Maybe you’ve been told you have “real guts” or that you’ve “followed your gut.” But did you know that your gut plays a central role in your overall health? It turns out your gut really is trying to tell you something. Researchers are discovering that good gut maintenance is vital to both physical and mental health.
What is gut health, anyway?
Gut health refers to the well-being of your gastrointestinal (GI) or digestive system, which breaks down food, absorbs nutrients, and eliminates waste. Your gut microbiome, home to trillions of microorganisms, plays an essential role in this process. Keeping the microbiome balanced and thriving is essential for digestion, immunity, metabolism, and mood.
What happens when gut health goes sideways
If your microbiome is out of balance, you can experience a range of symptoms like bloating, abdominal pain, acid reflux, flatulence, headaches, fatigue, and joint pain, as well as conditions like inflammatory bowel disease or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In some cases, allergies and mental health disorders, such as anxiety and depression, can be related to an unhealthy gut.
Keep it balanced
While your core microbiome is formed in the first years of life, it changes over time, with diet, medication, physical activity, and environmental exposure all playing a part. The good news is that a microbiome that goes off the rails can heal.
Maintaining an optimal balance of bacteria in your gut is essential, and diet is one of the most important ways to do it. You can show your gut some love by eating probiotic and prebiotic foods to promote beneficial bacteria and drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated. Probiotic-rich foods contain good-for-you live microorganisms; they’re often fermented foods such as miso, kimchi, sauerkraut, and many kombuchas, yogurts, kefir, and pickles. Prebiotic foods are high in fibre and help gut bacteria thrive. Examples include bananas, asparagus, whole grains, onions, garlic, and soybeans.
Signs of good gut health
When your gut is happy, you experience normal bowel behaviour. (Regular bowel movements range from once every three days to three times a day.) You’ll also enjoy better digestion, greater emotional well-being, and a more robust nervous system. A diverse composition of bacteria in your microbiome strengthens and improves digestion by metabolizing nutrients, and gut health can affect the ability of your body to absorb vitamins and minerals. Good bacteria can also keep yeast and other fermentation at bay and prevent an overgrowth of fungus and other germs that can trigger inflammation.
Gut feelings are real: research suggests that GI irritation can affect mood. People with bowel disorders, such as celiac disease and IBS, are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety. Your gut contains approximately 100 million nerve cells lining your gastrointestinal tract, forming the enteric nervous system (ENS) that controls digestion.
The ENS communicates with your central nervous system, producing neurochemicals, like dopamine and serotonin, which impact mood and mental health. The gut releases up to 90 per cent of the body’s dopamine and serotonin, along with other major neurotransmitters. New research suggests there’s a strong link between the ENS and memory and cognitive functions, earning the gut the nickname “the second brain.”
How the microbiome gets damaged
A poor diet and the overuse of medications can wreak havoc on the microbiome. A diet low in fibre and high in sugar and processed foods can cause an imbalance of various bacteria and an overgrowth of fungi—all of which contribute to the growth of bad bacteria and yeast. Overusing medications that block gut bacteria can impair healthy gut function. For example, antibiotics and disinfectants can cause an imbalance in the microbiome by killing off beneficial bacteria.
The bottom line
To improve gut health, it’s important to focus on eating whole, unprocessed food rich in fibre (vegetables, beans, nuts, whole grains). Probiotics and digestive enzymes can also help, but consult a medical professional before starting a supplement regime. Adequate sleep, stress reduction, and staying active are also important when it comes to overall gut health.
Nurturing your gut has a wide range of benefits. When your gut talks—it’s time to listen.
Check out our article from Comox Valley Collective Vol. 19 on the benefits of plant-based eating.
