Your gut health is influenced by numerous influencing factors. Your body’s ability to digest and eliminate food and liquids is influenced by a variety of factors, including your diet, food intolerances, lifestyle, hormones, sleep, stress, and especially medications. If you notice symptoms of poor gut health, changing your lifestyle may help your gut microbiome and benefit your general health. Please read this article carefully if you want to learn how to improve your gut health.
Why Does Gut Health Matter?
Your gut, also referred to as your digestive system or gastrointestinal (GI) system, breaks down the food you eat into its constituent nutrients, which are then used by your body to fuel and maintain itself.
Our bodies’ health and well-being are greatly influenced by the condition of the gut. The gut and brain are in close contact as they play a constant game of telephone and the gut affects a number of functions such as fluid secretion, immune activity, and GI muscle contractions in addition to digesting food and absorbing nutrients.
Furthermore, the gut plays a significant role in the body’s immune system; more than 70% of your immune cells are found there.
Signs Your Gut Health Is In Trouble
Upset Stomach
All types of stomach problems may be symptoms of a weakened digestive system. They include:
- gas
- bloating
- constipation
- diarrhea
- heartburn
A balanced gut will likely experience fewer symptoms as it processes food and waste more easily.
A High Sugar Diet
A diet high in processed foods and added sugars can reduce the diversity and quantity of “good” bacteria in your gut. Research suggests that this may lead to increased inflammation throughout the body. Many illnesses, including cancer, can have inflammation as an early sign.
Unintentional Weight Changes
Unhealthy gut conditions may be indicated by weight gain or loss without a change in diet or exercise routine. Your body’s capacity to absorb nutrients, control blood sugar, and store fat can all be hampered by an unbalanced gut.
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), can lead to malabsorption and weight loss. On the other hand, increased inflammation or insulin resistance may be to blame for weight gain.
Sleep Disturbances Or Constant Fatigue
Research indicates that an imbalance in gut bacteria may be linked to fragmented sleep and short sleep duration, which may lead to chronic fatigue. While the cause remains unclear, it appears to be connected to inflammation, metabolic function, and mental health.
Skin Irritation
Types of bacteria found in the gut may be connected to skin conditions like psoriasis. The immune system of the body might be affected by lower levels of good bacteria. This may then result in illnesses that affect the organs, including the skin.
Autoimmune Conditions
The immune system and the gut have been linked in numerous studies. An unhealthy gut may worsen systemic inflammation and affect how well the immune system works. In autoimmune diseases, the body attacks itself rather than dangerous invaders, as a result of this.
Food Intolerances
Food intolerances are brought on by problems with certain foods’ digestion. Contrary to food allergies, which are brought on by an immune system response to specific foods, this is different.
According to research, food intolerances like lactose intolerance could be brought on by bad gut bacteria. Consequently, you may experience symptoms like difficulty digesting the trigger foods.
- bloating
- gas
- diarrhea
- abdominal pain
- nausea
Additionally, some studies suggest a connection between gut health and food allergies.
What Causes Poor Gut Health?
Your Diet
It depends on what you eat, how you eat, and when you eat. We are aware that what we eat affects our gut microbiome, which in turn affects a number of bodily functions, ranging from mood to memory.
No matter how quickly or mindfully we eat, it can affect the way our digestion works and affect how much acid, gas, or bloating we have. Our digestive health may also be impacted by when we eat. Generally speaking, it is best to eat more during the day and less at night when our digestion is weaker.
Not Eating A Wide Variety Of Foods
Your risk of having poor gut health can be raised by doing this and eating a lot of processed foods. An altered gut microbiome can ultimately result in poor gut health and increased inflammation. This is especially true if your diet is primarily made up of foods high in sugar, salt, lab-made fats, and processed foods.
These foods have the potential to reduce the “good” bacteria in our gut. It’s interesting to note that increased sugar cravings may eventually result from gut imbalance. This will start a cycle whereby you eat more processed, high-sugar foods, which worsens gut health and intensifies a pro-inflammatory response.
Chronic Stress
Stress management issues can also affect your digestive system. Magier cites studies that demonstrate how stress affects the gut-brain axis and can increase GI permeability, cause inflammation, lower immunity, and change the composition and function of gut bacteria.
Antibiotics
In your gut, they can kill the bad bacteria, but they could also kill the beneficial bacteria. Poor gut health can result from taking them too frequently. To avoid harming your gut flora, try to only take them when absolutely necessary. Probiotics can help balance your gut flora if you have to take antibiotics concurrently.
Alcohol
The body recognizes alcohol as a toxin because it is one. An imbalance of good and bad bacteria results from consuming large amounts of alcohol on a regular basis because it alters the bacterial composition of the gut and can eliminate the helpful bacteria that live there.
Autoimmune Conditions
According to Magier, an unbalanced population of good and bad bacteria in your gut has also been linked to diseases like Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, Hashimoto’s, lupus, and type 1 diabetes.
How To Heal Gut Health?
Clean Up Your Diet
Diet is one of the first methods for combating gut dysbiosis. The balance of bacteria in your gut is directly impacted by the foods you eat.
While sugar and processed foods promote gut imbalance, fiber and complex carbohydrates nourish the good bacteria. Avoid processed foods and sugar, and replace them with a diet high in high-fiber vegetables, healthy fats, and lean proteins to maintain a healthy gut.
Make sure to place a strong emphasis on consuming a lot of prebiotic foods, such as jicama, artichokes, flaxseeds, and asparagus. The good bacteria in your gut need food to grow, thrive, and predominate, and prebiotics assists in providing that food.
Consider A Supplement
Probiotic supplements are becoming more and more well-liked as awareness of the significance of gut health grows. While probiotic supplements aren’t a cure-all for gut health, there is some evidence that they can improve the microbiota and restore gut health in certain circumstances.
If you are given an antibiotic by your doctor, they might also advise a probiotic supplement. This may help prevent diarrhea brought on by antibiotics, according to the evidence.
Consult your doctor if you’re thinking about taking a probiotic supplement. While there is evidence that these supplements have historically been used safely, particularly by healthy individuals, those with weakened immune systems are more at risk of adverse effects.
Exercise Often
The human body’s many systems, including the microbiome, can all benefit from movement. Researchers have discovered that exercise encourages an increase in the diversity of good bacteria in the gut in both animal and human studies.
A 2019 review specifically stated that exercise has the potential to change the composition and functionality of gut bacteria independently of diet, even though many studies have highlighted the beneficial synergistic effects of exercise and diet on gut health.
Longer workouts and high-intensity aerobic exercise were found to have the greatest effects on gut bacteria diversity and function in relation to overall health. They also found that those who are lean are more likely than those who are overweight or obese to benefit from exercise for their gut health.
Limit Your Alcohol Intake
Your microbiome may also be harmed by excessive drinking. Gastritis is an inflammation of the gut caused by repeated alcohol consumption. Such inflammation can result in bacterial infections, ulcers, chronic discomfort, heartburn, and other problems.
Additionally, excessive drinking is linked to intestinal inflammation, which is a sign of a bad gut. According to research, this type of inflammation can upset the microbiota’s balance and alter how well it functions.
Reduce Stress Levels
Not only is stress mental: When you’re nervous or excited, you might experience butterflies. The “gut-brain connection” and the “second brain” are terms that experts in gut health frequently use to describe the gut.”
Even though we don’t fully understand their relationship, we do know that gut and mental health are closely related.
According to research, anxiety and depression affect the gut and vice versa; they can raise the risk of IBS, and those who have the condition are more likely to develop these mental health issues.
It may be possible to lessen uncomfortable GI symptoms and restore balance to your body by learning how to manage your mental health and stress levels. You’re not sure where to begin.
Try to incorporate some exercise into your day. Exercise has been shown to increase the quality and quantity of gut microbes that are known to promote good health, so something as simple as a daily walk may help gut health.
Eat Slowly
You may reduce your risk of obesity and diabetes and improve your food choices by chewing your food thoroughly and taking your time during meals. This might assist you in minimizing digestive discomfort and preserving gut health.
Stay Hydrated
Although the source of the water also matters, drinking a lot of water may be linked to an increase in the variety of bacteria in the gut. One 2022 study also found that people who drank more water had less of a type of bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal infections.
Your overall health will benefit from staying hydrated, and constipation may be avoided. It might also be a straightforward method to encourage gut health.
