9 Obvious Signs You Have an Unhealthy Gut and How to Build a Healthy One Again

The entire digestive tract that runs from your esophagus to your rectum is your gut. Experts say that our second brain is our gut. The nerves and microbes in the gut can launch communication with the brain and affect everything from hunger to mood. You have a proper balance of good and bad bacteria when your gut is healthy. Everyone thinks that the signs of an unhealthy gut are obvious. But, we are not going to talk about the obvious symptoms like diarrhea and constipation. There are another mental, emotional and physical warning signs which signal that your gut is unhealthy.

Image source: thedailyguardian.com

9 warning signs 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 is in balance, you’re more likely to feel mentally balanced too.

2. You Get Sick a Lot

You catch every sniffle that goes around the office, but all the vitamin C in the world may not help. Gut Health Project has explained that more than three-quarters of your immune system is found in your gastrointestinal tract.

The balance of bacteria in your gut is a healthy microbiome that produces healthy mucus that traps unwanted viruses, toxins, and bacteria and helps remove them from the body.

The healthy mucus also allows your body to absorb the right minerals and vitamins to help support your immunity.

If your gut is harmful, unhealthy, thick mucus can limit your body’s ability to use nutrients and vitamins properly, leading to what may seem like the constant sickness.

3. Skin Problems

If you have eczema, rosacea, persistent acne, dandruff or flaky, itchy skin, even the most intensive skin care routine may not fix your problem. Believe it or not, your skin problems may be coming from your unhealthy gut.

Skin experts explain how gut health affects inflammation throughout the body, which in turn affects the skin, referring to a gut-brain-skin axis.

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.

The good news is that as overweight people lose weight, their gut becomes more balanced. Taking a probiotics supplement has also been shown to help with weight loss.

5. Autoimmune Disease

Many studies link the gut health to autoimmune disease. On the other hand, experts aren’t sure exactly what causes autoimmune diseases like Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus. But, they do know that autoimmune diseases occur when your immune system attacks its own healthy cells.

5. Acid Reflux

Frequent, unrelenting acid reflux is often caused by an unhealthy gut. This may explain why nothing seems to help your constant heartburn. Acid reflux, bloating, and burping are often caused by a buildup of unhealthy bacteria in the GI tract and stomach. Acid-reducing medications can actually help this bacteria thrive. Normally, stomach acid kills the bad bacteria. If you’re always neutralizing your stomach acid, however, you’re letting that bad bacteria grow.

6. Yeast Infections

If your system is imbalanced, yeast can grow out of control. The imbalance in the gut can show up as fungal infections of the skin, digestive issues, constant fatigue or even fibromyalgia. This can also cause a condition known as candida.

7. 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. An unhealthy gut can also be permeable, meaning that it lets in toxins through the intestinal walls. These unhealthy chemicals can also affect your energy levels.

8. High Cholesterol and Triglycerides

According to LiveScience, your gut microbes may influence your heart health. The digestive tract has 34 microorganisms which can influence the levels of fat in your blood.

Experts are also starting to find links between a higher biodiversity of gut bacteria and HDL, “good” cholesterol.

9. Asthma

The balance of bacteria that you had in your gut around the time of birth may cause you having asthma. According to Dr. Hyman, balancing your gut can help improve asthma symptoms.

How can you build a healthy gut?

You might want to know what to do about your unhealthy gut. Maintaining a healthy gut involves making consistent healthy lifestyle choices, such as the following:

– Eat less sugar

If you eat sugar, you will feed the unhealthy bacteria. Try to eliminate it from your diet to rebalance your intestinal microbiome.

– Eat whole, nutrient-rich foods

Provide your body with the nutrients that it needs to operate properly by eating a variety of clean, colorful foods. You should know that chemically processed foods often contain compounds that feed the bad bacteria and cause imbalance.

– Stay hydrated

Drinking water is important for every bodily function, including maintaining a healthy gut.

– Chew your food

If you want to feed the healthy bacteria and promote healthy digestion, you need to chew your food well enough.

– Drink apple cider vinegar

You can add a tablespoon or two of apple cider vinegar into a glass of water and help your digestion to function properly. That’s because cider vinegar can boost the amount of acid in your stomach.

– Detox

Give your gut a chance to heal and rebalance itself by following a gentle detoxification program. It can eliminate many of the factors that are causing inflammation on a daily basis.

– Consume more probiotics

Taking probiotic supplements or eating fermented foods can help restore the balance in your gut. The first place to start is taking a good probiotic, whether you make any of the above changes or not. The quickest way to reboot your system is adding in a probiotic because it will take time to heal your gut.

Source: avocadu.com

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