Most of us know to eat plenty of fiber to keep our guts healthy and to maintain gut motility. Staying well hydrated is also important, especially in dry climates. You should be having at least one bowel movement each day. Eat real food. Many packaged foods contain non-food ingredients that we don’t know enough about to know how they will react within the body.
There was a study done on rats in which one group was fed a grain meal containing only 30% GMO grains and 70% organic grains. The control group was fed only organic grains. The rats that ate the GMO food had significantly greater risk of intestinal tumors than the control group. There isn’t much research on humans regarding the effect of GMOs on the body, but
it makes sense to me that we would be our healthiest if we only ate real food.
The Fort Collins food coop carries a wide variety of organic and local foods, as well as nutritional supplements. Consider getting yourself tested for the MTHFR gene SNP. Sixty percent of the population has at least one ‘defective’ copy. This mutation makes it difficult for the body to activate B12 and folate, and correlates with a significant increase in the risk of colon cancer in those who have two ‘defective’ copies of the MTHFR gene. The good news is that with proper diet and supplementation, you can significantly decrease your health risk. You may ask your doctor to test you for MTHFR or do a saliva test through www.23andme.com ($199). You may obtain a plan to minimize your risk from a doctor who is trained in nutrigenomics. This plan will likely include dietary suggestions, lifestyle modifications and sometimes nutrient supplementation.
By Joan D Waters, ND Practical Health Solutions, LLC Fort Collins
www.practicalhealthsolutions.com