Disclaimer: This article is purely informational and makes no claims as to treatment or cure by or from any supplement or program BodyHealth may offer. If you or someone you know has any heart condition, we recommend you see a doctor trained in functional medicine to help you locate the cause of the disease or condition and recommend a solution for it.

This article is part of both the Heart Health Series & The Gut Health Guide & Protocol.

It hasn’t been understood by most people just how vital our gut health is to our heart health.

But in truth, it’s key. If our gut health is good, and our digestive tract working properly, the risk of poor heart health is much lower.

If our gut is in poor condition, however (heart burn or acid reflux often, bloating, pains, regular diarrhea, or worse), then this will, over time, lead to poor heart health.

But gut health among Americans has diminished drastically in recent times, worsening every year mainly due to our processed foods and sugars, and the 50x increase in toxins in our environment in the last 7 decades.

Now, younger and younger people every year are experiencing more and more gut issues which were rare even in older individuals in earlier generations.

And along with them, they're experiencing more cardiovascular issues.

This is something we need to address now, for each of us, to ensure a long and healthy life.

In this article we covered what actually causes poor heart health.

Very briefly, toxins and harmful invaders (bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites) entering the blood stream start to destroy the mucous lining that protects the walls of our blood vessels from damage.

And once this mucous lining has been destroyed in some specific place, even to a microscopic degree, the wall of the blood vessel is exposed.

This then leads to two things:

First, these toxins and bacteria are now able to get in under the mucous lining and start destroying it from the inside, exposing even more of the cells that compose the blood vessel’s wall.

And second, these toxins and bacteria can now injure the cells of the wall of the blood vessel themselves, as their protective lining is gone.

This leads to a lesion forming at this spot which then pushes out into the passageway of the blood vessel, limiting blood flow through that section of the passageway.

This goes on for many years or even decades. It’s gradual.

But we get to the point where too many of these blood vessels are narrowed, including those that feed the heart muscle itself.

This limits the amount of oxygen-filled blood cells able to pass through to the cells that need them in order to survive, and so the area or muscle that stops receiving these blood cells can die.

If that muscle is the heart, then we’re at the end of this cycle.

But if toxins and harmful invaders caused this… how did they get into the blood stream in the first place?

Because they’re definitely not supposed to be there.

For that we need to look at two specific entrance points in our body: our gut and our gums.

Because these are the top two entrance points to our body and where the vast majority of this starts.

And in this article we’ll cover our gut.

HOW OUR GUT HEALTH AFFECTS OUR HEART HEALTH

While there is much more on this subject in the Gut Health Guide, and a whole protocol, there is a very specific cycle occurring here that allows these invaders and toxins to get into our blood stream in the first place.

And it starts with our gut.

Our stomach, small intestine, and colon are the first and best defense against harmful invaders and toxins.

When we eat food, or drink water, it goes into our stomach. Here, specific digestive enzymes and stomach acid are released to break this food down.

They break it down part of the way and our small intestine breaks it down the rest of the way.

If they didn’t, we wouldn’t get nutrition from the food we eat, leading to tiredness and cravings for more food.

But this stomach acid also protects us from harmful invaders: bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites coming in.

This is because our small intestine is the perfect environment for this invaders to set up homes and thrive, which we don’t want.

So the stomach acid is meant to kill these off so they don’t reach our small intestine.

But that means our stomach needs to get very acidic to do this, and with today’s processed foods and low protein diets (stomach acid is made from amino acids from protein) most people’s stomach’s are not acidic enough to do this.

If you have heartburn or acid reflux, this is caused by a stomach that is not acidic enough. This causes the food to stay in it longer after which it starts to go rancid, causing it to bubble up to our esophagus along with stomach acid.

That’s what heart burn and acid reflux is. Too little stomach acid, not too much.

But if our stomach isn’t acidic enough it also doesn’t kill off these invaders coming in. So they get through.

If you have acid reflux or heartburn somewhat regularly, then this is happening right now with you.

Next, the food goes into the small intestine.

If these invaders made it through they take root here, because the conditions are perfect for them to live and populate.

They eat our food coming in and provide us with gas, which causes bloating in our abdomen.

If your stomach is pushed out, rounded, but hard or not able to be pushed in easily, this is bloating from the gas created by these invaders. It’s not belly fat.

There may also be some belly fat, but that's not what this is.

Okay, so now the food is in our small intestine.

There is where the food, in a properly functioning small intestine, is fully broken down so our body can use it.

It’s then absorbed through our intestinal wall, passes through specific blood vessels into our liver, and from there into our blood stream.

But let’s look at the walls of this small intestine.

The inside lining of the small intestine is only one cell thick. Very, very thin.

And between the cells are tiny “doors” called tight junctions that open and close to let nutrients through.

Along this wall of cells is another mucous lining. As nutrients touch it the cells can sense what the nutrients are and open to let them through.

Or, if there is a toxin or harmful invader, they can also sense this and so remain closed.

In this case, immune cells are released to capture the toxin and capture and destroy the invader and release them through our bowels.

But the way the cells open these “doors” to take in nutrients is they release a protein called zonulon. And zonulon stimulates the doors to be opened.

Well, certain toxins like glyphosate, certain bacteria, and also specific proteins in gluten also cause this zonulon to be released.

This causes the doors to open and lets the glyphosate, bacteria and gluten proteins through, along with other toxins and harmful invaders.

And then these get into the blood stream.

At first this is very little. But over time, if we keep ingesting these toxins and our stomach gets worse and worse at killing off harmful invaders, more and more pile up in our small intestine.

These overwhelm our immune system, it can’t get to them all.

So they keep getting through into our blood stream.

But they’re also injuring the cellular lining of the small intestine itself, destroying the mucous lining along it and actually destroying the cells there, causing microscopic openings that stay open.

This is called Leaky Gut.

But if we continue allowing these toxins and harmful bacteria into our small intestine, it will only worsen over time.

So more and more invaders and toxins get into our blood stream where they tear away at the mucous lining on our blood vessel walls, cause injury to the blood vessels themselves, and form lesions which narrow the passageways that blood cells must pass through.

As these lesions are formed they start to press out into the passageway of the blood vessel, narrowing the space with which oxygen-rich blood cells can pass through.

And many of these passageways are already smaller than the blood cells that literally squeeze through them. If we make them even smaller we can get to a point where the blood cells can't squeeze through.

Then the cells that need to receive the oxygen-rich blood don't get it, and they can die.

And when too much of this happens, especially around the heart, we have real trouble.

And it all starts in the gut.

If we want the healthiest heart in the future, then we need to address our gut today.

WHAT CAN WE DO TO INCREASE GUT HEALTH

While there is a whole guide and protocol, there are key things we can do right now to improve gut health and start to rid our gut of the toxins and harmful microbes that are already there.

First, if you have any gas, bloating, or acid reflux, you need to cut out any acid blockers or neutralizers which are creating this by allowing harmful bacteria through.

If you are on acid blockers, do this in consultation with your doctor.

Also cut out any sodas or soda water, both due to the sugars in them, but also because soda water neutralizes stomach acid, which we don’t want.

Next, take Digestive Enzymes with food until your stomach is able to produce these in quantity again on its own. This alone can make an immense difference.

And cut out the sugars and processed sugars that feed the harmful bacteria already in your small intestine.

Then do the Gut Health Protocol and take Gut Defense and Gut Restore to help destroy the harmful bacteria and yeasts in the stomach and intestine.

Then there is Metal-Free & Chemical Cleanse. This contains a full spectrum of detoxifying ingredients, including fullerenes — super charged carbons that are able to safely enter the cell and act as a sponge to remove toxins.

We see toxic output increase significantly when taken on a daily basis and this can help throughout our cardiovascular system.

Broccoli Sprouts have also been shown to help and you should look into these in regards to overall cardiovascular health.

Reds and H2 Infuse are also key here for there intense antioxidant effect, neutralizing harmful free radicals caused by these microbes that then harm the lining of our blood vessels.

And lastly, ensure you’re taking PerfectAmino to give your body the extra amino acids it needs to build and repair the cells in both our intestinal lining and our blood vessels.

It’s truly amazing how one can feel, both physically and mentally, once the body is functioning as it’s supposed to.

Here is the rest of the Heart Health Series.

And here you can find the Gut Health Guide & Protocol.

I highly recommend them both.

If you want to address your overall gut health, I highly recommend you check out the full Gut Health Protocol & 30-Day Challenge.

It addresses heartburn, IBS, GERD, Candida, Bloating, Leaky Gut, H. Pylori, C. Diff, Gluten Reactions and much more.

It's very effective.

And we have specially designed and discounted Gut Health Packages that go along with it.

And if you haven't already, make sure you join our PerfectAmino VIP Group, where you can ask all your health & fitness questions.