Why Does It Matter?

According to the bioenergetic theory of health, proper gut function is a critical component of cellular energy generation and optimal health. Gut irritation can cause blocks in the creation of cellular energy both directly and indirectly. If the gut is not working properly, bacterial toxins (primarily from the large intestine) will be absorbed into the bloodstream. These toxins can directly cause blocks in energy creation in at least two ways:

1. by inhibiting the use of oxygen by the cell, which is a critical component of effective cellular energy creation; and
2. by promoting the use of fat as fuel for energy creation rather than glucose, which inhibits the rate of cellular energy production.

These toxins can also indirectly lower energy production. Gut toxins in the bloodstream must be detoxified by the liver. Chronically high levels of these toxins can overburden the liver, preventing it from performing other functions like hormone processing. This burden can also lead to liver conditions like fatty liver disease.

Toxins and other food-borne chemicals can also cause chronic inflammation throughout the body, including in the intestine itself. This inflammation leads to health issues by triggering responses that use energy and lower energy creation. In the intestine, inflammation enables more toxins to permeate into the bloodstream, exacerbating all these problems.

Compromised gut function, and the lower energy production that results from it, can be a cause of a host of issues that aren't obviously related to diet. These can include joint pain, fatigue, and mental health issues like brain "fog", irritability and depression.

The Problem With Plants

Like all living organisms, plants have a biological imperative to stay alive and reproduce. While animals use physical attributes like claws or speed to defend themselves, plants defend themselves with chemicals. Plant leaves, stems and seeds often contain dozens of natural chemical compounds that make animals that ingest them, including humans, sick.

These natural compounds include lectins (including gluten), phytates, oxalates, FODMAPs, goitrogens, and others. In addition, industrial agriculture adds to this problem by spraying more chemicals on our plant foods as pesticides. Both the natural compounds and the chemical pesticides can cause the gut permeability that leads to bacterial toxins getting into our bloodstream. They can also directly cause inflammatory reactions throughout our bodies.

From an evolutionary perspective, ripe fruit is the only part of a plant that evolved for animals to eat. An animal eating ripe fruit eventually spreads the plant seeds and enables the plant to reproduce. An animal eating any other part of a plant, including unripe fruit before the seed is ready to germinate, is harmful to the plant.

What Should We Do?

How do we get the nutrients and energy we need while avoiding these gut issues? In two primary ways:

Conquer The Chemicals

We can overcome these plant toxins by avoiding the most concentrated sources, and by processing the plant foods to lower the toxicity of the compounds. To avoid most of these compounds, avoid nuts, seeds (including grains), leaves and stems. The safest vegetables are the root vegetables (including potatoes, parsnips and carrots), followed by unfortified white rice and flour, and traditional corn flour. Most of the plant toxins from flour and rice are found in the seed covering, so white flour and white rice have less of those chemicals than whole wheat flour and brown rice, which include the seed coverings. Traditional corn flour is made by soaking the corn kernels in an alkaline solution to break down the kernel skins before grinding them.

Feed Your Cells, Not Your Bacteria

Most of the bacteria that can cause problems with energy creation is located in the large intestine. Just as carbohydrates are a preferred fuel for our cells to create energy, they are also a preferred fuel for our bacteria. As much as possible, we need to consume food that is easily digestible, so that we absorb as much fuel as possible, and don't overfeed our bacteria. To do this, eat quick-digesting carbohydrates with little soluble fiber. Cooking, soaking, sprouting and fermenting high-fiber foods helps break down the fiber to improve digestion speed.

Ripe fruits, including frozen and dried fruits, are almost always safe options for avoiding these issues. However, all fruits do contain at least a small amount of plant defense chemicals, and many fruits contain a large amount of soluble fiber. Some recommend cooking high-fiber fruit such as apples or bananas. White sugar (sucrose) is great source of energy and is very quickly digested, but does not have any of the micro-nutrients that fruit contains. Raw, organic honey and ruminant-animal dairy are also good sources of carbohydrates. One of the best sources is organic, pulp-free fruit juices, which contain the vitamins and minerals from the fruit with most of the fiber removed.

Avoiding gut irritating foods, and avoiding over-feeding your gut bacteria, can lead to more cellular energy and a higher level of overall health.