The Link Between Gut Health and Your Overall Health

It might amaze you how frequently the gut is the key to health – and to health problems. Researchers are looking more and more at the gut and considering it to be the most important bodily system to keep healthy. And it makes sense, as it affects everything from your metabolism to your mood.

So let’s explore what gut health means and what you can do to ensure that your gut is healthy.

The term gut most accurately refers to the small intestine and the large intestine together. So, discussing gut means discussing the wellbeing and function of those two organs.

An unhealthy gut has consequences, sometimes debilitating ones.

Gut health plays an important role in:

• immune function
• digestive function, including the absorption of minerals
• energy levels
• weight
• brain function
• mental health
• how you respond to stress

Gut health is also the key to neurological diseases like Parkinson’s.

Much of this has to do with the quality, quantity, and composition of the bacteria in your gut.

Trillions of microorganisms, called microbes, live in your gut. This community is often referred to as the microbiome. Maintaining a healthy microbiome is extremely important because these microbial critters help you to break down food while playing a key role in immune system function, as well as making vitamins and some hormones.

The vast majority of microbes in your gut microbiome are bacteria, both good kinds and bad kinds. In general, what you want is for good bacteria to be plentiful and greatly outnumber the bad bacteria. When these good bacteria crowd out the bad, the bad ones don’t have a chance to multiply and cause you health problems. 

Even though you will always have bad bacteria in your gut, it’s the balance that’s important.

Several things can cause your microbiome to go out of balance:

• Processed foods and chemical additives
• Sugar
• Excess alcohol and/or other drugs
• Genetically modified foods
• Lack of sleep
• When you take antibiotics and other drugs that destroy all types of bacteria, not just the bad guys, that’s a major microbiome disruptor. Remember, the good bacteria are needed to crowd out the bad. This is why it’s so destructive to your health if you take an antibiotic for let’s say a viral infection – antibiotics won’t kill a virus – or when your body could have dealt with infection on its own.

Signs That Your Gut Microbiome Could Be Out of Balance

• You have digestive issues like gas, bloating, constipation, or diarrhea.
• You get sick frequently with things like colds or the ‘flu.
• Skin problems like acne, eczema, or psoriasis.
• Problems with brain function and mood, through symptoms like depression, memory loss, and low energy. Gut health has a powerful connection to your brain.