10 Causes of an Unhealthy Gut

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You may not realise you have an unhealthy gut, but if you’re often unwell and you feel generally low most of the time, there’s a good chance your gut isn’t in the best of condition. You might think you’ve just got another infection … or you’re just a little over-tired … or you’re just under the weather. Before you reach for the medicine bottle, take a good look at your dietary habits and your state of mind.

It’s a fact that most of us, these days, live life in the fast lane – and not in a good way. We’re trying to get it all done, and right now, all at once. We want it all, and we want it now. We’re rushing to do things and to learn things and to fill the hours of the day with top-level productivity in all kinds of ways, when in fact all we’re doing, very often, is running ourselves into the ground.

We try to hold down a career and learn new things and keep up with the news and get to the gym and see to the kids and … and … and it goes on and on. Sometimes, it seems, we barely stop long enough to breathe. And that’s not good. Breathing, on a regular basis, is highly recommended if you want to create and maintain a good standard of health. Not breathing, for any length of time … well, that can be really troublesome, as any doctor will attest 🙁

If you suspect the root cause of much of your current ill health is an unhealthy gut, check out these signs and see which ones you can lay claim to.

  1. Falling for every infection that’s going
  2. Sugar cravings
  3. Irregular sleep pattern
  4. Overwhelming fatigue for no obvious reason
  5. Feeling depressed and moody
  6. Feeling anxious for no obvious reason
  7. Stomach upsets, e.g. bloating, gas or diarrhoea
  8. Skin problems such as eczema
  9. Bad breath
  10. Changes in your bowel habits

Let’s take a closer look …

Prone to every infection going around

This is often the result of a poor diet, one lacking in essential nutrients. A healthy diet, including a good variety of vegetables and fruits, can boost your good bacteria. This, in turn, will help to give your immune system a much-needed boost.

Sugar cravings run riot

A diet high in processed foods, ready meals and lots of refined sugars can be encouraging the bad gut bacteria to multiply and thrive. And the bad news is, the more sugar you take on board, the more you’ll be feeding those bad bacteria.

sugar addict

Allowing those bad bacteria to thrive is a dangerous game, since they can start to feast on your gut wall. Sooner or later they’ll start to find their way into your bloodstream, which is likely to lead to inflammation here and there in your body. Inflammation that has been linked to several chronic diseases, including cancer.

So take the sugar cravings seriously; it’s not just about the dangers of gaining weight, it might actually be making you ill, and potentially very ill indeed.

Insomnia, or a generally poor sleep pattern

Poor sleeping habits and gastrointestinal disorders are undoubtedly linked; this has been shown in many studies. Dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome, reflux, they’ve all been shown to result in trouble getting a good night’s sleep. Or should that be the other way around?

Despite extensive research it’s still not clear whether poor sleeping habits cause GI disorders or the reverse, but the link is clear. People suffering with insomnia report far more GI problems (some studies put the difference as high as over 30% compared to less than 10% for those who sleep well).

If your sleeping habits are more chaotic than regular and you’re suffering the symptoms of an unhealthy gut, it’s time to take your sleeping habits more seriously.