Synopsis

We all hear about how important treating “root causes” is for solving chronic health problems.  In fact, the reason conventional medicine is so bad at treating chronic disease is because it manages symptoms rather than treating “root causes”.  But how we define “root causes” is very important, because the narrative in the functional medicine world seems to define it as a supplement deficiency.

But there’s a growing movement in functional medicine that seems to be making major headway.  This movement is more likely to recommend a morning walk in the wilderness or a yoga class than a $300/month supplement bill.  Unwittingly, this movement is on a collision course with a separate movement looking to shatter the way people perceive aging.

This movement looks to define aging based on biological function rather than time, and there’s a lot of commonality between addressing the root cause of chronic disease andvaging.  This isn’t the least bit surprising given aging is the greatest risk factor for chronic disease.  When we look at some of the key artifacts of aging, gut health is front and center as a primary driver of so-called “biological aging”.

In today’s episode I discuss why gut health is the key to addressing the root cause of chronic disease, specifically biological aging.  I also go over how gut problems associated with “leaky gut” such as SIBO, IBS, IBD, Celiac disease, and NAFLD lead to progressive decline due to accelerated biological aging.  We’ll also touch upon why supplements only manage symptoms and the true key to getting everything right.

This episode will function as a pivot for Hackyourgut.com.  Up until now I’ve focused primarily on ways to address chronic gut issues, but this makes the scope of the blog quite limited.  Moving forward, the focus will be on this concept of biological aging and how it relates to those with chronic conditions as well as those who are looking to optimize their health and lifespan.  This will help widen the scope of this blog and bring the importance of gut health to a wider audience.  I hope you join me for the ride, but now let’s get on with the show.