4 Surprising Ways Your Gut Affects You
People that suffer
from chronic digestive issues will know that having an upset tummy is not fun
at all, but the long-term effects of gut problems may be even worse than you
expected. In the past few years, science learned a lot about our digestive
system, and one of the hottest topics in medicine today is that of the gut microbiome,
meaning all the beneficial microorganisms that live in our gut and help us so
much.
Scientists all around
the world now believe that what you eat and what bacteria you promote in your
gut can affect anything from allergies
to heart disease and everything in-between.
1. An
unhealthy gut may promote heart disease.
It’s no news that heart disease is linked to high
cholesterol levels, but only recently scientists at Harvard Medical School discovered
the connection between an unhealthy gut and high blood cholesterol
levels. It was found that certain kinds of gut bacteria make your blood
vessels absorb more of the unhealthy cholesterol from the gut into your blood.
The excess cholesterol then leads to the formation of plaques in your blood
vessels and causes heart disease. It is unclear, however, which strains of
bacteria affect cholesterol absorption.
What is clear, though, is that foods rich in fiber and fiber
supplements, such as psyllium husks and flaxseeds, can lower the absorption of
the cholesterol into the blood by as much as 25%. That is why it is always a
good idea to pair fiber-rich foods with foods that are high in cholesterol,
such as red meat and eggs, or to supplement fiber if you know that your diet
contains a lot of foods high in cholesterol.
2.
Your mental health depends on your gut health.
Your intestines share some real-estate with a lot of nerve
tissues that regulate your digestion and communicate with your spine and brain.
These nerves are often referred to as the gut-brain, but the scientific term is
actually the enteric nervous system.
This gut-brain is suspected to regulate your mood and
anxiety levels by exchanging chemical signals called neurotransmitters with
your brain. In this way, what you eat and how your intestines digest food can
influence your mood.
But it also goes further than that,
as scientists now believe that an unhealthy gut and a poor diet may cause
depression and anxiety disorders. In several studies, there was a marked
improvement of anxiety and depressive symptoms after patients were administered
probiotic supplements.
Even if you don’t suffer from
anxiety or depression, you can make use of the gut and brain connection, as a 2016 review article suggests that
fermented foods (i.e. foods rich in probiotics) can increase a person’s
cognitive abilities and mood. .
3. Can
intestinal problems be a cause of obesity?
It is no secret that eating too much
will upset your digestive system and make you gain weight, but there is another
way in which a bad diet can make you overweight.
Usually, all is well and your
pituitary gland will produce just enough hormones for you to feel satiated
after a meal. But when something goes awry with your tummy, the pituitary gland
will not do its job properly and you’ll feel hungry all the time, which can
lead to obesity.
To prevent this mismatch from
happening and to heal your gut, it is necessary to consume foods rich with
probiotics, which can be found in fermented foods, such as yogurts, pickles,
and kimchi.
4. An
unhealthy intestinal tract may cause allergies.
Did you know that more than 75% of
your immune cells live in your digestive system? So, it comes as no surprise
that the foods you eat will affect your body’s ability to fight off all kinds
of germs. Together with your gut bacteria, immune cells help your body resist
infections in all of your body, and not only in the digestive system.
An example of this can be observed
if we consider allergies. It is now widely believed that a lack of beneficial
gut bacteria can make your immune cells unable to distinguish between good and
bad bacteria. When that happens, your immune system will activate to harmless
compounds and you will experience an allergic reaction.
In fact, several studies suggest
that allergic symptoms can be greatly improved by promoting gut health, such as
this clinical trial, in
which seasonal allergy sufferers were given probiotic supplements for 8 weeks,
which significantly reduced their allergy symptoms.
So, to promote the diversity of
beneficial gut bacteria and improve your gut health you will need to have a
diet rich in a variety of different foods, including but not limited to nuts
and seeds, foods rich in fiber, probiotic-rich foods, and whole grains.
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