The gut microbiome is the community of microbes (like bacteria and yeast) that live throughout your digestive tract. The balance of friendly vs. harmful types of these microbes influences your gut health, immune function, and mental wellness.
When the microbes in your gut are off-balance, your body produces subtle (and not-so-subtle) symptoms to warn you that it’s time to make some changes.
Jump to Key Takeaways.
1. Frequent Bloating or Gas
It’s normal to experience bloating occasionally, especially after eating certain foods. For example, high-FODMAP foods—those high in certain carbohydrates known as fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols—contain fructans that are broken down in the colon.
When harmful bacteria or yeast overpopulate the gut, they over-ferment the food in your intestines, creating excess gas. The excess gas can cause a firm, uncomfortable feeling in your belly, sometimes accompanied by audible rumbling, visible distension (swelling), and gas that may be difficult to hide.
Frequently experiencing gas and discomfort after eating could signal an imbalanced microbiome. These symptoms are common with a condition known as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).
2. Chronic Constipation or Diarrhea
Your bathroom habits are a good indicator of your gut health. Most healthy people should have regular bowel movements, defined as at least once per day. The consistency of your stool (poop) can also give you clues about your gut health.
While occasional constipation or diarrhea are normal, ongoing bowel irregularities are not and can lead to:
- Chronic constipation, defined as infrequent stools three or fewer times per week, may result from a lack of fiber or sluggish gut motility.
- Frequent diarrhea, three or more watery bowel movements per day, might indicate inflammation or poor nutrient absorption due to damaged gut lining.
3. Persistent Fatigue
You should not ignore ongoing fatigue. While persistent tiredness isn’t always a sign of gut problems, it could be.
When your gut is not functioning at its best, it can impair your ability to absorb key nutrients like iron, magnesium, and B vitamins, which are essential for energy production.
Plus, inflammation and a disruption in your gut-brain axis (the communication network between your gut and central nervous system) can interfere with your sleep cycle, leaving you tired no matter how much rest you get.
Furthermore, research shows that a deficiency in gut germs that produce butyrate (a short-chain fatty acid central to the health of the gut-brain axis) can cause fatigue.
4. Unexplained Weight Changes
Significant unintentional weight changes in either direction could be related to gut imbalances.
For instance, some bacteria might influence how your body stores fat, regulate your appetite hormones (like leptin and ghrelin), and regulate your blood sugar levels.
5. Skin Rashes
Skin rashes may be associated with gut inflammation and an imbalance of gut bacteria, called dysbiosis. When the integrity of your gut barrier is compromised, this can trigger a systemic inflammation that shows up on your skin.
6. Frequent Infections or Illness
Your gut houses 70% to 80% of your immune cells. This means that when your gut is unhealthy, it can negatively affect your immune function.
Over time, this might make you more vulnerable to harmful germs that cause colds and infections, leading to slower recovery times. If you feel like you can’t catch a break with sickness, it could be the result of poor gut health.
7. Brain Fog or Mood Swings
The gut-brain axis indicates a bidirectional relationship between gut health and mental health. Suddenly feeling more anxious, irritable, down, or “foggy” could be related to poor sleep or excess stress, but it might also be related to your gut.
Around 95% of serotonin, a brain chemical referred to as the “feel-good chemical” that’s related to emotional regulation, is produced in the gut. A gut microbiome imbalance could manifest as mental health effects.
8. Bad Breath or Coated Tongue
Bad breath (called halitosis) can indicate that your gut microbiome is off. If you notice unusually bad breath or have a white-coated tongue that’s not the result of oral hygiene, it might be gut-related.
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections are a type of gastric infection associated with these symptoms.
An overgrowth of yeast in the mouth could also lead to foul-smelling byproducts that make their way out through your breath. An unhealthy gut can also cause sluggish digestion, which could impact food fermentation in the gut and cause bad breath.
9. Sugar Cravings and Poor Appetite Control
Certain bacteria thrive on sugar, so when they dominate your gut, this might trigger more sugary cravings.
Gut health imbalances can also affect your appetite-regulating hormones, leaving you less satisfied and possibly eating more than you intended.
How to Restore Your Gut Health
If you checked off boxes in your head while reading this, start by taking inventory of your current habits and how they might influence your gut health.
Some things that can help support a healthy gut include:
- Eat more fiber: You can find fiber in plant foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes (peas, beans, and lentils), nuts, seeds, and whole grains.
- Reduce ultra-processed food intake: Highly processed foods and drinks like donuts, pastries, bacon, and soda are high in added sugar, sodium, and unhealthy fats, and linked to unhealthy gut changes.
- Improve your sleep: Aim to get seven to nine hours of consistent rest per night to promote healthy gut bacteria diversity.
- Manage your stress: Engage in calming practices like meditation, yoga, nature walks, and creative outlets.
- Move your body: Get physical activity by doing things you enjoy, like jogging, playing tennis, swimming, weight lifting, or biking.
- Limit antibiotic use: Antibiotics can be necessary sometimes, but it’s important to limit unnecessary use or overuse, as this can promote an ongoing imbalance of your good gut bacteria.
Most importantly, consult your healthcare provider if you’re experiencing gut health issues or those you may not be aware are related to gut health and are not sure what’s causing them or what to do.
Key Takeaways
- Your gut microbiome plays a critical role in how you feel, and when things are imbalanced, they can manifest as physical, emotional, and mental symptoms.
- If you think you’re dealing with an unhealthy gut, minor changes to your everyday habits may help you get things back in alignment.
- Improvements often happen through dietary changes, better sleep, and stress management, but it can also be helpful to speak with a healthcare provider.
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