6 Things You Can Do To Improve Gut Health For GBS ⋆ Earth and Water

“All disease begins in the gut”

– Hippocrates

He was on to something, and here we are thousands of years later and we’re finally beginning to realize that he was correct. We should indeed be focusing on our gut health.

*Disclaimer: I am in no way a certified nutritionist or health professional. I am completely self taught in natural health and wellness. Always do your own research.

+ I’m not allowed to tell you that essential oils or anything of the such treat or cure anything. Therefore, the following information is only my opinion. Always consult your healthcare provider.*

We’re learning more and more about gut health these days and how important that it is to our immunity and overall well-being. Our health depends vastly on how well we absorb nutrients.

How well we absorb nutrients depends vastly on how well we digest food. How well we digest food depends vastly on the good bacteria in our digestive tract breaking down food.

Gut health has such a huge impact on our health, that there are experiments going on with using such things to cure autism. What?! Yeah. Pretty remarkable stuff.

Having healthy good bacteria helps in providing adequate immunity to diseases and curbing digestive issues which can effect how well you absorb vitamins and nutrients. Three of the worst things for your helpful little buddies are:

Sugar
Stress
Antibiotics.

To curb the harmful things we do to our good bacteria, we should all be consuming probiotics on a daily basis. Making sure our good bacteria is crowding out our bad and harmful bacteria for optimal gut health and overall well being. Especially if you’ve been on antibiotics (which all but destroy your body’s natural defenses), eat lots of bad stuff or are particularly stressed.

GBS: The Bad Bacteria I’m Fighting

If you haven’t been paying attention, I’m pregnant with my 2nd child. I’ve been engulfed in educating myself in natural pregnancy and birth since I found out.

Even though I did the exact same thing the first 2 times I was pregnant, I’m amazed at how much I still don’t know.

I’m striving for a natural, physiological birth and the only thing that may stand in my way of that (besides the ridiculous restrictions of women and the birthing process in my state plus caregivers lack of cooperation) is Group B Strep. Also known as GBS.

GBS is a bacteria found naturally in the body. It is generally harmless to adults but can have devastating effects on babies.

Every pregnant woman in the U.S. gets tested for it and if your test is positive, you and your baby are subjected to antibiotics during labor.

I tested positive during my last pregnancy which means I couldn’t stay at home during labor as long as I wanted and once I arrived at the hospital I had to have an IV of antibiotics.

Antibiotics that kill all off the good bacteria that benefits your baby as well as the ones that could pose a threat.

This time around, I hope to counteract that positive test. To do that, I have to crowd out the bad bacteria with good bacteria, correct the PH levels of my body and overall make sure I’m getting plenty of vitamins and nutrients.

Basically, I’m focusing on gut health.

Good gut health, though, benefits the entire body and helps fight off every illness and ailment you may be battling.

Probiotics for GBS

Probiotics is a word that my spellcheck on every device still flags as incorrect. We’ve only just begun to realize the importance of them because we’ve only just begun to realize the damage we’ve done to our gut health via our antibiotics and antibacterial addictions.

If you’ve never taken any probiotics, you should start slow. Too much, too fast can cause some, ehem, unpleasant bathroom type effects, if you know what I mean. Starting them slowly and gradually building them up will get your body use to them gradually. Once your gut health is nearing where you want it to be, you should start noticing some huge differences.

So how do I get these wonderful probiotics to consume everyday? I’m glad you’ve asked!

Fermented Foods for GBS

Fermented foods use to be a part of people’s everyday diet simply because fermenting was a common food preservation method. They are TEEMING with wonderful bacteria hoping you’ll allow them to help you!

Some fermented foods are:

Kombucha
Kefir
Sauerkraut
Kimchi
Live cultured yogurt
Raw cheese

There’s also some great products coming out like probiotic juices that you can find in your local grocery store (Presumably. Walmart has them anyway). Always read the labels. Not all sauerkraut has probiotics in them and neither do all yogurts. They’ll be listed if they do contain them.

Supplements for GBS

Or you can take the other approach of probiotic supplements for your gut health needs.

Be aware though, that not all supplements are created equally and when it comes to such things, cheap is not the way you want to go. Because supplements are neither a food nor a medicine, they kind of get stuck in limbo with few or no regulations. Therefore, what they say they are, aren’t always necessarily what they actually are. (Essential oils also fall into this limbo).

Eat Correctly for GBS

That means your fruits and veggies (mostly veggies), preferably organic. It’s still unclear if GMOs are harmful or not and honestly, do you really wanna be the guinea pig that finds out the hard way? It has been confirmed, however, that organic produce has significantly higher vitamins and minerals, which is technically the most important parts. You want all of those you can get. Not to mention, buying organic encourages companies to change their ways since companies do what is most profitable.

I highly recommend keeping a food journal and adopting mindful eating for the mind body and spirit. You’ll be amazed at the benefits you’ll begin to notice when you feed yourself as the multi delusional being you are.

Check out your local CSA. Meat and produce, alike, should be consumed as they are found in nature to ensure that they have all of their proper nutrients. Proper nutrients are what allows our bodies to function as they are meant to.

Vitamin C for GBS

Everyone knows that at the first sign of illness you should start chugging some Oh Jay. That’s because of all the vitamin C in orange juice that supports your immune system. Your body needs vitamin C to keep everything functioning properly. However, it neither creates nor stores vitamin C, therefore you have to consume it often.

Some foods in order of amount of vitamin C they contain are:

Guava
Black currant
Kiwi
Orange
Strawberries
Broccoli
Kale
Pineapple
Brussels Sprouts
Grapefruit

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar helps to balance the PH in the body. Take about a shot glass’s amount either alone or with water. It alkalizes the body which allows it to fight things off easier. Disease can’t live in an alkalized environment.

I keep a shot glass in the dishwasher and take one every time I empty the dishwasher so that I make sure I do it every day.

I hope that some of these points help you to remedy some of your gut health related problems. Keep in mind that these help fight off everything from minor heart burn and indigestion to bigger things like cancer. If you have any tips, tricks or comments to add to the list for us, drop them in the comments below!

Best vibes always, S.S.Blake

Join Our Patreon