, chlorinated water, and a bunch of other chemicals that are all designed to reduce or eliminate bacteria. Now, consider our gut deficient in bacteria. Without good healthy bacteria, we don’t get some of our food broken down to create certain vitamins.

For example, vitamins like B8 or inositol: Inositol is a water-soluble vitamin that is required by our cells. Inositol deficiency has been shown to cause depression, anxiety, OCD, and other mental disorders associated with serotonin deficiency.

This is just one example, but I think it shows a point. It’s easy to see some of the connections between toxins in our environment, even toxins that are intentionally used, and health issues. Consider another view of toxins. Take Splenda for example: Splenda is a sweeter used by many people because it does not alter blood sugar levels. The Splenda molecule is too large to pass through the intestines, and therefore can’t get into the blood stream. However, it does affect the gut bacteria. The Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health published an article in 2008 on the effects of Splenda.

According to the article, the number of total anaerobes and aerobic bacteria began to decrease immediately after the beginning of oral administration of Splenda. By the end of the 12-week dosing period, at the lowest dose (100 mg/kg/d) of Splenda, the number of total anaerobes was reduced by 49.8 percent relative to control.

Just 12 weeks on an over the counter product considered safe reduced gut bacteria by almost 50 percent. Something to consider.

Dr. Joseph Fraley D.C. is the owner of Alpha Omega Chiropractic, 106 Alpine Village Road. Contact Fraley at 575-258-5999.