29/11/2023
Your gut is the entire digestive tract that runs from your esophagus to your re**um. It does much more than just take in & excrete food, though.🤓
Experts refer to the gut as our second brain 🧠. The microbes & nerves in the gut can launch communication with the brain, affecting everything from hunger to mood!
If your gut is healthy, you have a proper balance of good & bad bacteria.🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Your stomach secretes the right amount of acid to help process your food. Your liver & pancreas release the right enzymes to further digest your food.👍🏻
The right balance of what you eat feeds your body. It also feeds the healthy bacteria in the gut that allows your food to be used effectively by the body.😊
If your gut is healthy, your body & mind probably are, too.☺️
You might think that the signs of an unhealthy gut would be obvious. Of course, symptoms like digestive distress, bowel movement problems, & abdominal pain can signal that something is not right in your gut. 🤷🏻♀️
We’re not going to talk about the obvious: diarrhea & constipation. 💩🚽
However, other physical, emotional & mental warning signs can signal that your gut needs some serious care.
Here are 🔟 Warning Signs⚠️ that you may have an Unhealthy Gut:
1️⃣ Stress, Anxiety & Depression
The lining of your intestines is filled with nerves that contain similar tissue as the brain. These nerves communicate with the brain via the vagus nerve.
Your intestines also release the same feel-good neurotransmitters that your brain does, but much more of them. If your gut bacteria is in balance, you’re more likely to feel mentally balanced, too.
2️⃣ You Get Sick a Lot
If you find that you catch every sniffle that goes around the office or school, all the vitamin C in the world may not help. According to the Gut Health Project, more than 75% of your immune system is found in your gut.
If your gut is unhealthy, thick, harmful mucus can help the wrong bugs thrive & limit your body’s ability to use vitamins & nutrients properly, leading to what may seem like constant sickness.
3️⃣ Skin Problems
Whether you have persistent acne, rosacea, eczema, dandruff or itchy, flaky skin, even the most intensive skin care routine may not fix the problem. That’s because your skin problems may be coming from your gut.
Skin experts refer to a gut-brain-skin axis that explains how gut health affects inflammation throughout the body, which in turn affects the skin.
4️⃣ Stubborn Weight
If you have trouble losing weight no matter what you do, it may be due to an unhealthy gut.
The bad news is that people who are overweight or obese have a different balance of intestinal bacteria than people who are at a healthy BMI. The balance of microbes that you have from birth can set the stage for your weight throughout your life! Isn’t that fascinating!?
The good news is that as overweight people lose weight, their gut becomes more balanced. Taking a probiotic supplement has been shown to help with weight loss.
5️⃣ Autoimmune Disease
Gut health has been strongly linked to autoimmune disease.
Although experts aren’t sure exactly what causes autoimmune diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Crohn’s Disease & Lupus, they do know that they occur when your immune system attacks its own healthy cells. If you suffer from an autoimmune disease, google it with gut permeability or leaky gut. Get ready for some eye opening info.
6️⃣ Acid Reflux
Frequent, unrelenting acid reflux is often caused by an unhealthy gut.🤢
This may explain why nothing seems to help your constant heartburn.
Acid reflux, bloating & burping are often caused by a buildup of unhealthy bacteria in the stomach & GI tract.
Acid-reducing medications can actually help this bad bacteria thrive. Normally, stomach acid kills the bad bacteria.
If you’re always neutralizing your stomach acid, however, you’re letting that bad bacteria proliferate.
7️⃣ Yeast Infections
Yeast can grow out of control when your system is imbalanced. Yeast in the gut can show up as digestive issues, fungal infections of the skin, constant fatigue or even fibromyalgia.🍄
This can also cause a condition known as candida overgrowth.😮
8️⃣ Lack of Energy
If you find it hard to dredge up any energy even when you’ve had enough sleep, you may have an unhealthy gut.😴
An unhealthy balance of bacteria in the gut can prevent your body from absorbing the nutrients it needs from foods, leaving you tired all the time.
An unhealthy gut can also be permeable, meaning that it lets in toxins escape into the body through the intestinal walls. These unhealthy chemicals can also affect your energy levels.
9️⃣ High Cholesterol & Triglycerides
LiveScience explains that your gut microbes may influence your heart health. There are 34 microorganisms in the digestive tract that can influence the levels of fat in your blood.
Researchers are also starting to find links between HDL, “good” cholesterol, & a higher ratio of good gut bacteria.🤭
🔟 Asthma
If you have asthma, it might have been caused by the balance of bacteria that you had in your gut around the time of birth. There was just an article about this in Time magazine.
I know! I know! This was long. But it is such good info!🤗🤗😬
I believe we really are just starting to see the tip of the iceberg for all of the things that the gut rules over in our bodies. I have seen people with all of these symptoms begin to heal. I love being able to be just a small part of somebody’s journey to wellness. ❤️
