5 Signs your Gut is Not Healthy

We already know that good gut health can be one of the keys to getting healthy and strengthening your immune system – but it can also be one of your worst enemies, too.   If you would have asked me about good gut health a few years ago I would have looked at you crooked – we were just trying to keep ourselves healthy and our kids from getting sick. Little did we know just how unbalanced our lives were.

Many people may not realize that how they live and what they eat can impact the way their body responds to their overall health.  I know this because I see this almost every single day. Almost everyone I know has problems with digestion, sensitivities to certain foods, the inability to process dairy (in which case it’s not the dairy!), and more. 

The connection between your gut bacteria and your health is clear as day – when it comes to your daily health, your gut is the key ingredient.  Gut bacteria number more than 100 trillion cells, and impact our health much more than most people may even begin to realize. Your immune system is the result of good gut bacteria, while bad gut bacteria can lead to everything from eczema to nightmares, digestion problems and depression.

Not all gut bacteria are equal – one of the advantages of good gut bacteria is that you can improve your immunity, allow your body to get the vitamins it needs AND have proper digestion. But if you have bad gut bacteria, you might find yourself dealing with disparaging immunity, a host of mental problems, skin issues, and problems with digesting food that you consume each day.

Is your Gut Balanced?

Finding out if your gut is off kilter isn’t exactly easy – you can’t take a test, or poke a thermometer in your tummy, and you can’t exactly take a peek inside at any given time to see what’s going on. 

But there are a few things you can look for to help you determine if you need to work on your gut to improve your health.

Digestion

When your gut bacteria is out of whack, one of the first things that is affected is your digestion. Many people may take antacids to help combat their digestive problem – though those over the counter medicines don’t address the real cause of the problem and instead just mask over symptoms. They do create a loyal customer.. but that’s about it.

If you have a gut that’s off kilter you may struggle with other problems that correlate to digestive problems .. like irritable bowel, gas, and constipation.

Mineral Deficiencies

A healthy gut is important in helping your body make vitamins (D, A, K, B12) and minerals more bioavailable to your body. When your gut bacteria is off kilter, your body has a hard time absorbing those vitamins and minerals, leading you to cavities, and lackluster skin and hair.

A deficiency in magnesium may lead you to experience constant headaches and migraines, and make you feel sluggish during the day.

Antibiotics

While antibiotics do have their place in traditional healthcare, all too often they are relied upon for far too many problems that dietary and lifestyle changes can fix first.  The U.S. uses antibiotics on factory farmed animals (all that inexpensive grocery store meat), and they are often times relied upon for infections and prescribed by a doctor (which is useless). 

They do have their place – but one of the worst things about antibiotics is that they wipe out ALL the bacteria in your gut – whether it be good OR bad. Unless you are taking a probiotic with that antibiotic, they can have some profound effects. Even if you are taking a probiotic with your antibiotic, you may still have to deal with the after effects for several weeks, or even months.

(A great alternative is essential oils – we rely on Vitality Essential Oils as an alternative  – in a veggie capsule, essential oils do not disturb the good gut bacteria – only the bad… which helps support immunity).

Skin Problems

For many skin problems, it’s not the skin itself – they are more than often the result of unbalanced gut bacteria.  Not all skin issues will appear in the same spot as the skin condition – things like acne, eczema, and rosacea are all the result of gut bacteria that is unbalanced.

I used to struggle with horrible acne for years ~ I was on erythromycin in addition to several other prescriptions. Over time, I stopped the medicine, and cut processed dairy. I adopted raw dairy (which is entirely different than processed), and eliminated coffee, tea, sweet tea, and soda and saw wonderful results.  Instead of processed factory farmed meat, we opt for pastured beef and chicken (in small amounts), and skincare products that we make ourselves with essential oils in addition to using the vitality oils for dietary use. My skin has transformed completely.

Ten years ago I used to wear heavy cosmetics to cover the problems I had with my skin – and now, you won’t be able to find ANY cosmetics in my house as I have ditched them completely.

Autoimmune Disease

I know firsthand that an imbalance in your gut can lead to autoimmune disease – because my husband is a testament to that. It was tough to spot the source of the problem several years ago, but his health has improved drastically.

You may think that your eating habits are not cause for concern, but if you are dealing with IBS, rheumatoid arthritis or Hashimoto’s your gut IS off balance – thus, the body is attacking itself making the problems hard to manage.

Unfortunately, many people out there are eating in a way that is causing their demise – destroying their good gut bacteria, causing the bad bacteria to multiply, and therefore destroy their gut lining. 

They may not even realize they are doing it.

Improving your gut health can be done a variety of ways – to strengthen your gut and reverse the damage, you need to take several steps in the right direction:

• Eliminate processed dairy (Raw Dairy is OK and is encouraged!)
• Eliminate processed foods – which contain a high amount of sugar.
• Cut back on grains and refined sugars.
• Eliminate unhealthy oils.
• Cut out coffee, and soda – look for healthy coffee alternatives and instead of soda, drink water.
• It’s also a good idea to avoid pesticides and herbicides

Instead, focus on better foods:

Focus on buying local, organic produce from your local farmer’s market and find a source of raw milk. Many people who are lactose intolerant or can’t drink milk may not realize that they are not affected by the dairy itself, but affected by what has been “done” to the milk. It’s important to avoid processed milk as the processing does make it difficult to digest.

Eat fermented foods like sauerkraut and non-pasteurized kefir (how to make your own HERE)

Take a probiotic supplement (8 billion dose) and avoid bargain-bin type probiotic supplements (cost does matter)

Manage your stress levels – stress leads to inflammation and raises cortisol levels, affecting the gut). Essential oils can be great for this because they help reduce tension.

How you feel both physically and emotionally can rest on your gut – healthy food choices are essential for ensuring better chances at your health long term.