Gut Health Explained

Gut health is the new buzz term around the health industry. It has been hailed as the saviour to all of our problems and is to blame for you knowing what the unpronounceable ‘kombucha’ is. But is it all it’s cracked up to be? Short answer, yes, long answer, glad you asked! We separate the crap from the facts to give you a better understanding of what’s going on down there.

What is it?

When people talk about gut health they’re referring to two things, the enteric nervous system (ENS) and the microbiota (intestinal bacteria or gut ‘flora’) living in the gastrointestinal tract. These two vastly different yet equally important systems are responsible for an unbelievably large portion of our health and deserve as much attention as they can get.

How does it work?

Let’s start with the one we’re familiar with but haven’t heard of, the ENS, which is often referred to as our second brain due to its level of control and influence on our bodies. This is a collection of some 100 million nerve cells that span the distance from your in hole to your out hole. These nerve fibres are responsible for controlling the passage of food into the stomach, the releasing of hormones and enzymes that break down our food, the separation and absorption of macro and micro nutrients (through intestinal villi) and the removal of waste via the excretory system. The ENS is also believed to have profound effects on our mood due to its control over hormone production. We’ve all felt butterflies in our stomach when looking at someone we love or that knot in our stomach when we’re gripped by fear. This is a reaction of the ENS and it has far more control than we give it credit for.

The second part is the one we’ve heard of but aren’t familiar with, our microbiota. This is the collection of tiny little organisms (microbes) that live inside our bodies and help or hinder everyday processes like digestion, absorption of nutrients, immunity, metabolism and a huge number of others. Our microbiota, or microbiome as it’s collectively known, is essentially an ecosystem and, like any ecosystem, it must be in balance for things to work properly. It’s made up of bacteria, funguses and viruses (sounds gross but stick with me) that each have a specific purpose.

Some are symbiotic (I help you, you help me), some are parasitic (I’m helping you but you’re just out for yourself) and some are benign (smile and nod as we pass in the hall but please don’t talk to me), and it’s crucial to our health that we have more of the good than we do the bad.

The danger

The danger comes when we don’t pay enough attention to keeping these systems happy. The things we eat and drink have a profound effect on our gut health which in turn affects the rest of our body.

With gut flora, we find that it’s quite easy to kill off the good strains and quite hard to grow them back, and it’s quite hard to kill off the bad ones but easy to grow them back (typical).

This becomes quite dangerous as our gut flora help us to break down and absorb the nutrients from the things we eat and drink. So, if we don’t have enough of them, or a wide enough variety of them, we can’t get the good stuff from our food no matter how much of it we eat. This leaves us in a constant state of being overfed and undernourished which, sadly, is how most people live their adult lives.

This puts us at risk of a frighteningly large amount of diseases and disorders. Everything from diabetes and heart disease to headaches and muscle cramps can be caused, or at least exacerbated by poor gut health. There is even research coming out now linking memory, cognition and behavioural issues, in both children and adults, to poor gut health.

On the flip side, the better our gut health, the more resistant we are to disease. Researchers have discovered that the Hadza tribe of Tanzania have one of the most diverse and plentiful microbiomes in the world due to their extremely high fibre diet. There are strains of bacteria in their guts that were thought to be extinct. As a result, the Hadza tribe have essentially no instances of lifestyle disease and no traces of cancer.

What are the symptoms?

Take your pick! The symptoms of poor gut health can be as varied as the conditions it leads to so there are too many to list here, although this is where the ENS can give us a hand. When we eat something that doesn’t particularly agree with us, or our microbiota are out of balance, our ENS will let us know. Too often we ignore these warning signs and continue eating and drinking the wrong things but if you’re experiencing these symptoms after a meal, take note because there may be an issue.

• Heartburn/indigestion.
• Feeling heavy or bloated.
• Abdominal cramping.
• Headaches/nausea.
• Excessive gas.
• Moodiness.
• Skin rash.
• Tiredness/malaise.

So, now you know! The gut is an incredibly complex system, and one that the medical and scientific communities are learning more about each day.

The bad and the good

Let’s look at a few tips and tricks to help keep (or more likely start) your gut humming along nicely!

The bad

Sugar: feeds the bad bacteria and kills off the good. One of the worst culprits in destroying gut health. Next time you feel like a soft drink, go for a kombucha instead. Your gut (inside and out) will thank you.

Alcohol: 1-2 drinks a day, 2-3 days a week (especially red wine) can actually be beneficial to gut health. Any more than this though and we see a sharp decline in microbiota diversity.

Processed foods: another huge enemy of gut health (and every other body system). Stick to whole foods or, if you have to go for packet foods, ones with ingredients that your grandmother would recognise.

 Antibiotics: one course of antibiotics can disrupt your microbiome for up to 12 months. Only use them when absolutely necessary.

 Stress/anxiety: can manifest in the ENS and leave us feeling queasy and anxious as well as disrupt our gut flora. Also works the other way with scientists now discovering that poor gut health can lead to feelings of anxiety.

 Smoking: no brainer. Smoking kills everything, including good bacteria.

The good

Fibre: this is the champion of gut health. Research has shown that the more fibre we eat, and the more sources we get it from, the stronger and more diverse our microbiota will be. Leafy green veggies are the best source but make sure you mix up your veggie sources regularly to get the most bang for your buck.

Resistant starch: this is the main fuel source for our gut flora. Similar to fibre, it passes through our system undigested until it reaches the large intestine, where our microbes feed off it. It can be found in fruits and vegetables and in pasta and potatoes that have been cooked and cooled.

Exercise: studies have shown a healthier microbiome in those that exercise (particularly higher intensity exercise) than those that do not.

Water: staying hydrated is crucial to gut (along with every other type of) health. Make sure you have 30ml per kg of bodyweight each day to maintain proper hydration.

Fermented foods: these help to feed the good bacteria in your gut and promote microbial diversity. These include: kombucha, sauerkraut, natural yoghurt, miso, kefir, pickles and other fermented vegetables.

Sleep: getting enough good quality sleep will help to regulate your hormones, keeping your ENS happy and your gut in balance.

Probiotics: whilst not essential if you have a balanced diet, a good probiotic each day can assist in boosting your microbial diversity. Go for one that has at least a 20 billion colony count and the more bacteria strains the better.

So there you have it! Building a healthy gut is a process, and one that has a lot of ups and downs. The main thing to remember is that we don’t have to be perfect all the time, we just have to do more positive things than negative things, so that we’re building more than we’re destroying, and we’ll be fine!

Too long didn’t read!

Gut health is comprised of the enteric nervous system, which controls hormone production and the mechanical function of the gastrointestinal tract, and the microbiome, which are the bacteria, funguses and viruses that help to break down and absorb food and assist with immune function.

Keeping these systems in balance, and ensuring we have a high level of microbiome diversity, is the key to maintaining good health. When these systems are out of whack we are unable to properly utilise the nutrients in our food, leading to malnourishment and a range of acute and chronic illnesses.

Increase your risk: sugar, excessive alcohol consumption, processed foods, antibiotics, stress/anxiety, smoking.

Decrease your risk: fibre (especially from a wide range of vegetables), resistant starch, exercise, maintaining proper hydration, fermented foods, good quality sleep, probiotics.

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