Let's get your gut health on track

Your gut cares about who you are and what you do. Your gut makeup does go through changes over time, whether through aging, food intake, environmental factors, or even stressful periods. So stay proactive about your gut health to keep your digestion, immunity, mood, skin and overall health in great shape.

Digestive discomfort can often be attributed to dysbiosis or imbalance between good and bad bacteria in your gut, which can show up as constipation, bloating, diarrhea, or more seriously, as chronic diseases like IBS or Crohn’s. Additionally, when the gut barrier is impaired, pathogens and foreign substances are released into the body, promoting inflammation. Impaired gut barrier integrity also prevents the body from absorbing the nutrients it needs, which can lead to significant overall health problems beyond digestion. Talk to a healthcare professional about trying an elimination diet to check for certain foods that may trigger your digestive discomfort.

The gut has a strong connection to our immune regulation. When our bodies have an overgrowth of bad bacteria, our immune systems get triggered, which results in inflammation. When the gut barrier is impaired, it can allow pathogens and foreign substances into the body, which can also trigger inflammation. While inflammation is a natural response to injury and infections, chronic inflammation is an indicator of a compromised immune system. Chronic inflammation can cause serious damage to our bodies, which can lead to a number of issues ranging from allergies, autoimmune diseases, chronic pain and fatigue, all the way to obesity and cardiovascular diseases.

Surprisingly, gut health is very important in managing your mental wellbeing. Research shows that changes in the ratio between bad and good gut bacteria can have implications in mood and behavior. Additionally, stress can lower your gut’s defenses toward infectious diseases — making you more vulnerable to sickness and further stress. Your gut is responsible for producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which affect the gut-brain axis in various ways including hormone production that influences stress responses. Checking in with a mental health professional is always a good idea.

Skin issues can be connected to the gut in many ways. First, skin health can be affected by an imbalance of good and bad bacteria in your gut. An overgrowth of bad bacteria can trigger the immune system and cause inflammation, which can manifest in the skin as acne, eczema and psoriasis. Low water intake and constipation can also cause toxin buildup and reabsorption which can lead to skin issues. Additionally, stress and hormonal imbalances can also contribute to skin-related issues.

Although the vagina has its own microbiome, it is connected to the gut microbiome. These two systems talk to each other—a lot. The “conversations” between these two bacterial communities impact your metabolism, your immune system, and other physiological processes in your body. It also plays a huge role in how prepared your vagina is to fend off unwanted, infection-causing bacteria. Your gut microbiome is a major player in the way your body regulates estrogen, a critically important hormone.  Having just the right amount can assist with general health, menstrual regularity, fertility, and more. If you have poor gut health and (as a result) unhelpful levels of estrogen, you may be at an increased risk of diseases that are related to estrogen, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, and some types of cancer.

Research suggests that your gut bacteria can influence you to eat food that will benefit its growth or strategically suppress its competitors. An overgrowth of bad bacteria may influence you to crave foods that they love (like foods high in sugar), but also kills off their competitors, the good bacteria. An imbalanced gut microbiome is associated with decreased ability to break down fat, as well as insulin resistance, which causes body fat accumulation and weight gain. Additionally, When the gut is out of balance, it can’t get the most out of the food you eat, sending signals to the brain that you need to eat more, leading to overeating and weight gain.