Industry update article for allied and natural health practitioners | Housed on Metagenics Institute, a natural medicine learning and resource portal | 2022

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The link between food and mood is clearer than ever, and research continues to show the strong link between the gut and overall health.

With at least half of Australians experiencing unpleasant gut symptoms,¹ and New Zealand having the third worst rate of inflammatory bowel disease in the world² it’s clear that people are desperately in need of support and guidance on digestion and gut health.

As Practitioners, we know about the gut-brain connection and how this affects mood, mental wellbeing, physical health, immunity, and brain function. But it’s fair to say that many of our patients are still learning about these links and how they impact on our day-to-day wellbeing.

If we look at the top 20 conditions that Naturopaths are treating in clinic, almost half are directly related to gut function and digestion – bloating/gas, irritable bowel syndrome, bowel irregularity, food intolerances, leaky gut, constipation, heartburn/reflux, indigestion, and parasites/gut infection. (Thrive Insights, 2021)

Gut and digestion issues can be a cause of embarrassment and shame for patients, changing how they eat and socialise for instance, impacting on their quality of life.

Symptoms of high level stress (hello 2020-2021) could also present as digestive problems, even though to patients it may seem completely unrelated. Is bowel irregularity ‘just’ bowel irregularity, or could it be something more? Your experience, knowledge, and guidance are crucial for patients in this situation as you navigate through each layer of their symptoms.

Knowing this, it makes sense that gut health is one of the top issues Practitioners are providing support for (Thrive Insights, 2021). In service of giving you even more access to education around this topic, we recently presented our webinar on digestive disorders, The Evolution of Gut Care. It’s essential viewing if you’re interested in the latest on functional gastrointestinal health and is available to view on-demand on Metagenics Institute.

For our patients, education on how the gut and digestion plays an integral role on whole health will help them understand their treatment plan and how their body works, hopefully leading to better health outcomes in future as they move forward with new understanding.

The simplest first step for a client may be rebuilding and maintaining gut flora through the addition of a probiotic. It’s a pathway to changes that may seem more challenging to maintain, like improving diet and
lifestyle. Once they start to feel better, motivation is easier to come by and healthier lifestyle choices are easier to make.

Find our suite of resources, including an infographic detailing our range of probiotic solutions, on Metagenics Institute, and don’t hesitate to give our Clinical Support team a call if you require extra support.

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References
1 Belobrajdic, D., Brownlee, I., Hendrie, G., Rebuli, M., Bird, T. (2018). Gut health and weight loss: An overview of the scientific evidence of the benefits of dietary fibre during weight loss. CSIRO, Australia.
2 Health Central NZ, 2017. NZ has world’s third highest rate of inflammatory bowel diseasehttps://healthcentral.nz/nz-has-worlds-third-highest-rate-of-inflammatory-bowel-disease/