Gut Health 101: How to Keep Your Gut Healthy

Many studies over the past 20 years have shown the important connection between gut health and overall health and wellness. When your gut is healthy, you’re less likely to experience digestive issues, inflammation, and impaired immunity, among many other things.

But why exactly is the gut so important? And what constitutes a healthy gut? We’ll take a look at these questions and others as we explore the basics of gut health and how to keep your body healthy and functioning optimally while keeping your gut in tip-top shape.

What is the Gut responsible for?

The gut is where digestion, metabolization, and absorption happens. In other words, your gut breaks down the food you eat (digestion), turns it into something that can be used by your body (metabolization), and then absorbs those nutrients to help support bodily functions (absorption).

The gut provides the nutrients needed for a range of our body’s functions like energy production, hormone balance, skin health, mental health, and toxin elimination. With 70% of the immune system housed in the gut, it’s also responsible for helping protect against inflammation and disease.

What is your Gut Microbiome?

Trillions of bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and other microscopic living things (or microbes) exist in your body’s intestines and on your skin. Most of those microbes live in the cecum, a pocket in your large intestine—also known as the gut microbiome.

Within the microbiome exists approximately 35,000 different strains of good bacteria like L.acidophilus, L.casei, L.thermophilus, B.bifidum, and B.longum. However, there are also different types of bacteria like viruses and fungi that are considered bad bacteria.

Maintaining the right balance of these microorganisms is essential for physical health, mental health, and immunity. It’s important to keep the gut microbiome balanced because it's responsible for:

— Fighting infection

— Enhancing nutrient absorption

— Promoting optimal bowel mobility

— Ensuring mucosal layer integrity

— Managing inflammation

What affects the Microbiome?

If you want to build and maintain a healthy microbiome, then you’ll need to understand what can impact human gut health. That way, you’ll have a better idea if you are at risk for an unhealthy gut and be aware of how to take steps to improve it.

Some of the things that affect the microbiome may not be something that you have control over as an adult. However, it’s still important to be aware of these factors so you can understand how your gut got to where it is today!

1) Mode of delivery

Your microbiome is impacted by how you came to this world—quite literally! The mode of delivery (cesarean section vs. vaginal birth) has been shown to impact gut microbiota in early life.

2)  Diet as an infant

Your diet as an infant also impacts the development of your microbiome. Evidence shows that breastfed infants have more beneficial bacteria than those who are formula-fed as infants. This has been shown to lead to lower rates of allergies and obesity in adults.

It’s important to note that breastmilk can vary depending on the mother’s diet, use of antibiotics, and other factors.

3) Diet as an adult

The microbiome is not just impacted by your early life. Your diet as an adult also affects your gut microbiome. Even the smallest diet changes can alter the microbiome by increasing or decreasing the levels of good and bad bacteria in your gut.

4) Genetics

In addition to environmental factors like diet and lifestyle, genetics also play a role in your gut microbiome. Recent studies show that genetic variants can predispose an individual toward microbiome dysbiosis, which is a condition where the normal microbiome structure is disrupted leading to metabolism and immunity issues.

5) Age

Age also impacts the microbiome. It takes a toddler about 3 years to colonize the gut microbiome to resemble that of an adult. Microbial diversity can also decrease after the age of 75 while disruptive bacteria can increase.

6) Stress

Your stress levels impact your digestion and absorption of nutrients, which alters your gut microbiome. Stress and depression can even reshape your gut bacteria’s composition through stress hormones like cortisol, glucagon, and inflammation. In fact, digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) often coincide with mood disorders—both showing a dysfunctional composition of gut microbiota and related chronic inflammation.

How can you support your Microbiome?

Now that you know what can affect your gut microbiome, let’s talk about how to support a healthy gut. The most important part of achieving the right balance of gut bacteria is eating a diverse range of foods, including fermented foods and those rich in prebiotics and probiotics as part of a wholefood diet.

Here are just a few ways to support a healthy gut:

1) Eat foods rich in prebiotics

Prebiotics are plant fibers that help healthy gut bacteria grow. These fibers are not digested or destroyed by your stomach acid. Instead, they’re absorbed by your intestines, stimulating the growth and activity of good bacteria.

Some foods that are rich in prebiotics include:

- Artichokes

- Asparagus

- Onions

- Garlic

- Leeks

- Ginger

- Bananas

- Berries

- Soybeans

- Maple syrup

2) Consume probiotics

Probiotics have many health benefits. They help aid in the digestion of lactose and proteins as well as break down polyphenols, flavonoids, and glucosinates for absorption. Probiotics also help balance pH, regulate metabolism and lipids, minimize allergies, moderate inflammation, and support detoxification, oral health, and immune response.

You can get your probiotics through diet or supplementation (Bifidobacterium and lactobacillus). Some foods that are high in probiotics include:

- Yogurt, kefir, and cottage cheese (make sure it’s plain, no sugar added, and with “live active cultures”)

- Sauerkraut

- Raw pickles

- Olives

- Raw vinegar

- Miso

- Kimchi

- Tempeh

- Kombucha

- Raw honey

Polyphenols in food also promote the growth of probiotic microbes. Foods like green tea, dark chocolate, apples, red grapes, blueberries, almonds, onions, and broccoli are anti-inflammatory, decrease blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and reduce oxidative stress.

If you’re purchasing probiotic supplements, you’ll want to pay attention to the different strains in the supplements. Different strains target different health issues:

- Lactobacilli help bind and detoxify metals

- L.acidophillus binds to arsenic

- Lactobacillus rhamnosus binds to cadmium and lead

3) Eat less sugar and artificial sweeteners

It’s hard to avoid sugar with 75% of the Western diet being high in sugars, refined carbs, and fat. However, sugar can wreak havoc on the body. Eating sugars and sweeteners can cause gut dysbiosis, (an imbalance in microbes impacting gut health, brain function, and behavior).

Sugar can cause an overgrowth of yeast that throws off your gut balance, and it is also an inflammatory food. Artificial sweeteners can negatively impact blood glucose levels and lead to an increase in blood sugar, which then negatively impacts the microbiome.

4) Reduce stress

Chronic stress is hard on the body. Sleep deprivation, psychological stress, environmental stress, and disruption of your circadian rhythm can all disrupt the microorganisms in your intestines.

To lower your daily stress levels, exercise regularly. Even just taking walks or practicing yoga can have a significant impact on your stress. You can also try meditating, deep breathing, reading, getting a massage, decreasing caffeine intake, and spending time with your friends and family.

5) Avoid taking antibiotics unnecessarily

Antibiotics kill and destroy not only the bad bacteria but also the good bacteria. They are damaging to the gut microbiome and can impact your immunity. One dose of commonly prescribed antibiotics can wipe out microbial diversity for up to 6 months!

Antibiotics are often overprescribed. In fact, according to the CDC, 1 in 3 antibiotic prescriptions is unnecessary. Be sure to discuss antibiotics and alternative options with your doctor, and if you have to take antibiotics, make sure you increase your probiotic intake to help stay balanced.

6) Exercise regularly

Exercising regularly is an important part of maintaining a healthy weight (or losing weight) as well as maintaining overall health and reducing stress. All of this can impact gut health.

In fact, one study found that athletes have a larger variety of gut flora than non-athletes. Part of this may also be attributed to their diets, which are designed to help them maximize energy and perform better.

7) Get enough sleep

Not getting enough sleep or having poor quality sleep can impact your gut health in serious ways. This can, in turn, lead to even more sleep issues-perpetuating an unhealthy cycle.

Prioritize getting at least 7 to 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. This should help improve gut health, mood, and cognition.

8) Use different cleaning products

Disinfectant cleaning products can increase the L.achrospiraceae microbe, which is associated with type 2 diabetes and obesity. Instead of using chemical cleaners, opt for clean or natural cleaning products.

9) Quit smoking

Smoking affects gut, lung, and heart health, increasing your risk for a number of serious health conditions. Not only do smokers tend to get heartburn, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and peptic ulcers more often than non-smokers, but smoking makes it harder to treat those conditions.

Smoking increases the bad bacteria in your system and alters your intestinal flora. This can increase your risk of inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease, an autoimmune disorder in the digestive tract. Smoking also increases your risk of colon cancer, gallstones, digestive system cancer, and liver disease.

10) Stay hydrated

Drinking water can have a beneficial effect on the mucosal lining of your intestines. It can also help balance the good bacteria in your gut. Adequate hydration helps regulate bowel movements and prevents constipation.

While drinking water is the most common way to hydrate, you can also drink water-based alternatives like decaffeinated tea.

If you don’t like plain water, try infusing it with fresh fruit (like lemon, mint, or cucumbers) or incorporate more foods into your diet that have high water content such as celery, cucumbers, or watermelon.

Leaky Gut and the Intestinal Lining

Everyone has a semi-permeable gut with a mucous lining that’s designed to absorb water and nutrients from our food into the bloodstream. However, when you’re constantly exposed to dietary or environmental irritants, the integrity of your gut lining can become compromised.

When this happens, your intestines become hyperpermeable, allowing more than just water and nutrients to leak through. This is known as leaky gut syndrome , which is a symptom of gastrointestinal disease as well as an underlying cause.

When your intestinal barrier becomes compromised, it can let toxins into your bloodstream that may trigger an inflammatory response that manifests as disease. Some diseases that we know are tied to leaky gut include inflammatory bowel disease and celiac disease. While more research needs to be done, leaky gut may also be associated with obesity, diabetes, arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma, and fibromyalgia.

If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, you may have leaky gut syndrome:

- Abdominal pain

- Food sensitivity

- Bloating

- Indigestion

- Fatigue

- Brain fog

- Headaches

When your gut lining is constantly inflamed, you eventually will not be able to guard against erosion from chemical irritants and abrasive bacteria. This is when you can experience conditions like peptic ulcer disease and SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). Erosion of the gut lining also affects digestion, immunity, and sensitivity to pain in the intestines.

Foods that Heal the Intestinal Lining

Luckily, there are some foods that you can eat to help heal your intestinal lining to avoid further damage.

These foods help to heal your gut, lessen inflammation, and improve overall digestion:

- Coconut oil

- Ghee

- Glutamine (found in animal protein, beets, spinach, beans, and parsley)

- Bone broth

- Collagen

- Zinc

Gut Irritants

In addition to eating a well-balanced diet, you should avoid or limit substances that can irritate your gut. These substances include:

- Alcohol

- Coffee

- Soda

- Diet soda

- Juice drinks

- Energy drinks

- Any “sugar-free” products

By making healthy lifestyle and dietary changes, you can increase the diversity and number of microbes in your gut for the better. A healthy gut contributes to a healthy immune system, which means less sickness and disease, better digestion and healthier skin, happier mood, and overall increased health and wellness.