Improving Your Gut Health While Following A Keto Diet
I’ve been writing a lot about digestive health lately because the topic fascinates me. We often focus on supplements or training programs or the latest mobility videos but I rarely hear nutritionists, trainers or other fitness professionals discussing digestive health.
Let me sum this up. It’s no secret that we live in a stressed out world. Our food stresses us (as does overeating like you see on a bodybuilding diet) and so does work. Heck, our training even stresses us.
If we’re in this constant “fight or flight” environment and our nervous system is continually amped up, we’re not going to have positive digestive health. So it could be from your 5th cup of coffee or your late hours at the office or your divorce or the fact that you insist on training 7 days a week, when your body is always turned on your digestion will be compromised.
You can not properly digest if you're stresses.
And anytime you have digestive problems your going to have stress in your gut, on your brain and on your nervous system.
There’s really only TWO diets that you can follow. A high fat, keto, diet or a low carbohydrate diet.Every other type of nutrition tends to fall into either of those categories.
Both diets may actually cause MORE gut problems.
The pancreas and digestion
One of the reasons why I often recommend low carbohydrate diets is to simply get blood sugar under control. If our blood sugar is unregulated and causing stress on the pancreas then by extension, our entire digestive process is going to be stressed.
The first step is to actually pay attention to what you’re eating. Don’t think that the dry skin you have or the hair loss you’re experiencing just happens. it doesn’t!
Do you get bloated after you eat? Do you have to run to the bathroom after you eat certain foods?
Do you not have clear thinking? Do you have a lot of headaches or skin conditions?
Everything is linked to your nutrition and it often starts in the pancreas.
In my personal experience I often find individuals with low stomach acid. It’s not through any complex testing, rather it’s a simple look at how people respond to certain foods. Plus studies have shown that stress can deplete stomach acid.
Luckily, you can do a simple HCL test to check your digestive status. With a meal containing about 20 grams of protein, take 3 HCL capsules.
Do you experience a burning sensation? If so, that’s the sign that you have low stomach acid but you’ve hit your upper limit of HCL.
Didn't feel anything? Go up by one capsules for your next meal. Keep playing with the amount of betaine that you ingest until you feel that burning sensation.
During your next meal, go with 2 capsules and see what happens. You want a SLIGHT burn, not heart burn. Identifying this HCL issue is step one with other potential causes of low stomach acid being in a constant stressful situation or having a zinc deficiency.
Liver and Gallbladder
To really increase your digestive health you need proper liver and gallbladder health.
Gallbladder, really? Yep and you know why? These quick fluctuations in dieting, you know going from a low carb diet to a Bulletproof or keto high fat diet.
Your gallbladder doesn’t know how to break down the sudden surge of incoming fat or actually produces TOO much bile. You’ve got to make diet changes SLOWLY but we’ll get to that in a minute.
Your liver plays a big role in digestion as well. Your liver is responsible for producing bile. Stress is stress and your liver is no different.
Diet & Supplements To Restore Proper Digestive Health
Alright, let’s get down to brass tacks and talk about how to actually IMPROVE your digestive health.
1) Take your diet changes SLOW.
You can’t decide that you want to switch to the keto diet when you wake up in the morning and have a bunch of whole eggs and 6 strips of bacon then wonder why you have to run to the toilet.
I LOVE avocados but I can’t start eating one per day and expect to not stress my gut.
The KEY to getting keto adaptive is to do it SLOWLY. Assess your current carbohydrate intake and slowly lower your carbohydrates while you increase your fat intake. These “gut bomb” coffees with butter and MCTs don’t really do anything good for our gut as they STRESS our gut.
Start slow, get your body used to producing more bile to handle the incoming fats. It’s not a race to enter ketosis.
2) Learn the benefits of cyclical ketogenic diets.
As someone who lifts weights, you should keep a small amount of starches in your diet (depending on your goal, the carbohydrates fluctuate). There are performance benefits of a ketogenic diet but unless you have other specific health conditions, I don’t see the value in forcing yourself in to ketosis.
Have some carbs every day. Have less on days that you don't train, have more on days that you do train.
3) Supplements for digestive health.
In my opinion the FIRST line of attack to improve your gut health are probiotics and digestive enzymes.
The Physique Formula Performance Enzymes includes betaine to help you produce stomach acid and ox bile to help you breakdown fats and support your pancreatic function.
The Physique Formula Ultra Probiotic 10 delivers a non-GMO gluten free probiotic with a 25 billion potency.
But it doesn’t just stop with probiotic and enzymes.
The Physique Formula All Natural BCAAs contain taurine which can support gallbladder health and I often recommend a choline based product to support liver and gallbladder health
Of course, NO supplement can help you if you’re constantly stressed so jump on a good adrenal support supplement and consciously modify the stressful situations in your life.
There you go, get to work!