While most people will understand the importance of gut health when it comes to proper digestion, many don’t understand how important gut health is to our system as a whole. Did you know that nearly 2/3 of your whole immune system resides in your gut? You can’t have a healthy immune system without a healthy gut, and you can’t have good health with a deficient immune system, hence why maintaining proper gut health should be the number one priority on everybody’s lists. Let’s take a look at why gut health is so important, and what you can do to improve it.
Understanding the Impact of Microbes on Gut Health
The gut is home to over 1000 different kinds of different microbes, and if they were weighed collectively, they would weigh around 2 kilos in total. These bacteria work together in order to promote health in the gut. While your gut may harbor some harmful microbes as well, good microbes will help stop there progression.
Babies are exposed to various types of microbes from the womb and more during their growth. For instance, babies will start developing bacteria that will help them process breast milk. As they get older, their bacteria will start to change, and new microbes will be created to deal with other needs. Older adults will start forming bacteria to help them process things like fiber, for instance. Bacteria in the gut can also affect things like mental function as well, so the effects of poor gut health extend far beyond digestion alone.
Signs of an Unhealthy Gut
Before you start treating your gut, you have to be able to assess whether your gut is healthy or not. One of the easiest ways to know if you have an unhealthy gut is if you have digestive issues. For instance, if you’re feeling bloated after meals or are constantly dealing with things like acid reflux, then this could be a sign that there is something wrong with your gut.
But there are also other factors that have nothing to do with digestion that could be directly caused by an unhealthy gut. For instance, if you suddenly experience rashes or skin issues like psoriasis, eczema, or acne, then this could be a sign as well. Also, if you’re suddenly going through bouts of depression, low mood, or anxiety, your gut could be the cause.
What Can be Done About it?
There are a few things that can be done to improve your gut’s health. But most of it will be centered around changing your diet. One of the first things you should do is diversify your food choices and eat a wide variety of plant-based foods. The gut gets bacteria from various sources and needs microbes to be as diverse as possible, so having a diverse diet helps. You could also think about introducing probiotics into your diet.
Probiotics are microorganisms that can promote good gut health by restoring or improving your gut flora. You can either take them in supplement form or through fortified foods. However, you have to be careful which ones you take. Depending on the strain, some could produce excess histamine, which is responsible for some of the allergic and flu-like symptoms we often feel when being exposed to certain allergens. So it’s important that you get help from the best probiotics for histamine intolerance on the market. Make sure that you choose the strain wisely and only choose those that suppress histamine production if you don’t want to deal with the unpleasant side effects.
Now that you understand the importance of good gut health, you can start taking the steps to restore it. Make sure that you make the adjustments necessary to maintain your gut’s optimal health and consider supplementation if the situation calls for it.
