Webinar presented by Oregon Masters Swimming
Dr. Kirstin Lauritzen is a Functional Medicine Practitioner in Oregon. Her doctorate is in Chiropractic, and she holds a Master’s in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine. Dr K specializes in working with athletes to prevent nutrient deficiencies so that they can optimize their performance, longevity in their sport, reduce risk of injury and promote a healthy body!
Dr K encourages her athletes and patients to understand how each system functions, both individually and together. She stresses that we need to look for the cause behind symptoms; unhelpful thoughts, or routines that don’t serve us, because then we find the why, and that’s where new habits and change really begins.
She is a USMS member of the Oregon City Tankers, an Ironman, and swims on a regular basis.
Is gut health something you’ve heard about recently? It’s become a topic of question and conversation as we discover more about how gut health affects the human body as a whole.
In fact, did you know that there’s a nerve that connects the gut and the brain and it’s a direct highway of communication between the brain and the bacteria in your gut?
Gut health has a big impact for the athlete or fitness enthusiast:
- The gut microbiome controls a large part of the immune system, meaning, when it’s in balance you’ll spend less time out of practice due to colds and the flu.
- Because the gut controls so much of the inflammation in the body, it can impact joint health and inflammation, which when high, can lead to degeneration, arthritis and be the cause behind joint pain. Research is starting to pose the theory that when the gut is healthy, your risk of injuries taking you out of sport and training is lower.
- The GI tract also controls how you absorb nutrients from your food, hydration and fueling during sport.
- Although health and performance aren’t and shouldn’t be based on weight alone, weight can be a factor in health concerns and risk, especially when we have increased visceral fat – or fat around the internal organs. There are certain ratios of bacteria in the gut that can lead to weight gain or difficulty losing weight, and those same bacteria can also cause irritable bowel symptoms.
I’ll be giving you a few simple tips that you can easily apply in your daily life. We’ll talk about when it’s appropriate to use a probiotic, and also why probiotics aren’t the answer to all of the problems with your GI tract. We’ll especially discuss when probiotics are likely making the problem worse, not better. We’ll discuss simple food choices you can easily make to help build up the diversity in your gut, and we’ll talk briefly about lab options you have if you would like to learn more about the health of your GI tract.
When your GI tract is balanced, it impacts both your health and performance at the gym and in sport. I look forward to seeing you on the next webinar!
Webinar: Nov 9, 2021, 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada).
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81382880000?pwd=UTd3aHMvYVcrZkQrWnpnN3V1Z2dFZz09
Meeting ID: 813 8288 0000
Passcode: swim