A clear look into the 5 signs that most people don’t recognize when suffering from an unhealthy gut, what gut dysbiosis is and why testing should be the first step in healing your gut health.
When working with clients to solve a certain health issue, 90% of the time that problem can be traced back to an imbalance in the gut. Thanks to our modern-day stressors, our reliance on antibiotics, and our use of alcohol and our food system it’s easy to disrupt the fragile ecosystem of our gut. There are obvious signs and symptoms that point to a gut imbalance such as boating, gas, cramping, irregular bowel movements, and belching. But there are also the less familiar symptoms that are related to gut imbalances that may surprise you.
Why gut health is important:
Gut health is beyond avoiding unwanted and debilitating symptoms. The majority of us have suffered from a digestive problem at some point in our lives and understand how uncomfortable and frustrating it is. But your gut health goes beyond that.
Your gut health is central to your overall health and is conveniently located in the center of your body to help remind us of that fact. It plays an integral role in almost every other function of our bodies. From energy levels, metabolism, mood and skin. Almost everything can be traced back to your gut. A healthy gut ensures that everything else in your body is running smoothly.
Understanding a gut imbalance and what is gut dysbiosis?
When talking about the gut, we are referring to the trillions upon trillions of bacteria that make up your gut microbiome. In a healthy gut, there is a certain ratio of beneficial probiotics and pathogenic bacteria. When our pathogenic bacteria begin to outnumber the count of beneficial bacteria it’s referred to a gut imbalance or dysbiosis.
Dysbiosis not only stops beneficial probiotics from helping your body carry out its functions at its best but it allows your pathogenic bacteria to run wild and cause damage. You’ll begin to feel the symptoms such as gastro intestinal issues, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, gas, and others that are meant to alert you that something is wrong in your digestion. But it also prevents probiotics from helping your body function at its best and causes dozens of seemly unrelated and harder to recognize issues that you wouldn’t normally think would be connected to the gut.
The 5 Sneaky Symptoms of a Gut Imbalance
1. Chronic Fatigue
No matter how much sleep you got the night before and you are still feeling tired throughout your day, you could very much be struggling with a gut imbalance. Research shows that dysbiosis can cause extreme fatigue and other sleep issues like the occasional insomnia flare-up.
Your gut microbiome directly affects your sleep/wake cycle as well as your circadian rhythm. When those are disrupted it’s inevitable that your’e going to feel tired all the time.
Tips to help with chronic fatigue:
Minimize your screen time at night
Make sure you wear blue light glasses when you working with screens during the day.
Get as much sunlight as possible throughout your day and especially first thing in the morning when you wake up (this helps reset your circadian rhythm)
2. Joint Pain
When first waking up in the morning and your feet, ankles, knees and other joints feel more achy and uncomfortable than usual, you very much could be suffering from joint pain. To relieve the pain many people assume they have fibromyalgia or arthritis and begin taking joint lubricant. But they could be dealing with dysbiosis which is closely linked to bring on joint pain. Pathogenic bacteria will provoke an immune system response like inflammation which will cause achy joints.
3. Oral Health
If you’re suffering from bad breath, constant cavities, or your tongue has developed a coating of white or yellow film. As a response people will up to brushing their teeth a third time in the day or using mouthwash more often, but it is much more likely to be related to your gut health than poor hygiene.
Over the last decade we have learned so much about the connection of our mouths have to our gut health. The dominant overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria that are contained in the gut will often produce odors like compounds that produce sulfur and ammonia that will make there way out through your mouth. It could also be very much related to yeast or fungal overgrowth.
4. Skin Problems
Rashes, dry patches, psoriasis breakouts, eczema, and any other skin annoyance may not be because you not using enough lotion but could instead be a warning to reset your gut health. Your microbiome plays a huge role in the condition of your skin and gut imbalances have been guilty as the root problem for a wide range of skin issues that include acne to rashes and even premature aging, and even burning more easily when in the sun.
5. Brain Fog
Gut imbalances have also been linked to a lot of neurological challenges such as dementia, ADHD, Alzheimer. Even the early onset symptoms of constant brain fog, and memory difficulties are symptoms of an unhealthy gut.
Uncovering the Problem with Testing
If you are struggling with all 5 of the symptoms I described there is a very strong likelihood that there is something wrong with your gut health and as a first step I would recommend testing. Testing allows an evident level of understanding of exactly what the root problem is. With these answers I will be able to create a tailored protocol that will eradicate the problem with the right diet, lifestyle changes, and supplements so you can get back to living with a healthy gut.
Without testing I can help point you in the general direction but won't be able to determine the exact root of your problems and give you a true protocol that is guaranteed to fix the problem.
Be careful of probiotics
Many people make the mistake of purchasing a pricey probiotic hoping it will help it could actually be feeding your bad bacteria. The overgrowth of bad bacteria is what is causing symptoms to worsen and persist and until we know the exact type of overgrowth is happening in your gut it’s unclear weather those probiotics are rebuilding the good bacteria or feeding the overgrowth of bad bacteria. It’s important to have help when choosing probiotics to ensure it has the with the right strains that will help your recovery process.
To understand more about what triggers gut imbalances listen to my podcast below:
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Final Thoughts
Your gut is very powerful and is connected to almost every part of your body from your mood, skin, sex hormone, and everything in between. It’s easy for the gut to become disrupted from antibiotics, stress, alcohol, refined foods, sugars and other toxins, and can have a lasting impact if not correctly repaired afterward.
In our modern world it's rather easy to have an overall breakdown in the overall health of your gut and unless you make a conscious and active effort to repair the problem you wont see an improvement. This is why I believe strongly in partnering with someone who has access to the right tests and is knowledgeable about restoring your gut health.
If you choose to work with someone who is not me I recommend working with someone who is both credible, uses research and science, and has a proven track record of success.
I hope this blog hasn't overwhelmed you but rather encourages you to take action to get to the root of the problem rather than focusing on the symptom. Instead of buying another topical treatment for your rashes or another medicine to relieve your bloating, I hope you look deeper and check into your gut health.
If you're interested in partnering with you to heal your gut be sure to look at my health coaching program and pricing here.