Gut health, why is it important?

A growing body of research shows that gut health affects more than just your digestive system. From your skin to your energy levels, a healthy gut plays an intrinsic role in your body’s overall health.

You may have heard the term "gut health" and wondered what it meant - surely a healthy gut is just one that digests food efficiently? While it's true, gut health impacts the health of your entire body, with growing evidence suggesting that a healthy gut microbiome is important for our mental health as well as an efficient immune system.

But what happens when our gut becomes unhealthy, and how can we maintain a healthy balance?

01What is intestinal health?

From the esophagus to the intestines, gut health encompasses the health of your entire digestive system—the parts of our body responsible for breaking down food into the individual nutrients we use to run our bodies. Each part of the gut has a different job, with different colonies of microbes responsible for breaking down food into a more digestible form.

Studies have shown that diet has a direct impact on the number of these colonies, with high-fat or high-sugar diets encouraging bacteria to consume these nutrients, while high-fiber diets encourage fiber-loving bacteria, which generally survive further in the gut. So remember, when you eat, you're not just feeding yourself, you're also feeding the billions of gut bacteria, and your dietary choices can influence which bacteria do well and which die.

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There is evidence that these bacteria may have an impact on lifespan, as shown by the unique gut bacteria of people who live to 100. Furthermore, some gut bacteria may even give athletes an advantage, allowing their bodies to thrive and improving their performance.

A healthy gut communicates with the brain through neural networks and hormones - this is how we know when we are hungry and what we might like to eat. Each person's gut microbiome is unique, so foods that help one person thrive may be irritating to someone else. The most common food intolerances are gluten from wheat, lactose and casein from milk. Some people can digest these ingredients without a problem, while others find themselves experiencing strong discomfort and unpleasant symptoms when consuming these foods.

02Why improve intestinal health?

The gut is very important for immune function, and the intestinal lining provides a barrier that, when functioning properly, prevents viruses, fungi, and "bad" bacteria from entering the bloodstream. Unfortunately, this barrier can sometimes become permeable, commonly known as a "leaky gut," meaning these nasty things can break through and make us sick. Conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and celiac disease can make people more susceptible to developing permeability in their intestinal lining, making them more susceptible to diseases or infections that enter the body this way.

Research shows that gut health can have a knock-on effect on mental health, too. Known as the "second brain," there's a reason we feel a lot of our emotions on the inside. Gut bacteria have the ability to stimulate our nervous system, sending messages to our brain via the vagus nerve. They can also release the same hormones that our own system releases, making them little pilots with big influences on our bodies and decision-making, just because they're so small. This communication between the gut and the brain is known as the gut-brain axis. Stress can also affect these bacteria, as many of them are sensitive to hormones, which can cause an imbalance.

What are the signs of poor gut health?

With an estimated 60-70 million people in the US suffering from digestive issues and accounting for 12% of hospital surgeries, poor gut health is a very common problem. There are many reasons why your gut health can be compromised, but the main signs that you may have a problem are:

Abdominal bloating

Loose stool

constipate

Heartburn

Nausea and vomiting

Other, slightly more vague symptoms may not seem to have much to do with gut health, but can actually be strong indicators that something is wrong.

Fatigue and poor sleep — A 2020 study found that imbalances in our gut health can lead to disrupted sleep patterns and low energy.

Skin Irritation – It may seem odd that your outer immune barrier (skin) and inner immune barrier (gut) are related, but research suggests skin irritation may be a symptom of poor gut health.

Bad Breath - It makes sense that a symptom of poor gut health would affect the mouth, since it's the gateway to the gastrointestinal tract, but you may not realize that bad breath can actually be a symptom of a poorly functioning digestive system.

It’s a good idea to keep an eye out for changes and symptoms that seem unusual to you, as gut health is very personal. Changes in bowel habits may indicate a problem, such as bloating, gas, diarrhea, heartburn, or waking up at night for increased bowel movements. Sleep disturbances, increased fatigue, skin irritation, food intolerances, and unintentional weight changes can all be linked to an unhealthy gut.

If you think you have any of these symptoms, it may be worth seeing your doctor or a gut health specialist to discuss potential causes and treatments.

0 4 Ways to Improve Intestinal Health Method 1: Take Probiotics

You can get probiotics naturally from your diet, but some people choose to supplement. Probiotics are a combination of live beneficial bacteria or yeasts native to our gut microbiome. Probiotics are made up of beneficial bacteria that keep us healthy and maintain a balance of bacteria that can get out of sync with poor health and disease.

If you have symptoms of poor gut health, taking a probiotic supplement may help rebuild your microbiome and support good gut health in the future. It’s important to choose types that survive to your gut; there’s not much point in taking them if they’re destroyed by your digestive system before they reach their destination.

Method 2: Taking prebiotics

So you've taken probiotics, how do you make sure those good bacteria you've eaten stay alive and healthy? Research shows that consuming prebiotic foods is an excellent way to support your gut microbiome because it provides food for the beneficial microbes, increasing their numbers so the harmful microbes don't have room to get food.

Prebiotic foods are recommended as part of a balanced diet. Eating garlic, onions, berries, oats, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds has been shown to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria, including Bifidobacterium, and some studies have shown that prebiotics reduce risk factors for certain diseases by lowering levels of insulin, triglycerides, and cholesterol.

Method 3: Fermented Foods

You've probably seen a lot of discussion about the benefits of fermented foods, with things like fermented yogurt readily available in supermarkets.

Fermented foods such as yogurt, kimchi, and sauerkraut can enhance the function of the microbiota and reduce the abundance of pathogenic bacteria in the intestines while promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria Lactobacillus, thereby benefiting the microbiota. It is important to note that the effects of probiotics and fermented foods are short-lived, so if they are stopped, the effects will disappear.

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Method 4: Fiber-rich foods

High-fiber foods provide our gut bacteria with ample breakdown power to support their populations, since our bodies can’t digest fiber on their own. The short-chain fatty acids produced by indigestible fiber are also very important for immune function, according to a 2019 study.

Fiber also acts as a bulking agent, helping to move hard-to-digest food through the digestive tract and out of the body as waste. It delays the digestive process by making it harder to break down, which means the lower bacteria in our gut also have a chance to digest the food into nutrients. Low-fiber diets often lead to constipation because hard-to-digest food stays in our system longer and has nowhere to go.

Source: Chongqing Tianji Network Co., Ltd.

This article is compiled from: Live Science "What is gut health and why is it important?" "5 ways to improve gut health"

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