How To Improve Your Gut Health - An Expert Guide

What is Gut Health?

The term "gut health" has become a popular buzzword that marketing professionals have discovered to promote their own self-invested interests.

To avoid negative health consequences, exercise caution when making dietary changes or intending to use gut health-promoting nutrients based on unprofessional claims.

In the scientific literature, gut health lacks a clear definition. According to Bischoff, the five major criteria that might form the basis for a positive and more objective definition of gut health include: [1]

1. The Effective Digestion and Absorption of Food

• Normal nutritional status and effective absorption of food, water and minerals

• Regular bowel movement, normal transit time and no abdominal pain

• Normal stool consistency and rare nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation and bloating

2. The Absence of Gastrointestinal Conditions

• No medically diagnosed peptic disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GORD) or other gastric or inflammatory bowel diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, or coeliac disease

• No enzyme deficiencies or carbohydrate intolerances

• No colorectal or other gastrointestinal cancer

3. A Diversity of Intestinal Microbiota

• No bacterial overgrowth

• Normal composition and vitality of the gut microbiome

• No gastrointestinal infections or antibiotic-associated diarrhoea

4. Effective Immunological Status

• Effective gastrointestinal mucosal barrier function, normal mucus production and no enhanced bacterial translocation

• Normal levels of IgA, normal numbers and normal activity of immune cells

• Immune tolerance and no allergy or mucosal hypersensitivity

5. Status of Well-Being

• Normal quality of life

• ’Qi (ch’i)’, or positive gut feeling

• Balanced serotonin production and normal function of the enteric nervous system

The Gut Barrier and Microbiome

There is overwhelming evidence that a number of diseases and stress-induced digestive dysfunction have been linked to changes in the gastrointestinal mucosal barrier and microbiome. This includes: [1]

Diseases for which the Gut Barrier plays a central role

• Infectious diarrhoea

• Inflammatory bowel disease

• Coeliac disease

• Irritable bowel syndrome

• Allergic diseases

• Autoimmune diseases and arthritis

• Obesity, fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)

• Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis in ICU patients

• Malnutrition

• Depression and anxiety

Diseases associated with changes or function of the Microbiome

• Inflammatory bowel disease

• Coeliac disease

• Irritable bowel syndrome

• Allergic diseases

• Arthritis

• Obesity

What is a Normal Bowel Habit?

The term "regular" refers to the ideal frequency of bowel movements and is an indication of healthy bowel function.

Individual bowel habits can differ from person to person, and can range from one to three movements per day, or as few as three bowel movements per week.

A soft, well-formed stool that is easy to pass is the gold standard of bowel health.

What Do Your Stools Have To Say About You?

The Bristol Stool Chart is a visual guide that describes stool appearance and consistency, and what these may reveal about your bowel health.

Stool Colour

The colour of healthy stools are shades of brown, but eating colourful foods, such as beetroot, can affect the colour of your stool.

Changes in the production of digestive enzymes and acids may also have an impact on the colour of your stools. 

However, recurring colour changes, especially when combined with digestive symptoms, may indicate a more serious digestive disorder.

Digestive Symptoms Requiring Attention

CHRONIC CONSTIPATION

Constipation is the infrequent passage of hard poop (less than once per day), which is frequently accompanied by straining, discomfort or a sense of incomplete bowel emptying.

What can factors can contribute to constipation includes inadequate fibre or fluid intake, which can slow down your bowel transit time. Bowel transit time is the amount of time it takes for your food to travel from your mouth to elimination.

Gut Dysbiosis (an imbalance in the types and levels of gut bacteria) and liver dysfunction can also influence your digestive function and affect bowel transit time.

What you can do to improve constipation is to consume more fibre-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables, and drink sufficient amounts of filtered water to remain hydrated at all times.

A prebiotic and probiotic supplement may also help with bowel regularity and relieve symptoms of medically diagnosed IBS.

DIARRHOEA

Diarrhoea is defined as having soft, loose, or watery stools more than three times per day.

Diarrhoea can be a sign of a bacterial or viral infection, such as gastroenteritis, or it can be caused by food intolerances and medications.

Inflammation of the digestive tract, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), can cause diarrhoea.

What to do? Seek help. IBS and IBD are serious conditions that require a diagnosis and treatment by a qualified healthcare professional.

MALODOROUS GAS

Malodorous gas clears the room. Your microbiome consists of a range of bacteria (38 trillion microbes!) that help in the digestion of food via the process of fermentation, particularly fibre. Imbalances in the levels of different bacterial species can lead to increased gas production with a pungent odour.

Try varying your diet and use specific probiotic strains has been shown to help restore the balance of bacteria within your microbiome.

ABDOMINAL PAIN

Abdominal pain can be described as a sharp, dull, stabbing, cramping, or twisting pain in your abdomen. Most people have occasional digestive pain, but severe digestive pain that is episodic, regular, or continuous requires further investigation.

The most common causes of abdominal pain are gas, food intolerances or allergies, or indigestion. Abdominal pain, on the other hand, can be a sign of something more serious, such as appendicitis, gallstones, ulcers, infections, kidney stones, and a variety of other conditions.

Seek the advice of a qualified healthcare professional if your digestive pain has become a pattern rather than a one-time occurrence.

Need Help Improving Your Gut Health? Request a Call Back to learn more.

DR ALAIN FRABOTTA is a highly qualified and experienced integrative chiropractor and functional medicine naturopathic doctor in Sydney since 1995.

With a specific interest in the treatment, prevention, and management of complex chronic diseases - specialising in gut health.

Alain provides a holistic, person-centred, multidisciplinary, solution-focused, results-driven approach.

He integrates chiropractic, naturopathic and functional medicine, nutrition, counselling, and coaching to help you bridge the gap between your physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Alain is the leading integrative chiropractic and functional medicine naturopathic doctor in Sydney who wants to help you achieve your health and well-being goals as well as reach your full potential in life.

He is also dedicated to providing you with a personalised, targeted treatment approach that employs functional and genomic assessments to diagnose and optimise your health, well-being, and performance.

Learn more about DR ALAIN FRABOTTA

Achieving and Maintaining Gut Health

The digestive system contributes to health in a variety of ways. There is sufficient evidence that the function of the microbiome and the gastrointestinal (GI) mucosal barrier is key to achieving and maintaining gut health. [1]

The GI mucosal barrier is complex consists of the epithelial defence and metabolic functions, the mucosal immune system and the enteric nervous system (ENS), and not just a mechanical barrier but a permeable membrane. [1]

As a result, conditions that may disrupt the intestinal microbiome and mucosal immune system should be avoided, such as a dysbiotic diet and chronic stress. [1]

Foods To Improve Gut Health

Good gut health requires a variety of fiber-rich foods that provide them with the energy they need to grow and thrive.

Prebiotics are a type of fibre found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that your digestive system cannot break down.

Fibres such as fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), inulin, and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), as well as MAC foods or resistant starches such as rolled oats, lentils, and beans, are examples of prebiotics.

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are compounds produced by microbial fermentation of prebiotic and MAC foods, which provide an environment for your microbiome to thrive while also providing additional digestive, immune, and metabolic health benefits.

Diagnosing and Testing Gut Health

The medical model is more concerned with the surgical or pharmacological treatment of specific digestive diseases rather than with the primary function of your digestive system and prevention of disease.

Diagnostic methods must assess both subjective complaints and objective parameters in order to assess gut health, including medical and functional tests using blood, salvia, and stool analysis.

This also includes conducting an extensive medical history via a conversational interview process, as well as using validated and reliable questionnaire tools to measure health-related quality of life and psychological stress.

What Next? Read: 8 Steps To Optimum Health and Well-Being

Please contact us if you are experiencing unresolved digestive problems