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Gut Health: Understanding, Assessing and Improving

What is “gut health” and why is it so important?

The diversity and quality of your microbiome — “your gut environment” — is directly linked to your overall health. Trillions of residents inhabit this environment including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. We can think of bacteria here as the mayor — bacteria has the critical job of overseeing the digesting of food, processing of drugs/poison, and regulating of the immune system. 

A multitude of factors play a role in the health and diversity of your gut, including levels of stress, exercise, genetic sequence (DNA) and lifestyle. Arguably the most important factor in determining gut health on a day to day basis, however, is diet. Unfortunately, many of us today partake in activities and have eating habits which constantly do damage to our gut leading to mismanagement of disease, obesity, immune malfunction, mental disabilities, psoriasis, autism, and mood disorders. Fortunately, it has been shown that a change in diet can alter microbiota within 24 hours with revision back to normal within 48 hours. 

A diverse microbiome leads to a healthy gut, while an imbalance in your microbiome leads to gut damage, dysbiosis (imbalance of bad vs good gut bacteria), and a miscommunication between gut and brain. Simply put — we’re all just large sacks full of bacteria and the quality of your body depends on the quality of your bacteria. 1

The Gut and Brain consistently speak to each other 

The gut and the brain have an interesting relationship as there is a two-way communication known as the gut-brain axis, which takes place along the “vagus nerve”. The communication between the gut and brain controls most functions within the brain (i.e. central nervous system) and your gastrointestinal/immune health. The gut-brain communication highway can suffer when there are issues with the permeability of the gut and/or brain; allowing foreign substances to enter and internal substance to leak out, leading to a host of problems. When the gut and brain are in mis-communication we observe frequently gastrointestinal, neurological, and psychiatric disorders. These disorders resulting from mis-communication between the gut and brain can lead to a mismanagement of:

  • IBS

  • IBD

  • Parkinson’s

  • Autism

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

By changing the gut environment through a diverse microbiome, avoiding stress, and reducing inflammation we can help mitigate, prevent, or reverse certain conditions. 2

Dysbiosis: when harmful bacteria out-numbers healthy bacteria in the gut

Gut dysbiosis occurs as a result of diet, environment, stress, improper hygiene, and medication; and results in malfunctions of important networks in your body, like the central nervous system & autonomic nervous system, enteric nervous system (ENS), and hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. Malfunctions within these networks lead to diseases such as IBD, skin diseases (psoriasis and atopic dermatitis), arthritis, type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer, and nervous system disorder.

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How do I know if my gut is healthy? 

Before I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, I refused to believe I had gut issues. I assumed it was just an upset stomach. As symptoms progress, I thought I may have contracted the stomach flu or an infection. I refused to see the signs that there was a serious issue until I was ordered to stop working and go to the hospital for diagnostic tests.  Don’t do that.

Your symptoms may be different, and you may not have ulcerative colitis, but how does one assess the quality of their gut health? How do you tell the difference between an upset stomach and serious gut issues? 

There are multiple important factors in verifying gut health and identifying a healthy gut: All of these factors may not only be indicators of gut health, but also made better or worse by your gut health. In general, there is a strong, two-directional feedback loop when it comes to the gut and the body.

Check your mood

Mental health is key. —It may be especially important for people who experience mood disorders, mood swings, stress, depression, and anxiety  to take care of their microbiome given the gut-brain connection. A healthier gut can provide benefit to mental disorders through the gut-brain axis.

Check your poo            

            I know I know, stool health  may not be the most glamorous of ways to test your gut health, but it’s definitely effective! A quick and reliable way to determine your gut health is by paying attention to the frequency, urgency, and duration of each bowel movement and “quality” of your poop. An increase or decrease in any of these areas beyond  what is considered your normal is a sign that your gut health may be decreasing. When thinking of stool quality, I defer to the Bristol Stool Chart. If you’d like to go even further in depth than the Bristol Stool Chart, get personal and consult your doctor about fecal sample testing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_stool_scale#/media/File:BristolStoolChart.png

Check your bones

BONE HEALTH

Gut health is shown to be linked to osteoporosis, a disease in which the density and structure of bones are reduced). One of the ways to mitigate osteoporosis and improve bone health is by restoring proper digestive and intestinal functionality.

Check your immune system            

Immune and Disease

The gut is the center for immune health, as it represents a full 70% of immune cells! A malfunction within our immune system can be expressed by a range of dysfunctions, including serious forms of autoimmunity or cancer, psoriasis, apoptosis/eczema, allergies to food, and seasonal allergies.

Check your weight

Obesity can be one more signal of improper gut function. Cravings and misuse of fuel speak directly to the quality of our microbiome. Our diet directly affects our microbiota which directs how our food is broken down and utilized. Our microbiota also communicates with our brain by sending and receiving signals. When there is an imbalance of harmful bacteria due to obesity, these signals get disrupted leading to long term malfunction.

How can I start improving my gut health?

It’s all about increasing your microbiota diversity. Your microbiota is the spokesperson to brain from gut. The microbiota receives signals from the brain on what to do, while reporting back to the brain on the health (environment) of the body. There are multiple factors contributing to an abundance or lack of diversity within the gut microbiome, which fortunately also means there are multiple ways to improve gut health.

Sticking with the concept that “bad” dieting habits feed bad bacteria, while “good” dieting habits feed good bacteria, how do we increase and maintain good bacterial diversity? First, let’s define “good.” Beneficial types of bacteria include lactic acid bacteria, bifidobacteria, clostridiales, bacteroides, lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus bulgarius, lactobacillus reuteri, streptococcus thermophilus, saccharomyces boulardii, bacillus subtilis. Here are a few ways to quickly improve the diversity of your microbiota.


1) Take PROBIOTICS 

                  . The job of probiotics is to increase bacterial diversity, which may result in benefits in intestinal health, prevention of IBS &IBD, alleviate GI intolerance and allergies, and increases polyphenol populations (antioxidant).  Probiotics can be found in supplement form and in naturally in certain foods; especiallyfermented foods containing lactic acid.Examples of foods containing probiotics you can pick up today at your local grocery store include yogurt, miso, kimchi, kombucha, kefir, sauerkraut, tempeh, and raw cheese.

2) Take PREBIOTICS 

Prebiotics are different form probiotics in that they  bacteria, but they help create the environment for bacteria to proliferate. I often think of prebiotics as bacteria fertilizer, because they provide dietary fiber and polyphenol (antioxidants) increase bacteria populations and alleviate GI Intolerance. Key grocery store pickups here include oats, chicory roots, garlic, onions, dandelion greens, legumes, bananas, apples, flaxseeds, asparagus, and Jerusalem artichokes.

3) Avoid SYSTEMIC STRESS to avoid CHRONIC INFLAMMATION            

Chronic inflammation and systemic stress have been shown to negatively affect microbial populations. It has also been shown that chronic stress can change the brain.  Ways to relieve the body of stress including supplementation (probiotics, omega-3, CBD, green, tea), mindful practices like. mediation or yoga, conscious breathing, and being aware of caffeine intake. In addition, cold-water therapy, hot saunas, and exercise are alternatives to adapt the body to stress. I also recommend adopting a pet. 

4) Make EXERCISE a priority 

Exercise is an easily implemented beneficial factor that can determine changes in the qualitative and quantitative gut microbial composition. Exercise can enrich microflora diversity and rebalance dysbiosis.  However, it is important to note that too much exercise or exercise that stresses the body too much is not beneficial for your microbiota and should be avoided, so what “works” is going to look a little different for everybody

5) Focus on your DIET 

I’ve found experimenting with my diet as yielding the best results in avoiding chronic inflammation.

I recommend against a traditional western diet, which is classified as high animal fat/protein and has been shown to decrease overall bacteria and been associated to cancer promotion.A Mediterranean diet however, which is high in fiber/antioxidants and low in red meat, has been shown to increase overall bacteria. Mediterranean is rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, high levels of antioxidants, high fiber, low glycemic carbs and high in vegetables than animal protein. A Mediterranean diet includes a high intake of olive oil, assorted fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, and nuts with moderate consumption of fish, poultry, and red wine, and low intake of dairy, red meat, processed meat, and sweets.

For more on understanding, assessing and improving gut health or for a tailor made program including diet and fitness advice, contact via email cwheeler@wheelthy.com