People often neglect their gut health, and the consequences can be more severe than they might think. A healthy digestive system will help you feel more energized, sleep better, and have a stronger immune system. There are many ways to improve your gut health, including eating probiotic-rich foods or taking herbal antimicrobials. At Knox Wellness Experience in Knoxville, TN, we offer different treatment options for a healthy gut.
How Can You Improve Your Gut Health?
Understand What Gut System Is
The gut system is responsible for absorbing nutrients from our food and distributing them throughout the body. This process starts in the mouth, where enzymes are secreted to break down carbohydrates into sugars that can be absorbed by cells and tissues. The stomach then further breaks down this food into tiny particles called chyme.
Chyme enters the small intestine before heading off to the large intestine or colon for final processing. It’s important to keep your gut system as healthy as possible because it touches almost every other part of your well-being.
Ways to Improve Gut Health
There’re many ways to improve your gut system, but it’s important that you work closely with us so we can recommend therapies most suitable for treating your condition. That said, some of the most effective treatments include taking enzyme supplements, herbal antimicrobials, and dietary supplements.
Dietary supplements are vitamin and mineral formulations that can be beneficial in improving digestive functions. They promote healthy gut flora by providing microorganisms the right nutrients to grow strong colonies within your intestines. Some popular dietary supplements include probiotics, prebiotics, omega-rich oils, and vitamins. Let’s discuss these treatment options in detail:
Probiotics
Probiotics refer to live microorganisms that provide the human body with several benefits, such as improved digestion and nutrient absorption. They are also helpful in reducing bloating, boosting immunity against harmful bacteria, and reducing inflammation of various organs like the stomach lining. There are different forms of bacterial cultures that can be introduced to the body. For example, you can choose from dairy-based probiotics or plant-derived supplements.
Herbal Antimicrobials
Herbal antimicrobials refer to natural substances derived from plants that have antimicrobial properties. These herbs help remove bad bacteria and parasites that cause stomach problems like bloating, gas, or constipation while promoting good gut microbes over these harmful ones. One class of herbal antimicrobials includes berberine-rich herbs like goldenseal root extract, barberry bark, or Oregon grape root. An alternative class of antimicrobials includes garlic, thyme, and oregano.
Enzyme Supplements
Enzyme supplements are typically used to reduce the symptoms of gas, bloating, constipation, or heartburn. They contain an amylase enzyme that breaks down carbohydrate molecules into smaller sugar particles that can be more easily digested and absorbed by your body cells. Amylase is also found in many food sources like bananas, dates, and figs, but the amount present in these foods may not always meet our daily needs.
Another popular enzyme supplement is bromelain extract derived from the pineapple stem. It can help increase the body’s antioxidant capacity by reducing oxidative stress.
Antioxidant Supplements
Antioxidant supplements help protect our cells from free radical damage. They do this by reducing oxidative stress caused when the body is exposed to harmful substances like pollution or cigarette smoke or when it struggles to cope with disease-causing agents present inside the gut system. Some antioxidant supplements include vitamin C and E, green tea extract, and Coenzyme Q-complex.
Importance of Gut Health
There are numerous reasons why our digestive system needs proper care and maintenance to function at its best. Let’s discuss the benefits of a functional digestive system in detail:
Protect Against Chronic Disease
People with a functional digestive system are less likely to develop chronic conditions like heart disease, obesity, and type-II diabetes. This happens because a healthy gut system can properly digest the food we eat every day into smaller particles that get absorbed by our cells without any hindrance. If your digestion is not working as it should be, you’ll have problems absorbing nutrients from your diet, which further weakens your immune responses over time.
Enhanced Immune Response
A healthy gut system can help boost your immune responses when you’re exposed to pathogens. It does this by strengthening the intestinal lining and encouraging the proliferation of good bacteria in large colonies within your intestines. The beneficial microbes that reside inside a well-nourished digestive tract are able to outcompete pathogenic or harmful microorganisms for nutrients, space, and attachment sites on the intestinal walls. This, therefore, reduces the risk of infection from these harmful invaders.
Hormone Regulation
The gut system helps regulate various hormones in the body by secreting neuroendocrine peptides. These hormone signals within our bodies fine-tune important bodily functions such as sleep, appetite, and mood. Therefore, a healthy digestive system is able to maintain optimal levels of different types of neurotransmitters that help balance mood swings and reduce the risk for heart diseases and depression.
Ability to Eliminate Toxins
People with healthy gut systems can eliminate harmful toxins quickly from their bodies. The liver is the primary detoxifying organ of the body. However, it’s mainly dependent on our bowel movements to eliminate waste products that accumulate inside us daily through food and drink consumption. People who suffer from chronic constipation or sluggish digestive function tend to develop toxic overload in their kidneys because the intestinal system can’t completely clear these disease-causing agents within a given period.
Houses Beneficial Bacteria
Our bodies are home to trillions of beneficial bacteria that help our digestive systems function properly. These microbes reside in different parts of the gut system, but they all work together for overall health and wellness. Therefore, if your body is suffering from an infection or chronic inflammation within the intestinal lining, it disturbs these helpful microorganisms, which can lead to a leaky gut syndrome over time.
Maintains Gut-Brain Communication
A healthy gut system can maintain good communication with the brain. This happens because of an extensive network of nerves lining throughout our digestive tracts, from the esophagus down to the rectum. This network allows these two organs to exchange important information about bodily needs and functions daily. The problem occurs when people suffer from functional gut disorders such as leaky gut syndrome since toxic contents can easily interfere with this delicate process over time.
Symptoms of Poor Gut Health
There’re many symptoms of a poor digestive system, such as bloating, reflux, and diarrhea. Let’s discuss these symptoms in detail:
Bloating After Meals
Bloating is a common symptom when the digestive system has difficulty breaking down foods due to insufficient levels of enzymes within the body or the sluggish function of intestinal muscles responsible for peristalsis movement. Bloating happens mainly because people tend to ignore their bodies’ signals by continuing to eat until they feel full. Note, it takes time for our brains to send out satiety signals after consuming meals containing large portions of calories from fat or sugar.
Reflux and Heartburn
Reflux and heartburn are other symptoms of leaky gut syndrome that occur when acidic contents from the stomach seep back into the esophagus, thereby causing inflammation within this delicate organ. This happens mainly because of a weakened lower esophageal sphincter muscle that connects the stomach to the esophagus.
In addition, people who suffer from food intolerances such as lactose intolerance and wheat gluten sensitivity can develop acid reflux due to the uncontrolled release of gastric juices within their digestive tract following consumption of these foods.
Flatulence and Diarrhea
Flatulence and diarrhea are other common symptoms when the digestive system can’t absorb certain nutrients properly. This condition mainly occurs due to excessive fructose consumption in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The unabsorbed fructose gets fermented by intestinal bacteria, leading to gas formation within the intestines. These molecules also draw fluid from surrounding tissues into the intestine, causing loose stool or watery stools known as diarrhea.
Fatigue and Weakness
People who suffer from leaky gut syndrome face chronic fatigue and weakness because their bodies cannot absorb enough nutrients regularly. This condition mainly occurs due to nutritional deficiencies caused by the intestinal barrier losing its function over time due to excessive levels of inflammation within the digestive system.
Schedule an Appointment Today!
Gut health is crucial for everyone since it affects overall health and well-being. If you have a problematic gut system, visit us at Knox Wellness Experience in Knoxville, TN. We’re here to help you regain a healthy gut by providing the best treatment options tailored to your specific case.
