Day 21 of My 40 Day Fast: Women Can Remove Disease From the Bloodline

I was diagnosed with a Ulcerative Proctitis in 2016. I am not a doctor and was clueless about health and how the body worked. I found my gastroenterologist of little help, and was forced to do my own research. I quickly learned I was faced with losing part or all of my colon.

For the last several years I have been researching gut health and how to heal my body. I have poured through academic journal articles, books, and listened to talks on the latest discoveries in gut health and the gut microbiome. I have also listened to stories of others who successfully healed their gut diseases, i.e. Crohn’s Disease, and Ulcerative Colitis.

I tried many diets and learned our bodies are quite unique. What works for one person may not work for another.

Through my research I discovered that women have the ability to heal disease out of the bloodline. That’s a bold statement, so please bear with me as I lay it out as simply as I can.

Hippocrites suggested more than 2500 years ago that all disease begins in the gut, and I have found this to be true.

The human body contains trillions of microbes, and we have five main concentrations of microbes, known as microbiomes. These microbiomes are: oral, skin, respiratory, vagina, and the gut. They have been shown to communicate with each other. I notice this when I eat probiotic rich foods. My body recognizes right away the good bacteria that entered my mouth.

The headquarters of these microbiomes is the gut microbiome. It is the largest of the microbiomes and contains the most diverse range of microbes. Seventy to 80 percent of the body’s immune system is also housed in the gut. This part of the immune system has been growing alongside the gut since birth. The immune system and the gut are intricately connected and have a symbiotic relationship with each other.

The gut microbiome has what’s commonly known as good and bad bacteria. Our bacteria aren't inherently bad. We need them to survive, however we also need a balance of good and bad bacteria. An abundance of bad bacteria causes disharmony in the body. An abundance of good bacteria maintains harmony in the body.

When there is an overabundance of bad bacteria in the gut, this imbalance is known as dysbiosis. The immune system is sensitive to any changes in the gut’s composition. When dysbiosis occurs it triggers an inflammatory response from the immune system. Inflammation is the immune system’s way of ringing the alarm bells. Prolonged inflammation causes health problems.

The problems dysbiosis in the gut can cause manifests differently in individuals.

Dysbiosis can trigger a whole host of gut issues, such as bloating, haemorrhoids, constipation, etc., to major health issues like irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease.

Dysbiosis can show up in the other microbiomes in the body. The skin develops conditions, such as acne, rashes, psoriasis, etc. The vagina becomes odorous or infectious. Dental problems can occur, and so many other ailments.

Over time the immune system’s inflammatory response from dysbiosis can develop into auto-immune diseases. When external viruses or bacteria threaten the body, the immune system attacks them. In the case of autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the body when it senses something is wrong. It does not attack bad bacteria because it’s been trained not to since birth.

There are many diseases, upwards of a hundred, that are autoimmune diseases, such as diabetes, some heart diseases, multiple sclerosis, lupus, celiac disease, etc.

A lot of science has recently been dedicated to exploring the fascinating world of the gut. The number of microbes in the human gut is vast and diverse, so there’s a lot to investigate. Some gut researchers are even trying to link the loss or scarcity of certain strains of bacteria to different diseases.

One thing is clear, a healthy body has a rich and diverse gut. In order for good bacteria to proliferate in the gut, probiotic rich foods and wide variety of plants must be consumed. Foods that feed bad bacteria should be minimized or abstained from altogether. The more diversity in the plant foods consumed, the more diversity in good bacteria in the gut.

The stomach and small intestine can’t break down the insoluble fibre that comes from plants. Plant fibres travel all the way to the large intestine where it goes through a fermentation process. This fermentation produces short chain fatty acids, or SCFAs, and they are food for the good bacteria. If the good bacteria aren’t fed, they won’t survive and this leads to dysbiosis. The scales tip towards disease.

There are people on the internet who have gone from disease and a heavily restricted diet because their bodies couldn’t digest most foods to a healed body able to digest a wide variety of foods. They were able to do that by growing a diverse gut microbiome.

If you are undergoing any health issues at all, that includes seemingly minor issues like troubles with digestion or mystery symptoms, heal your gut. Go through the healing process and be patient because it takes time to find what works for your body and what doesn’t.

It’s imperative to heal the gut before having children. The mother’s gut is the blueprint for her baby’s gut. The long established science says fetuses have little to no microbes while in gestation and get their first big dose of microbes when they pass through the vagina microbiome. Microbes are also passed through breast milk.

The baby’s gut microbiome grows after birth and will only be as plentiful as the mother's microbiome. If the mother has gut dysbiosis then there is a lack good bacteria in her gut microbiome and so those microbes won't be passed on.

The immune system fully develops in the years after birth. Until then the baby relies on the mother's antibodies passed through the placenta and breast milk. The antibodies the mother is able to pass to her baby is dependent on the health of her own immune system, which is dependent on the health of her gut microbiome.

Gut dysbiosis manifests in different ways in different individuals. Whatever health problems that may or may not be showing up in the mother will most likely not show up the same in the child. It can also take years for dysbiosis symptoms to become apparent.

Gut dysbiosis can have a domino effect on generations to come. While health problems can be minimal at first, if a woman doesn’t work toward building a healthy gut then they risk losing more good bacteria. When gut dysbiosis is passed through the generations the integrity of the gut dwindles with each passing generation until full-blown disease occurs.

There is science linking health problems in children who did not pass through the vagina at birth. There are cases of complications during birth that call for c-sections over a vaginal birth. Some women are unable to produce breast milk. A mother can help to ensure the integrity of her child’s gut microbiome by feeding them probiotic rich foods and a diverse range of plant foods as soon as possible.

In my personal opinion, hospitals seem to be veering away from vaginal births altogether in favour of C-sections because they use less of the hospital’s resources. Vaginal births can be a lengthy process. My own mother was in labour with me for 52 hours. Doctors either don’t want to or are unable to spend that much time on one labour. Regardless, women should demand better. The health of our children and future generations depends on us.

Ladies, rally up and heal your guts. You might be the chosen one in your bloodline to break the generational curse of disease that may have plagued your ancestors for generations. The health of society depends on us.