If your skin has a mind of its own, your cravings are getting out of hand, or you’re rushing to the loo more than you’d like to admit, your gut might be trying to tell you something. Recognise the signs of an unhealthy gut and find out what it’s trying to tell you with these expert tips…
Words: Amy Dowrick | Images: Shutterstock
According to neuro-gastroenterologist Dr Trisha Pasricha, we need to stop thinking about our gut as a digestive organ, and start thinking about it as a brain.
“Your gut has more nerve cells than the entirety of your spinal cord, and is constantly sending signals up to the brain,” she says. “Once you realise that, you realise that you can change your health today. You can start to take control of your health through your gut.”
And it might be easy to trust your gut to tell you when something is off – the hard part is working out just what it’s trying to tell you. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up five signs to look out for:
5 signs of an unhealthy gut
Bowel movements
“Every time you go to the bathroom, it’s kind of like getting a report card on your health. You can take a look and learn so much information just by what you’re seeing,” says Dr Pasricha, who says that we are currently living through a ‘bowel crisis’.
From shape, consistency, and colour to how you felt while doing the deed, your bowel movements determine a lot about your body’s current health status.
“It will tell you about the quality of the food that you’ve eaten,” she says. “It’s going to tell you about inflammation and possibly infections, or the kinds of inflammation that come from our environment and our food.”
“All of these pieces of information tell you about how your gut is functioning as a brain, an immune organ and a hormone-producing organ,” she adds. “That has an influence on your entire health.”
Sugar cravings
Over 90% of people experience cravings, but it’s not down to a lack of willpower – it could be signs of an unhealthy gut.
New research shows that a wide range of psychological conditions are generated by the community of bacteria thriving in our gut, and that craving sugar is driven in part by particular gut microbes.
“You can’t entirely blame weak fortitude for the overindulgence of sugar,” says neuroscientist R. Douglas Fields. “Psychology is not the only reason for an irresistible sweet tooth. Biology, the community of bacteria in the gut, are also pressing on the hormone-activated buttons driving sugar craving in the brain.”
How can we try to fix this? According to registered dietician Catherine Ribes, adding fibre to your meals can slow down digestion and alleviate craving sugary treats.
“Think porridge in the morning as your wholegrains. You could add beans to your stews, adding a side of vegetables and pairing fruit with certain dishes. This helps you feel fuller for longer and keeps cravings in check,” she says.
Skin flare-ups
According to Lucy Kerrison, a Doctify-rated dietician who specialises in gut health, “Our skin and gut share a bidirectional relationship, where changes in the balance of bacteria in your intestines can lead to visible symptoms appearing on your skin.”
“Many of my clients experience stress-induced breakouts, as it causes certain bacteria to bloom and tips the gut into dysbiosis,” she adds. “So managing pressure at home and work is a key part of getting skin issues under control.”
Mental Health
It’s been shown that gut inflammation has been linked to causing several mental illnesses including anxiety and depression, based on the gut-brain axis – a connection that helps explain the effectiveness of antidepressants as IBS and bowel-disorder treatments.
Researchers say our two brains ‘talk’ to each other, so therapies that help one may help the other – and while probiotics have the ability to restore normal microbial balance, they can play a crucial role in calming symptoms by acting on nerve cells in the gut.
Poor Sleep
New research in The European Journal of Nutrition has found irregular sleep patterns are associated with harmful bacteria in your gut.
“This is the first study to show that even small differences in sleep timings across the week seems to be linked to differences in gut bacterial species,” says professor of nutritional sciences Dr Wendy Hall.
“Maintaining regular sleep patterns, so when we go to bed and when we wake each day, is an easily adjustable lifestyle behaviour we can all do, that may impact your health via your gut microbiome for the better,” adds Dr Sarah Berry from King’s College London.
Our top tips for a healthier gut
Fibre intake
A woman’s daily fibre intake should be between 21 – 25 grams a day – but instead of adding one more nutrient to count for every meal, (and while 96% of us are fibre deficient in the UK) consider taking fibre supplements.
“I take Cilium every day,” says Dr Pasricha. “It’s great for your gut, and your bacteria like it. It’s a no brainer – one teaspoon of Cilium gives you about 4 grams of fibre. It’s the laziest possible thing, and it works.”
Fermented foods
“Get 3 different ones in your diet every day,” says epidemiologist, medical doctor, and science writer, Tim Spector. “That’s going to be really good for your health.”
“Studies over the last 20 years have showed that people who have regular fermented foods have fewer common diseases,” he adds. “They have less heart disease, less diabetes, less autoimmune disease, and less allergies.”
Protein
“Things like beans give you protein and fibre,” adds Tim. “Forget about calories. Think about the quality of your food. Get rid of high risk processed foods and focus on eating real foods in your diet.”
“Personalise your diet so that you can reduce inflammation levels, because you may be responding to blood sugars. You might want to work out what suits you.”
Gut-brain connection
“If you think about your gut as a brain, then you should treat is as your most precious organ,” adds Dr Pasricha. “Once you realise that your gut is a brain, treating it as the most precious organ of your body is not optional, it’s foundational to your entire health.”
Ask yourself: What have I done to protect my gut today?
