Get to know your gut | Digestive Health Explained | Activia Canada
What is gut health?
The inner workings of your gut can be a lot to digest, but when you break it down into smaller pieces, it’s much easier to understand what your insides are made of.
Understanding the gut microbiome and bacteria
To truly grasp why gut health matters, we first need to explore the complex ecosystem within our digestive system. This involves understanding the concepts of gut flora and the crucial balance between different types of bacteria. This internal world is a dynamic environment that plays a significant role in your body.
Get to know your gut
Your gut is really just another term for your digestive tract, an intricate system that performs many vital functions to help break down the food you eat. As food enters your mouth and begins the process of digestion, it passes through several steps along the way, including your small intestine and large intestine.
In the small intestine, enzymes are released by the pancreas and bile from the liver to help break down food so the nutrients can be absorbed into your bloodstream. The large intestine absorbs large quantities of water and electrolytes and helps remove waste matter and other substances your body does not need. But the function of the gut extends far beyond this. It's a highly complex system that houses a vast and diverse community of microorganisms, which is essential for proper gut function and general health. The integrity of the gut wall, also known as the gut barrier, is critical in preventing harmful substances from entering the bloodstream.
Microflora or “Gut” Flora
There is a complex ecosystem of bacteria that lives in your intestinal tract. This bacterial ecosystem is called the gut microbiome. The gut microbiome starts to develop after birth and evolves based on factors such as your diet, stress levels, antibiotics and different life stages, including puberty, pregnancy and menopause. Our gut microbiome is important for our health, and helps to absorb and digest nutrients from food and support immune health.
Good bacteria vs bad bacteria: why a healthy gut is important
You have about 100 trillion gut bacteria cells in your intestinal tract – that’s ten times the number of cells in your entire body! While most of these bacteria are not harmful, some can cause certain diseases. Under normal circumstances, the ‘good’ bacteria far outnumber the ‘bad’, but any shift in this balance may affect how well your digestive tract functions. This balance of bacteria is essential.
Good bacteria, or beneficial bacteria, like Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus, help with digestion, produce essential vitamins, and support your immune system. Bad bacteria, or pathogenic bacteria, can cause infections, inflammation, and may contribute to chronic health conditions if they grow unchecked. An imbalance, known as dysbiosis, is a key factor in poor gut health. This is why a healthy gut is so important: it maintains a state where beneficial gut microbes thrive, preventing issues like inflammatory bowel disease and even some autoimmune disease conditions. There are several factors that can influence the shift in gut flora, including stress, antibiotics, illness, aging, and diet.
How gut health affects your general well-being
The impact of gut health extends far beyond digestion. It can influence your mood, immunity, skin, and even your risk for chronic diseases. The role of gut bacteria is so significant that scientists are now exploring how this internal ecosystem communicates with nearly every organ in the body. This section will explore the surprising connections between your gut and your overall well-being.
Mind-gut: making the connection
Incredibly, your digestive system has its own nervous system made up of over 100 million neurons. This is called the enteric nervous system, and it's so complex that it's often referred to as the “second brain.” It is directly connected to your brain via the gut-brain axis, a bidirectional communication highway linked to your central nervous system. For example, everyone knows that feeling of having butterflies in your stomach.
Clearly, there aren’t pretty-coloured insects fluttering about in your belly, but your gut is conveying this feeling to your brain. Similarly, research suggests that when your gut flora is out of balance (meaning there are more ‘bad’ bacteria than ‘good’), it may negatively affect your overall health and influence your mood.
This imbalance in gut bacteria can disrupt the production of neurotransmitters, which are crucial chemical messengers. For instance, a significant portion of serotonin, a hormone that regulates mood, is produced in the gut. When the gut microbiome is unhealthy, it can lead to altered mood states, anxiety, and even depression. This highlights how gut health can affect your mental and emotional state profoundly.
Simple ways to improve your gut health
The good news is that you have significant control over your gut health. Improving your gut microbiome doesn't require drastic or complicated measures. By making simple, actionable lifestyle and dietary changes, you can restore and maintain a healthy gut.
Fill up on gut-friendly foods
There’s a long list of foods you can add to your grocery list that are good for your gut including lean meats such as chicken, turkey and pork, salmon and other fish, avocado and olives, yogurt, kefir, kimchi, bananas, whole grain breads, fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains. And if you’re craving something sweet, natural sweeteners like applesauce, maple syrup and pure honey are good alternatives to refined sugar.
Exercise regularly
Regular physical activity can positively impact your gut by increasing the diversity of your gut bacteria. Movement promotes a nice environment for beneficial microbes to flourish and can improve gut motility, which aids in regular digestion. This can mean taking classes at a gym, or changing little parts of your daily routine like taking the stairs instead of the elevator or walking instead of driving.
Get a good night’s sleep
The link between sleep and gut health is strong. Poor or insufficient sleep can lead to a less diverse gut microbiome and may increase inflammation. Regular, restful sleep is vital to your overall health – try to go to sleep and get up at the same time every day and avoid all screens close to bedtime.
Manage stress
Chronic stress can negatively impact your gut microbiome by altering the balance of bacteria and increasing intestinal permeability (sometimes called leaky gut). Be proactive and preventative in how you deal with stress by using techniques like meditation, exercise and calming activities to keep stress levels in check.
Drink lots of water
Hydration is crucial for maintaining the mucosal lining of the intestines and promoting the balance of good bacteria in the gut. Loading up on H20 can help with digestion, keep you hydrated and flush out toxins, which can lead to many benefits for your body.
Include probiotics
A probiotic is a live microorganism that can bring benefits when consumed in specific amounts. You can find them in some fermented foods, like a probiotic yogurt, or as supplements. Making probiotics a part of your healthy lifestyle contributes to the health of your gut flora. If you want to add a probiotic to your routine, look for a strain that has been studied for the health benefits you are looking for. Consult a dietitian to understand what probiotic might suit your needs.
