Gut health, once an afterthought, has in recent decades taken center stage in Western medical research and wellness studies, and for good reason. Some 50 trillion microorganisms reside in the human gut, and the makeup and diversity of this microbiome can be responsible for digestive issues such as constipation, bloating, irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, as well as systemic problems such as brain fog, joint pain, neurotransmitter imbalance, poor immunity, and Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid) disease. For thousands of years in Eastern medical traditions, gut health has held a central position of importance. In traditional Chinese medicine, the spleen and stomach transform the nutrients we digest into qi and blood, two vital sources of life. In Ayurveda, the agni, or digestive fire that resides in the gut, is central to health.
