How Your Gut Environment May Link to Joint Pain

Did you know that your internal gut bugs number around 40 trillion?! 

Gut health is getting serious airtime these days, with more and more research showing that the health of these little guys impacts so much more than just our digestion. 

Every one of us houses a population of microbes that inhabits our body, in the gut, on the skin and in the mouth. As these communities of bacteria, or ‘gut bugs’ are shaped by diet, environment, medications and experiences, each one of us has a crop as unique as a fingerprint. For further detail please check out the wonderful ‘Feel Better, Live More’ podcast by Dr. Chaterjee! 

The addition of probiotics through eating bacteria-rich foods (for instance sauerkraut), or by taking capsules or sachets, has long be widely accepted as a way to get a ‘boost’ in energy, immunity and even mood, by harmonising the balance of good and bad bacteria.  

And increasingly, research points to direct links between supplementing bacteria and reducing the pain of arthritis.  

“People with inflammatory arthritis have been shown to have inflammation of the intestinal tract, which results in increased intestinal permeability,” says dietitian and nutritionist Sonya Angelone. This weakness in the gut lining allows unwanted particles and bacteria to cross into the bloodstream, where they can wreak all kinds of havoc all around the body, including triggering joint inflammation. Luckily, probiotics can help heal the gut lining and lessen this effect!  

In a 2014 study (published in the journal Nutrition), after an eight-week period, markers of inflammation were markedly lower in the group who took the probiotics than those who were given the sugar pill, leading researchers to believe that there’s strong evidence they help ease the pain of Rheumatoid Arthritis, and well as the more common Osteoarthritis.  

Pop in to store to ask about how to get more good bacteria through eating tasty foods and in probiotics. You may find it works well in combination with a natural anti-inflammatory like Curcumin!