How Do You Rate Your Intestinal Health?

Everyone knows how miserable abdominal pain, bloating and cramping can be. Enduring such symptoms in the middle of your workday or while at school is no fun. While most people don't think of it this way, our intestinal health can spoil our day. Think about it. Without you even realizing it, your colon, or large intestine, spends endless hours every day breaking down the foods and drinks you consume. When something is off-kilter, you're likely to feel the effects, whether those symptoms come across as diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, gas, and bloating or just plain feeling blasé.

Hundreds of bacteria species live in your intestine. Their job is to break down everything that enters your mouth. When they work overtime, your body feels it. However, the bacteria found in your intestines are both good and bad. Good intestinal health means that your body is always working to keep a healthy balance between those two, and avoiding bowel problems. Your body also makes sure the good bacteria always outnumber the bad.

However, when you don't take care of yourself, those bad guys can take advantage and they do so quickly. Because of poor diets high in fats, caffeine and sugars, most people don't think about damaging that fine balance between good and poor intestinal health. Why make it harder for our intestines to keep us healthy? Is it so difficult for us to realize the dangers that our own habits raise for our overall health, or the consequences of an irritable bowel?

Because of the trend toward fast foods and sodas, we have, intentionally or not, damaged intestinal wall structures that aid digestion and provide ideal intestinal health for our finely balanced body systems. The foods and drinks we consume damage the fine linings of the intestinal wall allow bad bacteria to hide and grow. Our rampant use of antibiotics has caused much of the natural bacteria in our bodies to develop a resistance to them, which makes them almost useless.

To keep good intestinal health, make sure that you are eating a balanced, nutritious diet rich in fiber and whole grains. This will support not only intestinal well-being, but provide necessary vitamins, minerals and other natural proteins, fats and sugars that our bodies need to keep in prime condition. Natural probiotics such as yogurt and fermented milk helps to keep bad bacteria at bay, especially those containing acidophilus.

To preserve intestinal health, try to avoid using antibiotics unless it's necessary. Drink plenty of water and try to also stay away from alcohol and high fat and high sugar diets filled with empty calories. Substitute white breads with wheat or whole grain options, as well as pastas and rice products. Taking care of your intestines is a part of overall health care. While most of us don't want to think about our intestines, intestinal health is an important part to how you feel when you wake up and when you go to bed at night.

One thing you can do to ensure good intestinal health is to drink at least 64 ounces of water every day. It may seem simple, but it can mean all the difference between having problems and maintaining an active, healthy and pain free lifestyle. Intestinal health should be as important to every person as vision and dental care, but often, it is the last thing that anyone worries about when it comes to taking care of their health.

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