Recovering from Gastro

There appears to be a lot of gastro going around.  For many people who get it, you feel like death for a short time with vomiting and or diarrhoea but then you are over it and feeling great again in a couple of days.  Some times this does not happen and you continue to feel not quite right for some time afterwards.  Here are a few natural tips and tricks to help get your digestive system back in top shape.

1. Probiotics.  This can be in supplement form however they are also readily obtained from naturally fermented foods including sauerkraut, kimchi, real yoghurt, kombucha and kefir just to name a few.  These can help replace the balance of good bacteria required by your gut to function optimally.

2. Herbs.  Oregano and thyme are great for making any hiding bacteria become visible to the immune system thereby helping your body to decide which bacteria are nice and which are nasty.  Turmeric helps heal gut lining which may have been damaged depending on the nature of the gastro bug.  If you were doing a lot of vomiting, Aloe gel may also be helpful in coating and protecting your stomach and oesophageal lining allowing it to recover more rapidly.  ​

3. Prebiotics.  They provide food for the good bacteria encouraging a return to optimal balance of the bacteria of the gut.  Some great prebiotic foods include garlic, onions, leeks, dandelion greens, jerusalem artichokes, asparagus, snow peas and chick peas.  ​

---

4. Avoid grains.  If the gastro bug has caused damage to the intestinal lining, now is a dangerous time to eat grains.  Gluten containing grains in particular can easily cross the damaged gut lining and take a direct route into your blood stream.  It is now thought that such particles may easily be mistaken for thyroid tissue.  If your body mounts an immune response to these grain particles that have crossed into the blood stream, it could place your thyroid at risk of being attacked by your own immune system - a process known as auto-immunity.  

​~Bel