Why Good Gut Health is Important
One of the reasons why I focus on digestion and gut health is because it is a foundational component of overall health. When we look at the body holistically, poor gut health is associated with MANY chronic conditions, diseases, and symptoms. Healing usually requires more than working on your gut health, but it can definitely be a big piece of the puzzle.
Good digestion and gut health can really influence total body health because it involves so many organs and systems. Digestion is also important because it is how we take in nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that our bodies need to run and thrive down the cellular level. From a system perspective, we have nerves that connect our nervous system to the digestive system to control many of the digestive functions. For example, digestion truly starts in the brain. When we see or smell food, our brain sends a signal that tells our salivary glands to begin to produce enzymes that will support the breaking down of food in our mouths.
Another system that is involved is our immune system. We know that 70-80% of the immune system originates in the gut. The makeup of our gut microbiome influences the vitality of the immune system and how it responds to infection. If gut health is not great, the immune system is likely to overreact at times which may influence autoimmunity or it may underreact leading to inflammation and other chronic issues.
Many organs are also involved in digestion and the health of the gut and can either be a cause of poor digestion and gut health or can become a problem as a result of something else going on, digestion related or not. This could be stress, trauma, blood sugar issues, dehydration, infection, and more. These organs include the brain, mouth, stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, small intestine, and large intestine. So as you can see, digestion affects a lot of other things and can be affected by a lot of external factors as well making it an important part of overall health.
What Good Gut Health Means
Good gut health doesn’t just mean taking a daily probiotic and calling it a day. In fact, once your gut is in a balanced, healthy place you typically don’t even need a probiotic. Also, if you are taking a probiotic when your gut is not in a great place, you can cause more harm than good.
Signs of good gut health include:
Daily, pain-free bowel movements
Consistent energy and mood
Minimal gas and bloating
Healthy bowel transit time (18-24 hours is great)
Strong mental clarity
Healthy reactions to foods and stress
Minimal skin issues
Minimal nutritional deficiencies
How Your Gut Can Get Unbalanced
Gut health and the gut microbiome can be affected by so many factors, but the underlying root cause is often stress of some sort. This can be an acute stressful situation or something more chronic in nature. Some of the ways your gut can become unbalanced include:
Alcohol and drug use
Emotional or physical trauma or stress
Over-exercising
Environmental toxins
Parasites
Lyme
Mold exposure
Heavy metals
Celiac disease
Dysregulated blood sugar/insulin resistance
Lack of diversity in the diet
High instances of processed foods and food additives
Drinking tap water
Signs Your Gut Needs Some Work
Given that there are a lot of ways for gut health to go wrong, it is hard to capture them all, but here are some indicators that you probably need to do some work on your gut and digestion. I have a gut health quiz on my website that is a great tool to evaluate where in the process your digestion needs help and if it makes sense to get professional help. You can access that quiz here.
You’ve got digestive symptoms like gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, or a combination
You do not poop 1-3 times per day
You have an Inflammatory Bowel Disease diagnosis (Colitis, Crohn’s, etc.)
You struggle with SIBO/Candida overgrowth
You have food sensitivities - especially dairy and gluten
You suffer from headaches and migraines
You’ve got skin issues like acne, rosacea, psoriasis, or eczema
You struggle with anxiety and depression + other mood issues
You have an autoimmune disease diagnosis
You struggle with hormonal imbalances
You’ve got seasonal allergies + asthma
You’ve got iron anemia and other nutritional deficiencies
You have arthritis
You struggle with thyroid issues
How to Improve Gut Health
I think it is always important to work with a qualified practitioner and not take a do-it-yourself approach unless you have the time and money to figure out which part(s) need support and how to go about healing. To heal your gut for good requires an approach from the root cause level and this likely involves working with a practitioner to determine what that is and the best roadmap and protocol given your specific situation and body’s needs. In my practice, while working on addressing the root cause(s), I recommend customized foods and supplements that will help to repair the gut using muscle testing and other quantitative tools. There are definitely some strategies I recommend to all my clients as they are working on gut health as part of their healing journey. They include:
Reduce overall stress in your life if possible (I know this may not be doable for everyone) and bring in tools to manage stress better
Get into a parasympathetic or relaxed state to eat
Chew your food very well and eat slowly
Limit alcohol consumption and the use of NSAIDs
Eat foods supportive of gut health
Eliminate your problematic foods and sensitivities for a 3-month period
Drink bone broth, slippery elm, or Throat Coat tea daily
Want to take the gut health quiz to see where you stand and how you can start troubleshooting your gut health yourself?
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279994/
https://storymd.com/journal/2wzkzgaslw-digestive-system/page/bnopvs56zy-how-does-my-body-control-the-digestive-process
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/digestive-system-how-it-works
https://www.ahealthybalance.net/blog/2022/2/25/what-are-some-signs-of-leaky-gut