Gut Health Basics

If you’ve been around the diet industry for any amount of time, you are likely to have heard the term “gut health” before. Advertisers frequently promote that changing your gut health is the “key” to attaining the weight you want and try to convince you that their dieting product or plan is the key to transforming your gut in just a matter of days. 

However, gut health is so much more complicated than people in the diet industry would lead you to believe. There are so many different factors that contribute to the health of our digestive system throughout our life, and there is no one specific way to “transform” your gut overnight. Instead it takes education, and consistency to truly make changes that will impact your digestive health for the long run. 

Defining Gut Health

One of the most common misconceptions is what gut health is in general. Gut health is not some magical part of your stomach that determines how many calories you burn or absorb. In all reality, gut health could be used interchangeably with the titles “digestive system,” “digestive health” and “gut function.” According to BMC Medicine, the definition of digestive/gut health is actually a combination of several factors that contribute to the function of the gastrointestinal tract (GI Tract). This includes the types and amount of bacteria found in the microbiome, presence of effective digestion and absorption, adequate immune function, absence of GI illness, and overall state of well-being. 

The Microbiome

When it comes to “gut health” most people are thinking about the microbiome. The microbiome (also called microbiota) is the term used to refer to the trillions of bacteria found in your GI tract. These bacteria serve important functions in our bodies including fighting infection and mediating macro and micro nutrient absorption. The types of bacteria found in your microbiome is determined during the first two years of your life and is affected by birth, breastfeeding, and food exposure. However, although you can’t change the types of bacteria in your gut as you get older, you can be intentional with consuming foods that promote the growth of “good” bacteria and decrease the growth of “bad” bacteria (come back next week for more about this topic). 

Digestion and Absorption

Digestion and absorption are also key parts of digestive/gut health. Although digestion and absorption are both influenced by the microbiota found in the GI tract, there are many other influences that can also disrupt the digestion of nutrients. In general, proper digestion is facilitated by having a GI tract of adequate length that is able to move food through the digestive system through peristalsis (wave-like motions) at a regulated speed. Therefore, in addition to digestion/absorption being impaired by bacteria, malabsorption and poor gut health can also be caused by a shortened GI tract or weakened digestive muscles that cannot regulate the movement of food through the body. 

Immune Function

Digestive/gut health is also largely related to immune function. The GI tract is the largest part of the immune system due to the amount of illness fighting bacteria found in our digestive system. Therefore if there are any factors that are impairing immune function then the GI system will also be affected. This may have small effects during small illnesses or infections, like colds or strep throat. However, during periods of extreme illness and infection, like cancer for example, the digestive system is heavily affected which can lead to impaired digestion, absorption, and more. 

GI Illnesses

GI illnesses also greatly influence Gut health. GI illnesses include Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, and more. Although more research is still being done to understand the root causes of GI illnesses, it is well established that most are a result of both inadequate immune function and poor bacteria function in the gut. Other factors such as genetics, family history, and stress also influence the occurrence of these illnesses. Furthermore, although poor gut health can cause GI illnesses, GI illnesses also cause malabsorption and disrupt digestion. This means a key part of digestive health is preventing and treating these diseases. 

Overall Well-Being

Gut health, just like every other aspect of our health, is heavily influenced by our general well-being status. Well-being includes things like sleep quality, hydration status, exercise routine, lifestyle, caffeine consumption, stress level, mental health, and more. All of these factors heavily contribute to the ability for our gut to function properly. Without paying attention to our entire body, we will never be able to fully support our gut health. 

As you can see, gut health is a complex topic that encompasses a lot of different aspects of our bodies. There are so many factors that contribute to our digestive health and it’s important to focus on what is relevant to your life specifically. We can help with that! We love helping clients understand what may be impairing their digestive system while also helping them create sustainable lifestyle changes. To learn more about what we can do for you, email us at Natalie@Nutrition502.com or go to www.Nutrition502.com to schedule a FREE discovery call today!