The following article was written by Ela Gold, Founder and Lead Practitioner of Vitalis Health.
Ela Gold has over 25 years of experience in alternative health, specialising in internal cleansing, functional nutrition, and detoxification. She was one of Australia’s first colon hydrotherapists, advocating for gut health at a time when detoxification was misunderstood.
Her journey started in Germany, where she studied nutrition, naturopathy, and herbal medicine. She expanded her expertise across India (Ayurveda & meditation), Korea (acupuncture), Brazil (shamanic practices), and China (Feng Shui & Eastern healing traditions).
Ela’s philosophy is simple:
“The only healer that can heal you is YOU.”
She has dedicated her career to educating individuals and training practitioners in Holistic Colon Hydrotherapy, ensuring that gut health and detoxification become an integral part of wellness journeys worldwide.
The intestinal flora can be a source of health and wellbeing. However, if it is out of balance, it can cause illness and fatigue. Therefore, establishing a healthy intestinal flora is one of the most important goals of any holistic therapy.
Every person has a unique intestinal flora. However, similarities can be observed among certain groups. For instance, individuals with chronic digestive conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn’s disease tend to have markedly different intestinal flora compared to those with healthy digestion. Similarly, people who are overweight have gut flora that differs significantly from that of lean individuals. Differences are also seen in the gut flora of autistic people compared to those without autism, and in people with rheumatism compared to those without the condition.
In 2004, researchers Hawrelak and Myers from Southern Cross University showed that negative changes in intestinal flora (dysbiosis) can contribute to the development of chronic and degenerative diseases. Their research mentions irritable bowel syndrome, chronic inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatism (arthritis) and ankylosing spondylitis (a rheumatic disease with spinal stiffness) (1). Hawrelak and Myers pointed out that the modern Western lifestyle, with its poor diet, frequent use of antibiotics and constant stress, has an extremely harmful effect on the intestinal flora. They recommend first eliminating these risk factors and then rebuilding the intestinal flora.
Why rebuild your intestinal flora?
The healthier the intestinal flora, the stronger the immune system.
The intestinal flora consists of a community of many trillions of bacteria that colonise our digestive system. That’s ten times as many bacteria as we have cells. In this community, there are bacteria that are beneficial to us, called probiotic bacteria, and bacteria that are less beneficial and, in some cases, harmful. A healthy intestinal flora is a crucial component of our immune system. The healthier the intestinal flora, the more effective our immune system, the stronger our defences, and the further we are from illness and discomfort.
The healthier the intestinal flora, the fewer allergies.
A healthy intestinal flora not only protects against infections, but also against allergies, skin diseases and asthma. For example, pregnant women who are prone to allergies can support both themselves and their unborn child by taking high-quality probiotics (beneficial intestinal bacteria). Their babies – especially if they continue to take probiotics while breastfeeding – are less likely to develop eczema or other allergic problems.
The healthier the intestinal flora, the better protected.
A healthy intestinal flora reduces the risk of developing food intolerances, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, fungal infections and even plays a role in cancer prevention.
With the spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens and growing pollution, it is extremely important to keep our immune system strong. Only then can we live healthily – regardless of the pathogens or pollutants we come into contact with throughout the day.
The healthier the intestinal flora, the less excess weight.
Other positive effects of probiotics and a healthy gut flora include the promotion of healthy bowel movements, cholesterol levels and weight. Many heavier people have gut flora that can extract calories even from otherwise indigestible fibre.
Control your intestinal flora!
Our intestinal flora is not a fixed, unchanging structure in our body that, once strengthened, remains strong. The human body regularly excretes intestinal bacteria, both the good and the bad. This shouldn’t be a problem, since the remaining intestinal bacteria will multiply again at lightning speed. However, it’s not just beneficial intestinal bacteria that can multiply, but also harmful ones. This turnover means the intestinal flora changes in quantity and composition every day, every hour, even every minute. Sometimes in a positive direction, sometimes in a negative direction.
Fortunately, if we know how, we can determine the direction. The intestinal flora doesn’t change according to our whims, but rather according to our internal environment. We can do things to build a healthy intestinal flora, where beneficial intestinal bacteria feel comfortable in us, multiply, and keep the harmful bacteria and parasitic fungi in check. However, we can also do things that lead to a proliferation of harmful bacteria, fungi and pathogens, which sidelines our desired beneficial bacteria.
Nine things that harm intestinal flora
1. Antibiotics
Antibiotics, of course, must be the first priority here. Antibiotics are known to destroy not only the harmful target bacteria, but also the beneficial intestinal bacteria. In this way, they severely impair the intestinal flora.
Impaired intestinal flora increases your susceptibility to all kinds of diseases (2).
Some people believe that their intestinal flora regenerates on its own after taking antibiotics. This may be the case, but it takes up to six months. A lot can happen in those six months. Often the remaining harmful intestinal bacteria or fungi multiply significantly faster than the remaining good intestinal bacteria. The independent and successful regeneration of the intestinal flora is therefore not always possible.
If antibiotic therapy can’t be avoided, then it is advisable to follow it with intestinal cleansing or at least to build up the intestinal flora.
2. Birth control and other hormonal preparations
The use of hormonal contraceptives also influences intestinal health. In a prospective cohort study, ‘Oral contraceptives, reproductive factors and risk of inflammatory bowel disease,’ researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston found that women who take oral contraceptives have a significantly higher risk of developing inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis than women who do not use The Pill. The results of this study were published in 2012 in the internationally renowned journal of gastroenterology, Gut.
Other studies dating back to the 1990s, drew similar conclusions regarding the harmful effects of oral contraceptives on the intestinal flora, particularly when the pills contained high doses of oestrogen (4)(5).
3. Chlorine in tap water
Tap water is often chlorinated. Chlorine is a chemical added to water for the purpose of disinfection, in other words, it kills bacteria. Chlorine does its disinfecting work not only in the water, but also in your intestines, where it reduces your healthy intestinal flora.
In 2013 in Microbial Biotechnology, Belgian scientists from Ghent University warned against the unnecessary use of antibiotics and excessive hygienic precautions, including drinking chlorinated water (6). Their study explained that these factors – together with a Standard Western Diet – lead to a decrease in microbial diversity in the intestine, which in turn results in frequently recurring infections (e.g. Clostridium difficile), inflammatory bowel diseases and obesity.
Consuming prebiotics and probiotics is unlikely to achieve your goal if you continue to consume chlorinated drinking water, as the chlorine continually impairs your intestinal flora. A good water filter is an essential household accessory, providing you with chlorine-free drinking water to protect your intestinal flora. The best water filters are those that purify the water in a similar way to how rainwater is purified in untouched nature. Rainwater slowly seeps through various rock layers before becoming clear and pure spring water. Water filters of this type don’t even need to be connected to the water supply and, despite minimal technological effort, are highly effective. In a short time, ordinary tap water is transformed into fresh and delicious spring water.
If you want to protect not only your gut, but also your skin from contact with chlorine, then a simple measure can help: Replace your conventional shower head with a shower head that uses multiple filter stages to remove chlorine and other contaminants from your shower water. At the same time, this filtration provides soft water for your skin.
4. Fluoride and disinfectants
Fluorides are also suspected of destroying the intestinal flora. Fluorides can act as metabolic toxins, which is why some claim that, like antibiotics, they can destroy healthy intestinal flora.
Fluoride is added to drinking water in Australia and other countries. Fortunately, this is no longer the case in Europe – except for some regions in Great Britain. Fluoride can also be found in toothpaste and table salt. Sea salt is usually fluoride-free and health food stores offer a wider selection of fluoride-free toothpastes. If you live in a country that still fluoridates drinking water, the same recommendations apply as in point three, as a high-quality water filter can also remove fluoride from your water.
Many cleaning products used in homes can harm your intestinal flora. Keep an eye out for products claiming ‘disinfectant’ status, such as those containing triclosan.
5. Sugar and fat
Hardly any other food leads to the destruction of intestinal flora as easily and purposefully as sugar. In combination with unhealthy fats, dysbiosis (impaired intestinal flora) can be achieved even more quickly.
In April 2013, French scientists published a study that explained that the typical Western diet, with a lot of sugar and fat, is a significant risk factor for the development of the chronic inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease (7).
The study observed the effects of a high-sugar and high-fat diet on the composition of the intestinal flora and on susceptibility to infections. They found that this type of diet immediately led to dysbiosis. As well as triggering dysbiosis, the high-sugar and high-fat diet impaired the digestive lining. The thickness of the intestinal mucosa decreased and its permeability increased. In such altered intestinal mucosa, harmful bacteria multiply particularly well and inflammatory processes develop.
6. Acidification
The typical Western diet, high in sugar, fats and processed foods, shifts the body’s balance. It overloads our compensatory abilities and leads to the chronic hyperacidity that is so widespread today.
Which came first: acidosis or dysbiosis? This question is like the chicken and the egg. There is no single answer. The two are closely linked, and one cannot exist without the other. In the case of hyperacidity and dysbiosis, both conditions worsen each other: dysbiosis increases hyperacidity, while hyperacidity increases dysbiosis.
Intestinal imbalance and nutritional status: An imbalanced intestinal flora can impede nutrient and mineral absorption. Minerals, particularly potassium, calcium and magnesium, are essential for buffering the daily acids we produce. When absorption of these key minerals is impaired, hyperacidity progresses.
An imbalance in our overall acid-base balance also leads to a pH shift in our digestive systems. This change in the environment drives out beneficial intestinal bacteria while creating a favourable environment for harmful intestinal bacteria and fungi (e.g., Candida albicans).
Resolving dysbiosis requires more than just rebuilding the intestinal flora. It also requires thorough deacidification and a high-quality mineral supply. If dysbiosis is associated with fungal involvement, holistic measures that specifically combat fungal infections are required.
7. Food additives
A major reason for the negative impact of modern diets on the intestinal flora is its abundance of artificial food additives. Just like antibiotics, fluoride and chlorine, artificial food additives can have a lethal effect on many beneficial intestinal bacteria.
A study titled ‘Intestinal Dysbiosis,’ published in Complementary Therapies in Medicine, identified antibiotics, oral contraceptives, and food additives as key factors that disrupt the balance of intestinal flora (8).
The research team, led by John McLaren Howard, noted that the effects of dysbiosis extend well beyond digestive issues. They found that an imbalance in gut flora can increase intestinal permeability and hinder nutrient absorption—factors they believe to be the root cause of many systemic diseases.
Additional studies have shown that dysbiosis involving fungal overgrowth may trigger a wide range of symptoms, including greater susceptibility to infections, chronic fatigue, and in severe cases, the breakdown of the immune system.
8. Pesticide residues
Unfortunately, the presence of pesticide residues in conventionally produced foods is regularly downplayed. Regulatory authorities cite limit values, assuming they guarantee food safety. The effect of even minimal amounts of pesticides is often underestimated. This becomes apparent when someone takes a close look at pesticides. When investigated, lo and behold: poisons that are considered so harmless that they can be used by any homeowner (like glyphosate), suddenly turn out to be dangerous.
One of these widely used pesticides is chlorpyrifos, which is sold under a variety of brand names and kills everything that even remotely belongs to the insect family. In agriculture, moth repellents, flea collars or ant powder – chlorpyrifos is used (9).
In spring 2012, we saw the headlines: ‘Pesticide attacks unborn children’s brains’, ‘Insecticide makes children dull’ and ‘Experts warn against
insect repellent.’ What had happened? Researchers led by Virginia Rauh of Columbia University in New York identified “Brain anomalies in children exposed prenatally to a common organophosphate pesticide.” Amounts of the pesticide chlorpyrifos that had previously been considered safe had caused the brains of unborn children to shrink and led to reduced mental performance later in life. According to the researcher, the existing limit values were not sufficient to protect children from the long-term effects of the spray.
Chlorpyrifos is, of course, still in use.
After all, an ant-free garden is far more important than the health of our children.
Pesticides damage intestinal flora
This insecticide not only harms the brains of unborn babies, but also the intestinal flora of everyone. In May 2013, French scientists from the Jules Verne University of Picardy published a study demonstrating the disruptive effects of low doses of chlorpyrifos on the composition of the intestinal microbiota of mammals. Chlorpyrifos, the researchers concluded, can cause dysbiosis (10).
Detoxification with organic food
If you are now worried about your health or that of your children because you have been eating conventionally produced food – and therefore also pesticide residues – then we would like to recommend a study from 2008 to you: ‘Dietary intake and its contribution to longitudinal organophosphorus pesticide exposure in urban/suburban children’ (11). This study followed 23 children who were switched from eating conventionally grown fruits and vegetables to organically grown fruits and vegetables for five days, during each season. Their urine was tested for pesticide metabolites twice a day. While eating the organic produce metabolites of pesticides malathion and chlorpyrifos were reduced to nondetected or close to non-detected l-evels. The take home message? Eat organic to eliminate a risk factor for the development of dysbiosis.
With all this bad news, you might be stressed because you don’t know what to do first to protect your intestinal flora and your health. Simply implement our tips calmly and step by step. Stress, however, is out of place. Because stress is number nine on our list.
9. Stress
While you can’t avoid all stressors in your daily life, it’s helpful to become aware of stress and realise that nothing really gets done faster or
better with stress.
There is a wealth of scientific evidence on the impacts of stress on intestinal flora. One such study was published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology in autumn 2012 (12). This study yielded fascinating results:
It showed that not only does stress damage the intestinal flora, but also, a healthy intestinal flora (in the study, it was Bifidobacterium infantis) provides greater resistance to stress. With sufficient beneficial intestinal bacteria in the body, you are less likely to get stressed and more likely to have a relaxed outlook.
How to restore and build a healthy intestinal flora
Ideally, you should undergo a comprehensive intestinal cleansing program for this purpose. If you don’t have time for this right now, we recommend the program described in the following section, which focuses exclusively on building up the intestinal flora but does not contain any additional components for detoxification (zeolite), cleansing or stimulating intestinal peristalsis (psyllium husk powder).
Choosing the right probiotic
The intestinal flora is built up using high-quality probiotics in combination with the right diet. Make sure that the probiotic you choose
contains as many different strains of intestinal bacteria as possible, not just three or four strains, but ten to fifteen, such as Super-Pro (capsules) and P3 Fluid (liquid probiotic). This liquid probiotic has prebiotic, probiotic and postbiotic effects, providing beneficial intestinal bacteria and the appropriate nutrition for them. These components harmonise the intestinal environment by promoting the regeneration of the intestinal mucosa and the elimination of metabolic residues. This regulates digestion and prepares the intestine for the arrival of beneficial intestinal bacteria.
In addition to the usual Lactobacillus and Bifido strains, a probiotic should contain the extremely important intestinal bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri (for dental health and especially for expectant and breastfeeding mothers) and Lactobacillus helveticus. This way, your intestinal flora receives the necessary diversity of basic probiotics and can now develop into a balanced and healthy intestinal flora.
A final note
Our intestinal flora influences every aspect of our being—both physical and mental. Our intestinal flora can make us sick, but it can also help us recover. True health is not possible without a balanced intestinal flora.