7 Red Flags on Gut Health  to watch out for

A healthy and properly functioning gut means a perfect balance of bacteria that further 

help your body process and get more energy from your food. It also means better metabolic health or the ability to fight health issues, clear toxins in the body and mood enhancement. When your gut is healthy and happy, your remaining body follows suit. Your body generally sends out signals when you have an unhealthy gut. Here are seven red flags to watch out for:

1. You are facing tummy problems frequently

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract primarily digests food, absorbs nutrients in the food and eliminates waste. Your gut is healthy when your bowel is well-formed, regular and easy to pass. On the other hand, frequent bloating, constipation, gas, heartburn and diarrhoea indicate an unhealthy gut. These signs and abdominal pain indicate that it is hard for your gut to process the food, which results in IBS, affecting the large intestine. Imbalanced gut bacteria or dysbiosis can also result in IBS with chronic symptoms leading to Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory disease of the intestines. You can even have ulcerative colitis, a severe bowel disease leading to the inflammation of the digestive tract.

2. Improper sleep schedule and feeling exhausted always

An inappropriate sleep schedule makes you feel tired. Most of the body’s melatonin and serotonin, hormones that control sleep and mood, respectively, are synthesised in the gut. Inflammation or harmful bacteria in the gut might affect melatonin synthesis, affecting an individual’s sleep. Studies show a close association between brain function and intestinal metabolic health via the brain-gut axis. The gut microbiome or the cluster of viruses, fungi and bacteria residing in the gut impacts the circadian rhythm that controls an individual’s sleep-wake cycle.

Any shift in the day and night affects the circadian rhythm and even the rhythm of gut microbes, resulting in bloating, stomach pain and inflammation. If you have an unhealthy gut, you are at a high risk of having sleep disorders such as chronic fatigue and insomnia.

3. Food intolerances

Food intolerances directly result from low-quality gut bacteria, resulting in difficulty in digesting certain foods. This leads to nausea, gas, diarrhoea, bloating and abdominal pain. Major signs of gut imbalance entail unexpected or surprising food cravings such as cravings for fried or rich-in-carb foods when you are feeling low or sugary foods at night. Excessive sugar intake helps bad bacteria to live for a long time in the gut, causing dysbiosis. 

Many individuals have lactose intolerance, whereas others have gluten intolerance. Lactose is present in dairy products, and lactose deficiency can cause digestive problems. In contrast, gluten is present in triticale, rye, wheat and barley. Consuming gluten in celiac disease can result in irregular immune responses in the small intestine. Over time, it damages the small intestine lining and causes malabsorption, fatigue, diarrhoea, anaemia, weight loss and bloating. Non-celiac wheat allergy and gluten sensitivity can also cause stomach pain, diarrhoea and bloating, which are the signs of poor gut health.

4. Skin problems keep erupting

Your skin can be the perfect indicator of everything happening within your gut because both communicate regularly via the skin-gut axis. Different skin problems, such as eczema, acne, rosacea and psoriasis, are signs of poor gut health. Having a balanced diet is one of the first things you must do to eradicate skin conditions because the gut microbiome impacts your overall health. You can also use probiotics to get good riddance from different skin conditions.

5. Mood swings

A major sign of an unhappy gut is your mood fluctuating quicker than the weather. It directly influences your brain health because of the connection between the central nervous system and the gut microbiome. As per study journals by Clinics and Practice, gut disturbances and the inflammation of the central nervous system can cause depression and anxiety, which can be treated with probiotics. Studies have also found that gut bacteria synthesise a minimum of 90% serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates emotions. Any changes in the gut microbiome can directly affect serotonin synthesis and release, resulting in mood fluctuations.

6. Weight changes without putting in considerable efforts

When you lose or put on weight without any significant changes in diets or exercise routines, take this as a sign of an unhappy gut. An unhealthy gut can easily impair crucial bodily functions, such as storing fat, regulating blood sugar and absorbing nutrients.

7. Your headaches have become frequent

According to research, the brain-gut axis directly impacts migraines, specifically gut problems such as IBS. Further research depicts that people getting frequent headaches also have serious gastric problems. Gut inflammation can result in the inflammation of the entire body. It is also worth noting that a healthy GI tract can potentially mitigate the cascade of neural inflammation during migraine. Hence, if you have severe migraines, it can be a sign of an imbalanced gut.

Bottomline

Now that you know the signs of gut problems and complications, it is time for you to take steps that can help improve your gut health. Initially, start working on making lifestyle and diet changes. Apart from this, getting sufficient sleep and staying hydrated can also help improve your gut’s health. If you want to know more about improving gut health without medicines, browse Sugar.Fit! Here, you can get useful advice to keep your metabolic health in check, delivered by the best experts.