[Health] Gut Health on a Vegan Diet: It’s About More Than Just Gas

You should trust your gut. We don’t mean your intuition (although that should also be trusted often), but here, we’re talking specifically about your gastrointestinal system. 

Research suggests there is a link between physical, mental, and gut health. If you take care of the latter, you might see a big improvement in the former. Let’s look at what the gut actually is, as well as how you may be able to improve your gut health on a vegan diet.

While you may associate the phrase “gut feeling” with butterflies or uneasiness in the pit of your stomach, in the medical sense, the gastrointestinal system consists of the mouth, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, gallbladder, small intestine, colon, and rectum. Often referred to as our gut, it’s also known as the digestive system or the gastrointestinal tract.

According to Dr. Lisa Ganjhu, a clinical assistant professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, the gut helps with so much more than food digestion. She wrote for the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology: “Our gut plays a major role, not only in our gastrointestinal health but in the health and well-being of the entire body.” It can send messages to our brain and even fight disease. Continue...