If you’re on a journey to a healthy weight, you might have asked the question, “Does gut health affect weight?” We’ll jump straight to the point…
The answer is a resounding YES!
With recent advancements in modern medicine and science, the evidence strongly supports a direct correlation between the state of your gut and your weight.
Here’s why:
Your gut is full of different types of bacteria that help communicate vital processes that influence digestion, metabolism, the storing of fat, hormone excretion, and immune support.
But, there’s a problem:
Not all bacteria are GOOD bacteria, and to make matters even more complicated, your diet and lifestyle may directly impact the amount of healthy, good gut bacteria that are in your system.
Obviously, if gut health really does affect our weight, we need to take a deeper look into this delicate relationship. In this article, we’ll dive into what makes a gut healthy plus 7 helpful tips to improve gut health for weight loss. Let’s get started!
What Is Your Gut?
Your gut is part of the digestive system. It is made up of several different organs that are collectively known as the gastrointestinal tract. These include the following:
- Mouth
- Esophagus
- Stomach
- Small intestine
- Large intestine
Along with your GI organs, your pancreas, liver, and gallbladder also assist in the digestion process.
A happy, healthy digestive system will help your body break down food to access vital nutrients and minerals that give you energy and a consistent metabolism.
So, What Happens When Your Gut Health Is Off?
That’s a great question!
Poor gut health can result in bloating, diarrhea, constipation, autoimmune diseases like fibromyalgia and diabetes, B12 deficiencies, skin issues like eczema, abdominal cramping, hormone imbalances, and yes – even weight gain.
This leads us to our next question…
How Does Gut Health Affect Weight?
All of our bodies are unique. Some of us naturally store more fat, while others have a much faster metabolism that burns calories like fire.
Here’s the good news: Not all weight gain or weight loss is unhealthy. After all, we all come from different genetic backgrounds, which makes us a variety of shapes and sizes!
Furthermore, it’s natural to gain and lose weight in different stages of our lives. For example, women commonly gain weight during menopause.
However…
If you have gained an unhealthy amount of weight and are struggling to keep it off, AND you notice symptoms of poor gut health (such as bloating, diarrhea, hormone imbalances, or autoimmune diseases), then you might be experiencing issues with your gut’s microbiome.
So, what can you do if you have an unhealthy gut?
7 Tips to Improve Gut Health for Weight Loss
Luckily, if your gut health isn’t faring so well, there is still time to replenish it. Here are 7 helpful tips to boost your gut health and help you reach your weight goals.
1. Revitalize Your Gut Microbiome
So, what makes a gut healthy?
As we mentioned earlier, a healthy gut is full of good gut bacteria, known as gut flora. In fact, biologists have recorded over 1,000 different species of bacteria in the human gut!
These bacteria are the secret to smooth digestion and a healthy gut. They break down the food, extract the energy, and help your body utilize it for the metabolic process.
Did you know that many of these good gut bacteria also help regulate your appetite? This helps us answer the ‘does gut health affect weight’ question even further. Good gut bacteria is extremely important!
Beware of Bad Gut Bacteria
Not all bacteria in the gut is good. Sometimes, we are exposed to dangerous bacteria that can actually make us really sick.
Undesirable bacteria include Salmonella, Shigella, and E. coli. Luckily, when you have a healthy microbiome (aka, a strong gut!), your body is able to detect and eliminate these bad bacteria before they cause harm.
How to Nourish the Healthy Microbiome
Good bacteria requires a stable environment to flourish. Everything you put into your body has the power to change this environment, either encouraging or destroying healthy gut flora.
With that being said, you need to know how to keep your microbiome balanced. Keep reading to discover all of the amazing tips to nourish a healthy microbiome.
2. Avoid Overly Processed Foods
One of the biggest killers of good gut bacteria are highly processed foods.
Usually these foods come in packages with a long list of ingredients that you can’t pronounce. They may also contain potentially dangerous elements such as:
- Synthetic food dyes like Red 40
- Artificial sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup
- Processed seed and vegetable oils like Crisco
Processed foods often remove all of the good, healthy nutrients in the food to make the product look a certain way.
It’s In The Dough
A classic example is white bread. The product is ultra-processed and bleached to have a texture and color that are believed to be ‘more desirable’ for the consumer.
Unfortunately, this also strips away all of the beneficial nutrients that are used to fuel the body. Instead, it is replaced by an exorbitant amount of sugar and chemical ingredients that our body doesn’t know how to process. This leads to an imbalance in the gut, often damaging the delicate microbiome and causing digestive issues like inflammation.
Instead of choosing white bread, consider multi-grain seed breads with less sugar and less hard-to-pronounce ingredients. For example, Dave’s Killer Breads are a fantastic alternative that will keep your gut balanced and happy!
3. Power Up on Probiotics
Probiotics are live microbes like bacteria and yeast that naturally benefit your body. They assist in digestion, reduce inflammation, and even boost immunity.
A couple of the most studied probiotic genuses are the Lactobacillus genus (which include the well-known L. acidophilus) and the Bifidobacterium genus. Both of these genuses are known to improve gut health.
Some foods contain these probiotic cultures naturally, including:
- Yogurt
- Raw milk
- Cottage cheese
- Miso
Alongside these foods, you can also take special probiotic supplements that contain beneficial probiotics to help with digestion and a balanced gut.
Oftentimes, it is recommended to take probiotic supplements after finishing a course of antibiotics. Antibiotics are used to kill harmful bacteria in the body; however, they also kill the good bacteria. To restore balance, it’s important to replenish your gut culture with probiotics.
4. Eat More Fermented Foods
Speaking of probiotics, a lot of fermented foods are packed full of healthy probiotics and other beneficial micronutrients.
Many cultures around the world have their own variations of fermented food. Humans have added fermented food to their diets for thousands of years because it has such a healing effect on the digestive system.
Here is a list of just a few types of fermented foods that can be found around the world:
- Kimchi
- Kefir
- Sauerkraut
- Kombucha
- Mead (made from fermented honey)
- Pickles
- Tempeh
- Sourdough bread
Yes, even beer is made from fermented food! Many of these fermented foods are easy to make at home and can even become a fun ‘science’ project for you and your family to enjoy.
5. Feed Probiotics with Prebiotics
As we already mentioned, probiotics are living microorganisms. What do most microorganisms need to survive? Nutrients, of course!
If you want to cultivate a stable microbiome, you need to nourish the good bacteria that is living inside of you. You can do this by eating foods known full of prebiotics.
Prebiotics are typically derived by plant fibers that aren’t digested and end up traveling to your lower digestive tract. They are then utilized by good bacteria to aid in the digestion process, creating useful byproducts that help balance your entire system.
Well-known prebiotics include:
- Inulin
- Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS)
- Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS)
These prebiotics are found in foods like artichokes, dandelion greens, garlic, whole oats, bananas, and apples.
6. Eat the Peel
Speaking of apples, did you know that eating fruit and vegetable peels can actually be amazing for your gut?
Fruit and vegetable peels are full of fiber, vitamins (like vitamin C), and helpful antioxidants that nourish gut bacteria. Instead of peeling your carrots, zucchini, and cucumbers, wash them thoroughly and enjoy them with their skin still on!
7. Get A Good Night’s Sleep
Sleep plays a very important role in brain function, appetite regulation, and metabolism.
With that being said, disrupted or inconsistent sleep cycles can have a negative impact on your gut. In many cases, chronic fatigue and insomnia are actually signs of poor gut health!
Some tricks to encourage better sleeping habits include:
- Avoid blue light for at least one hour before going to bed (yes, that means no doom scrolling through Instagram before bed!)
- Don’t eat too late, this will cause your digestive system to activate and you may have a hard time falling asleep
- Stop drinking caffeine in the evening
- Get in the habit of a bed-time routine that encourages you hit the hay at a similar time every night
At the end of the day, you should try to get at least 7 hours of sleep. This will help your gut more than you know!
Wondering If You Have a Healthy Gut? Get a Gut Test!
So, does gut health affect weight? Absolutely!
Without beneficial microflora naturally present in your system, you might experience slowed metabolism, a lack of energy, an unregulated appetite… and a hard time losing weight. It just goes to show how important a balanced gut really is.
If you’re wondering how to tell if your gut is healthy or not, you can actually take a gut test to determine its current state. Get in touch with one of our healthcare professionals at Synergistiq Wellness to learn how to test and improve your gut health today!