Your gut is the entire digestive tract that runs from your esophagus to your rectum. Experts refer to the gut as the second brain. The microbes and 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 and bad bacteria.
Your stomach secretes the right amount of acid to help process your food, and your liver and 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 allow your food to be used effectively by the body, if your gut is healthy, your body and mind probably are too.
Here are 10 warning signs that you have an unhealthy gut
1) Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
The lining of your intestines is filled with nerves that contain similar tissue as the brain. These nerves communicate with the brain. Your intestines also release the same feel-good neurotransmitters that are responsible for making you feel good. If your gut bacteria are in balance, you’re more likely to feel mentally balanced too.
2) Constant sickness
If you find that you catch every sniffle that goes around the office, all the vitamin C in the world may not help. more than three-quarters of your immune system is found in your gastrointestinal tract. A healthy microbiome, the balance of bacteria in your gut, produces healthy mucus that traps unwanted bacteria, viruses, and toxins and helps remove them from the body.
Healthy mucus also allows your body to absorb the right vitamins and minerals to help support your immunity. If your gut is unhealthy, thick, harmful mucus can help the wrong bugs thrive and limit your body’s ability to use vitamins and nutrients properly and lead to constant fatigue, irritable behavior.
3) 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
4) 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 weight. The balance of microbes that you have from birth can set the stage for your weight throughout your life
5) Autoimmune Disease
Gut health has been linked to autoimmune disease.
6) Acid Reflux
Frequent, unrelenting acid reflux is often caused by an unhealthy gut. Acid reflux, bloating, and burping is often caused by a buildup of unhealthy bacteria in the GI tract and stomach. Antacids actually help these bad bacteria thrive more
7) Yeast Infections
The imbalance in the gut can show up as digestive issues, fungal infections of the skin, constant fatigue and this may result into candida
8) 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
9) High Cholesterol and Triglycerides
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, and higher biodiversity of gut bacteria.
10) Asthma
If you have asthma, it might have been caused by the imbalance of bacterial gut flora around the time of birth, balancing your gut can help relieve asthma symptoms Maintaining a healthy gut involves making consistent healthy lifestyle choices, such as
- A variety of colorful foods – Greens/Microgreens/Fruits provides your body with the nutrients that it needs to operate properly. Chemically processed foods often contain compounds that feed bad bacteria and cause imbalance.
- Eat less sugar – Sugar is another culprit that feeds the unhealthy bacteria. Eliminating the excess from your diet can help rebalance your intestinal microbiome.
- Chew your food well – when you don’t chew your food well enough, it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to in order to feed the healthy bacteria and promote healthy digestion. That is why it’s mentioned in our Vedas chew food 32 times, this helps for better digestion and indirectly a healthy gut flora
- Stay hydrated – Water is necessary for just about every bodily function, including maintaining a healthy gut.
So include homemade detox water like – jeera/coriander / saffron/flaxseed / fennel/ajwain water/coconut water/kokum / lemon water - Detox – One day detox in a week helps to restore the gut. For e.g. -eating only fruits and greens, detox water – for a day or doing intermittent fasting / dry intermittent fasting.
- Bacteria boost – Adding a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar + 1 tsp Isabgol to a glass of water* is the best way to boost your healthy gut bacteria
- Consume more probiotics – Eating fermented foods like Idli/Dosa/Uttapam/Appam. you can use Jowar /Ragi/Bajra/Bhagar/Kodo/Quinoa for the similar fermentation process, Kefir, Kombucha, Tempeh, Miso, all homemade Pickles, Kimchi, Sauerkraut, Carrot – Beet kanji
- Practice breathing techniques and Omkar every day – All these will help you to reboot your system
Eat Wise…Drink Wise…Sleep Wise…&…Exercise Hard
Rashmi G. Somani
Nutrition & Lifestyle Mgt Coach,
Nutricure Clinic, Nasik.
Email – nutricurerashmi@gmail.com
Mobile – 9028874389
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