Gut Health: Restore and Strengthen Your Digestive System Naturally

Gut Health: Restore and Strengthen Your Digestive System Naturally Digestive system problems such as heartburn, gas, bloating and constipation reflect what’s happening throughout your body. “As we age, the natural cycles slow down and don’t work as well,” says Johns Hopkins gastroenterologist Gerard Mullin, M.D.

The main drivers of gut health change are shifts in stomach acid, gut immunity and gastrointestinal flora—the complex ecosystem of bacteria in your digestive system. When gut health is good, he says, you’re less likely to experience damaging inflammation and lapses in immunity. The following ways to protect your digestive system may sound surprising because they’re not just about diet. “Everything ties together,” Mullin says.

Eat the right foods

Americans’ fiber intake is 40 to 50 percent of what it should be,” Mullin says. A balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables provides the fiber that builds good bacteria and gut health.

Other foods that build a healthy digestive system include kefir (a fermented milk drink that’s similar to yogurt and is rich in probiotics) and other fermented or pickled foods (such as kimchi, sauerkraut and pickled ginger).

7 Warning Signs Your Gut Might Be Unhealthy

Your Digestive System Naturally Many parts of modern life can affect your gut microbiome, including:

• high stress levels
• too little sleep
• eating a Western diet high in processed and sugary foods
• taking antibiotics

This in turn may affect other aspects of your health, such as:

• immune function
• hormone levels
• weight
• development of diseases

You may notice a few symptoms if you have reduced gut health. Here are seven of the most common signs:

Stomach Distress or Unease

Stomach disturbances can all be signs of an unhealthy gut. They include:

• gas
• bloating
• constipation
• diarrhea
• Heartburn

A balanced gut will have less difficulty processing food and eliminating waste, likely leading to fewer symptoms.

Eating Too Much Sugar

A diet high in processed foods and added sugars can decrease the amount of “good” bacteria and diversity in your gut.

Research Trusted Source suggests that eating too much sugar may lead to increased inflammation throughout the body. Inflammation can be the precursor to several diseases, including cancer.

If you eat high amounts of sugar, your gut health may be compromised.

Sudden Fluctuations in Weight

Gaining or losing weight without changing your diet or exercise habits may be a sign of an unhealthy gut. An imbalanced gut can impair your body’s ability to absorb nutrients, regulate blood sugar, and store fat.

Weight loss may be caused by malabsorption because of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). On the other hand, weight gain may be caused by insulin resistance or increased inflammation.

Trouble Sleeping and Persistent Tiredness

Research Trusted Source 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 Trusted Source, it appears to be connected to inflammation, metabolic function, and mental health.

Irritated or Unhealthy Skin

Skin conditions like psoriasis may be related to the types of bacteria present in the gut. Lower concentrations of beneficial bacteria may impact the body’s immune system and your skin health.

Chronic Immune System Imbalances

Many studies have found connections between the gut and the immune system.An unhealthy gut may increase systemic inflammation and alter the proper functioning of the immune system. This may lead to autoimmune diseases, where the body attacks itself mistaking its cells and organs for harmful invaders.

Sensitivity to Specific Foods

Food intolerances are the result of difficulty digesting certain foods. This is different from a food allergy, which is caused by an immune system reaction to certain foods.

Research indicates that food intolerances, like lactose intolerance, may be caused by poor quality of bacteria in the gut. This can lead to trouble digesting the trigger foods and symptoms like:

• bloating
• gas
• diarrhea
• abdominal pain
• nausea

There is also some research indicating that food allergies may be related to gut health.

The Impact of Gut Health on Your Entire Body

 Gut Health: Restore and Strengthen Your Digestive System Naturally, an unhealthy gut or one that is out of balance, (called dysbiosis) can increase your risk for obesity and illnesses like diabetes, and can play a small role in depression and colon cancer.

Beneficial Bacteria

You have many bacteria in your body. In fact, you have more of them than you have cells. Most are good for you. The ones found in your gut not only help you digest foods, they work all over your body and can be good for your physical and mental health. 

Digestive Microorganisms

This is all the microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses, that live in our digestive tracts. They help you break down food, turning it into nutrients your body can use.

Standing Up for What’s Right

In the gut microbiome, the “good” bacteria do more than just help with digestion. They help keep your “bad” bacteria in check. They multiply so often that the unhealthy kind don’t have space to grow. When you have a healthy balance of bacteria in your gut, it’s called equilibrium.  

Unbalanced Wellness

Studies have found that if you have too much of a certain kind of bad bacteria in your gut microbiome, you’re more likely to have:

• Crohn’s disease
• Ulcerative colitis
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) 

Researchers are looking into new treatments for them that target the bacteria in the gut microbiome.

How Gut Bacteria Affect Your Heart

Some kinds of gut bacteria may be part of the link cholesterol has to heart disease. When you eat foods like red meat or eggs, those bacteria make a chemical that turns your liver into something called TMAO (trimethylamine-N-oxide). TMAO may help cholesterol build up in your blood vessels. Researchers are studying a natural substance called DMB that’s in olive and grapeseed oil. They think it might keep your bacteria from making TMAO.

The Link Between Gut Bacteria and Kidney Health

Too much TMAO also may lead to chronic kidney disease. People who have the disease don’t get rid of TMAO like they should. That surplus can lead to heart disease. Researchers think it’s possible that too much TMAO might make you more likely to have chronic kidney disease in the first place.