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Do you have the Guts for Weight Loss?

Do YOU have the guts to lose weight?

So you’ve joined the gym and hit the spin classes. You’ve also been fervently reading the labels on everything at the grocery store and opted for the healthiest options you can muster.

When you go out to eat at the restaurant you keep your eyes peeled for the heart-smart, calorie-wise, nutrient-dense options available.

Once you get your meal and you tuck in to the greenery rich treat before you and you glance over at the svelte patron, who looks like they just came from health magazine cover photo shoot, and take note of what the waiter has set in front of them. You may experience a slight pain of disappointment when you notice the rich juicy hamburger and pomme frites combination they’re about to nosh. NO FAIR.

Well, at that moment, you’re only seeing a snapshot of this other person’s lifestyle (maybe today is a cheat day). Confucius says “unhappiness comes from comparison”, I am paraphrasing there.

What may be a contributing difference between a person who is overweight or obese and a person who is not, in addition to diet and exercise habits, is gut flora.

A number of studies comparing the gut flora (think: probiotics) of overweight/obese people and people of a healthy weight found that many microbes found in the gut of the healthy-weight people were absent from those struggling with their weight. There are a few things at play here.

First, what we feed our body also feeds our trillions of gut microbes (you never eat alone), so if you eat nutrient deficient food, so does your gut flora. You have to eat a healthy, balanced diet to have healthy, balanced gut flora.

Second, over the course of their lifetimes, many people will have been put on several courses of antibiotics which, for the microbes in your gut, is like dropping an atom bomb. The tough part is, even with proper diet, if the microbes have been wiped out the only way to benefit is through repopulating the flora.

Whether or not your goal is weight management, healthy gut flora has far reaching benefits for your health. From digestion to immune function and even mental health, it is in everyone’s best interest to gain and maintain a healthy gut and gut microbes.

Come and speak to the Live well team at Pharmasave Summerland to learn more about how to keep your gut flora in good shape and how that keeps you in good shape too.

Dan Cassidy, Nutritional Product Advisor