Wondering why you might have mood swings, your energy levels drastically fluctuate, you struggle with poor digestion, or weight management? You may have an unhealthy gut that is impacting your overall health and wellness. Here are 5 things that may be impacting your health, if your gut is unhealthy.

Unhealthy Gut: 5 Things That Impact Your Health

1.Mood

The make-up of bacteria, yeasts, and fungi in your gut, known as the gut microbiome, impacts your mood. Your gut makes up about 95% of your body’s supply of serotonin, which is the “feel good” hormone. The other 5% is produced in your brain. Your brain and gut communicate with one another, which is known as the gut-brain axis.

Certain bacteria in your gut can produce GABA which is a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Other types of bacteria can produce norepinephrine and dopamine. Norepinephrine helps with your body’s stress response, regulates sleep and alertness. Dopamine affects your motivation, pleasure, and perception of reality.

If the make-up of your gut bacteria, yeast and fungi are not well balanced, then your mood can suffer from the insufficiency of hormones and neurotransmitter communication with the brain.

2. Energy

A healthy gut microbiome will improve your ability to digest and absorb nutrients. Nutrients are involved in energy metabolism, especially B-vitamins. B12 specifically is synthesized by gut microbes. Your gut microbes produce metabolites and microbial products that affect energy uptake. Serotonin in your gut affects sleep and prolonged sleep disturbances can lead to chronic fatigue. The ability to get energy from properly digested food and have adequate serotonin levels to improve sleep are all affected by your gut health.

3. Digestive System

It’s no surprise that your gut health impacts your bowel movements. The metabolites and microbial products your gut microbes produce affect your gut motility. If diarrhea is frequent, there likely is malabsorption of key nutrients. The good microbes in your gut are a huge factor in decreasing cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation. A healthy gut will process food and eliminate waste with less unwanted gastrointestinal symptoms.

4. Immune System

Having a balanced microbiome means that your good bacteria and bad bacteria can co-exist in your gut without negative outcomes. If the population of gut bacteria, viruses, fungi, and yeasts are unbalanced, then pathogens can enter the body and get into the bloodstream to cause disease. A healthy gut microbiome will protect against an overabundance of pathogenic bacteria and thus protect against chronic disease.

5. Weight Management

Gut microbes affect your appetite hormones. A balanced gut microbiome will reduce sugar cravings and weight fluctuations. An unbalanced gut microbiome will have difficulty absorbing nutrients and regulating blood sugar. Unwanted weight gain can occur because of insulin resistance due to poor blood sugar control and the desire to eat more due to decreased nutrient absorption and altered appetite hormone signaling. On the other hand, certain diseases involving gut microbes like small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) can cause unwanted weight loss.

In summary, your mood, energy levels, gastrointestinal symptoms, maintenance of a healthy immune system and body weight are all affected by your microbes in your gut. Gut healing when your gut is unhealthy is very important.

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References:

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Unhealthy Gut: 5 Things That Impact Your Health