“Gut health” refers to the balance of bacteria along the gastrointestinal tract.
Under optimal circumstances, your organs flow well together, working to digest food without experiencing discomfort.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for an estimated 70 million Americans.
About Gut Health
Inside your body are trillions of bacteria, fungi, and viruses collectively known as the microbiome.
Usually, when you think of bacteria and viruses, you imagine diseases.
This is often true, but there are others that your heart, weight, and immune system benefit from having.
What is the Gut Microbiome?
Microorganisms are the little things living inside your body. The intestines and skin carry trillions of these microbes.
Most of the intestinal microbes live in the cecum, a “pocket” inside the large intestine. This little “society” is your gut microbiome.
Though viruses and fungi also exist among this microbiome, scientists usually study the bacteria.
That might have something to do with the fact that there is more bacteria in your body (40 trillion cells) than there are human cells (30 trillion).
In the cecum alone, you’ll find up to 1,000 different bacteria species. Each species plays its own role in the human body. Most of them help, but some can also lead to disease.
If you were to weigh all of these microbes, they’d weigh about the same as your brain.
It can help to think about your gut microbes as an actual organ that contributes to your overall health like any other.
How Does the Gut Microbiome Affect the Body?
The human-microbe relationship is nothing new; we evolved with a belly full of bacteria millions of years ago.
Since then, microbes also evolved, developing a symbiotic relationship with the human body. In fact, humans would struggle to survive without our gut flora.
Gut bacteria affects humans from birth, first exposing them through the mother’s birth canal. There is also evidence suggesting exposure to microbes actually happens in the womb.
As you get older and your microbiome grows, the bacteria can impact your body in many ways:
- Digest breast milk: Some of the first bacteria to grow in a baby’s intestines digest healthy breast milk sugars, which promote proper growth.
- Digest fiber: Some bacteria produce useful fatty acids after digesting fiber. Fiber could help prevent heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, and risk of cancer.
- Helps immune system: The microbiome in your intestines also impacts how your immune system works, controlling how the body responds to infection
- Impacts brain health: There is research that suggests the flora can impact the central nervous system, which is connected to brain function.
In other words, there are many ways in which your gut health can impact the rest of your health and vital bodily functions.
Effects on Heart Health
A study of 1,500 people suggests the gut microbiome can even impact your heart. The study found gut bacteria could help promote “good” cholesterol and similar numbers.
Additionally, we know that certain bacteria in the microbiome can contribute to cardiac disease.
These unhealthy species produce trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), a chemical known to promote blocked arteries.
When blood can’t get through an artery, it can lead to a stroke or heart attack.
Some bacteria in the gut can convert nutrients found in red meat into TMAO, which further increases the risk of heart disease.
Effects on Brain Health
Finally, having a poor gut could negatively impact brain health in several ways.
For starters, some bacteria in the intestines produce neurotransmitters, like the gut-made antidepressant serotonin.
Further, millions of nerves connect the brain and the gut. Therefore, your gut’s health could influence messages sent to the brain.
Additionally, a study compared flora species between neurotypical people and those with psychological disorders.
It found that the two groups of people have different bacteria species, which suggests a role in brain health.
However, it’s not clear if lifestyle habits or dietary habits impacted these differences.
How to Tell if You Have Good Gut Health
Nearly all parts of modern-day life can negatively impact our microbiome.
Aside from maintaining a poor diet, humans also struggle when they don’t sleep enough and have too much stress during the day.
All of these circumstances can affect your health, including the immune system, brain, heart, hormones, skin, and even how well you absorb nutrients.
But how can you tell when your microbiota won’t work as intended?
Signs of Unhealthy Gut
There are several ways unhealthy guts may manifest.
Upset Stomach
Gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, heartburn, and similar stomach disturbances can all reflect a compromised gut.
Appropriately balanced, your gastrointestinal tract shouldn’t struggle to digest food and remove waste.
High-Sugar Diet
Overeating sugar and processed food worsens the composition of your gut bacteria.
The imbalance leads to more sugar cravings, leading to a cycle that degrades your stomach over time.
Consuming too much high-fructose corn syrup can increase inflammation in the body. Inflammation may be a precursor to disease or cancer.
Undesired Changes in Weight
If you’re gaining or losing weight without trying to, this could reflect an unhealthy gut.
Without the right balance of bacteria, your body can’t properly absorb nutrients, store fat, or regulate blood sugar.
Weight loss can occur with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), whereas weight gain can occur from overeating or insulin resistance.
Constant Fatigue or Poor Sleeping Habits
Unhealthy guts can manifest as insomnia or other sleep disturbances, which can lead to ongoing fatigue.
Most of your body’s serotonin comes from the stomach, and this neurotransmitter also impacts sleep.
In other words, too much gut damage can prevent you from sleeping well.
Irritated Skin
Eczema and similar skin conditions can originate from a damaged gut. Gut inflammation due to a diet in high sugars can cause proteins to “leak” in the body.
The result is irritated skin and other conditions that manifest externally.
Autoimmune Disorders
Medical researchers continue to look into how the gut impacts the immune system.
It’s believed that an imbalanced tract increases inflammation and could, therefore, change how the immune system responds to the body.
That means the immune system could start attacking itself instead of invading cells.
Intolerance to Food
When your body struggles to pass a particular type of food, gut health could be to blame. This is different from a food allergy, which causes the immune system to react directly.
That said, some evidence suggests allergies could also be linked to gut health.
Testing Your Microbiota
Functional medicine exists in an age of incredible advancement.
Many labs provide a wealth of gut health diagnostic testing, giving doctors and their patients insight into why certain conditions occur.
Most importantly, you don’t necessarily have to manifest symptoms to have problems with your microbiota composition.
Many people eat and digest food without a problem but still suffer from immune, hormone, and brain issues.
Not everyone needs the tests described below. Your doctor will consider a comprehensive history of your health to decide which are best for you to take.
Comprehensive Stool Test
In this lab, the technician can see the overall microbiome landscape. They can see the size of the different “neighborhoods” of species amid the colonies.
Typically, people who suffer from health problems have reduced or non-existent colonies of beneficial bacteria.
This lab can also determine inflammation levels in the body, as well as immune function and efficacy of digestion and absorption.
Further, it can test short-chain fatty acids, which are useful bacterial byproducts that fight cancer, help metabolism, and reduce inflammation.
Your doctor may recommend stool samples over two or three days for a detailed look.
SIBO Breath Test
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) can contribute to autoimmune disorders, bloating, IBS, and acid reflux disease.
A breath test can determine whether or not this is a problem the patient suffers from.
Intestinal Permeability Screening
This lab requires drawing blood. In the blood, there are antibodies meant to fight against bacterial toxins, and there are gut proteins.
This test can suggest a leaky gut if protein levels are too high.
Likewise, similar biomarkers can check for leaky brain syndrome or problems with the blood-brain barrier.
Histamine Intolerance Lab
If you cannot efficiently break down histamine, you may be extra-sensitive to probiotic foods, wine, bone broth, or other foods generally considered healthy.
This lab can evaluate your histamine intolerance.
How to Improve Your Digestion
Interestingly, the food you eat impacts the species of bacteria living in your body.
So it should come as no surprise that improving digestion is a matter of making smarter food choices.
Eat a Variety of Foods
There are thousands of bacteria species in your intestine. Each one requires different nutrients to fulfill its role for your health.
Generally speaking, diverse microbiota is healthier than not. This is because if you have several different bacteria species, you can access a greater amount of possible benefits.
To get diverse gut microbiota, you need a diverse diet.
Western diets, rich in fat in sugar, aren’t usually very diverse.
In fact, studies estimate that as much as 75 percent of the global food supply comes from just five animal and 12 plant species.
Diets in certain rural regions contain a richer variety of plants.
Some studies revealed that people from rural South America and Africa have greater gut flora diversity compared to those from the US and Europe.
Eat Fruit, Legumes, Beans, and Vegetables
Diversity doesn’t mean picking different shapes of pasta. Fruits and vegetables are the best way to deliver healthy nutrients to your microbiota.
Some gut flora can digest fiber, which your body can’t break down.
In addition to fruits and vegetables, legumes and beans contain lots of fiber. Other high-fiber foods include:
- Broccoli
- Raspberries
- Artichokes
- Lentils
- Green peas
- Whole grains
- Kidney beans
- Pinto beans
- White beans
A study found that disease-causing bacteria were less likely to grow in participants who ate a diet rich in vegetables and fruit.
Avoid Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners, like aspartame and saccharin, are common substitutes for sugar. Some studies suggest these sweeteners can harm the microbiota in your body.
Rats fed aspartame in one study suffered from impaired insulin response and high blood sugar.
They also had higher amounts of bacteria species known to cause disease in clusters. Another study suggested the same when testing mice and humans.
Eat Whole Grains
Eating whole grains gives you non-digestible carbs and fiber. Because your body can’t digest these components in the small intestine, they continue on to the large intestine.
Here, the fiber is serviceable. The microbiota breaks down the undigestible nutrients and helps useful bacteria grow strong.
Specifically, whole grains can help lactobacilli, Bifidobacteria, and Bacteroidetes grow.
Take Probiotic Supplements
Probiotics are living microorganisms that promote health benefits.
Generally, these microorganisms don’t take up permanent residence in your intestines when you consume them. Rather, they can influence the composition of the microbiota and ultimately support your overall health.
Evidence suggests people suffering from certain diseases can benefit from taking probiotics. However, there may be little effect if you’re already healthy.
A review of 63 studies resulted in uncertain evidence that probiotics can change microbiota in any profound way. The strongest impact seems related to restoring sick microbiota back to normal.
Final Thoughts
Improving your gut health and maintaining it contributes to your overall health.
Making a few dietary and lifestyle changes can help you improve your gut microbes. However, you should speak to a doctor before considering any drastic changes.
Some medical conditions don’t benefit from fiber-rich diets or probiotics.
