Why Paleo People Should Eat Dirt

EatDirtJoshAxe_112737.jpgAs a long-time Paleo eater and nutritionist, a large percentage of my work and my personal life has been focused on gut health. Not only do I continually research and read the newest information on the subject of the microbiome and the intestinal tract, but I’ve put much of my research to use in my personal life. Having multiple autoimmune diseases has made me keenly aware of how delicate the balance between “good” and “bad” bacteria can be in the gut.

Read This If You Want To Be Healthier

When I first heard about Dr. Josh Axe’s new book, Eat Dirt: Why Leaky Gut May Be The Root Cause of Your Health Problems and 5 Surprising Steps to Cure It, I immediately preordered it. I was also given an advance copy to review.

At the heart of the Paleo diet is the focus of digestive wellness, and this naturally includes gut health and the microbiome. Eat Dirt is a fantastic new addition to the library of books that address gut health, bacterial balance, and digestion. While I don’t want to give away all the good parts, I can tell you this: Eat Dirt approaches gut restoration in a new way. It breaks down types of gut issues based on their causes:

  • Candida or yeast overgrowth
  • Stress
  • Immune issues
  • Poor digestion & absorption
  • Toxicity

The book then details a plan to address each cause of leaky gut, making it more than a one size fits all approach to gut wellness. There are also numerous recipes in the book.

Blending integrative nutrition with Chinese medicine and other holistic viewpoints, this book is a fresh new take on a much-discussed issue.

Dealing With Leaky Gut Changed My Life

When I first heard about leaky gut, I thought it was a bit of a joke. Or really gross. But it refers to not fully digested food particles and other toxins that “leak” into your bloodstream through the gateways of the intestinal tract. These gateways are meant to keep everything out except for fully digested nutrients, but lifestyle, genetics, diet, and stress can dramatically impact how your intestinal tract functions. All of these factors can wear down your intestinal gateways (known as tight junctions), which allow foreign particles to float around in your body. This can cause a cascade effect of issues. Restoring gut function is not only possible but quite doable. I did it myself over the course of a year, and continue to live a gut-friendly lifestyle to maintain my state of wellness.

While I focused on eating probiotic-rich foods like sauerkraut and kombucha, I also took high dose probiotics of various strains. Eat Dirt details precisely what you need to do to achieve the same kind of success in reversing leaky gut that I did, and let me tell you, if you invest in only one area of knowledge this year — this is the place to do it.

Aimee McNewAimee McNew

Aimee McNew, MNT, CNTP, is a certified nutritionist who specializes in women’s health, thyroid disorders, autoimmunity, and fertility. She is the author of The Everything Guide to Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: A Healing Plan for Managing Symptoms Naturally (Simon & Schuster, 2016). Follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.