The gut includes our gastrointestinal system, which digests food, absorbs nutrients, and eliminates waste. Gut health refers to the balance of gut microbiome, gut immunity, and intestinal lining integrity. A healthy gut optimizes nutrient absorption, digestion, hormone balance, and immune functions. An unhealthy gut contributes to many illnesses. A gut-healing diet restores gut health [1].

This article dives into the intricacies of gut health, exploring what it means, why it matters, lifestyle factors that affect it, signs of an unhealthy gut, top foods for healing the gut, and commonly asked questions. The goal is to provide a comprehensive overview of how to heal the gut with diet and lifestyle changes.

What is a healthy gut?

A healthy gut maintains the integrity of the intestinal barrier by keeping tight junctions between cells intact. This allows for the absorption of nutrients while keeping out toxins, allergens, and undigested food particles. A healthy gut also possesses a flourishing community of symbiotic gut microbes that help digest foods, produce vitamins, and prevent the overgrowth of harmful pathogens.

What is the gut microbiome? How do they support gut health?

The gut microbiome comprises all the genetic material of the trillions of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses living in our gastrointestinal tract. A diverse gut microbiome is essential for health by supporting digestion, regulating immunity, producing hormones, extracting nutrients, preventing infection, and more. The key is balance among beneficial microbes.

Why is it necessary to have a healthy gut?

A healthy gut optimizes nutrient absorption, metabolism, hormone balance, digestion, bowel regularity, immunity, and brain functions. An unhealthy gut allows toxins, bacteria, and undigested particles into the bloodstream, triggering inflammation underlying chronic illnesses like diabetes, arthritis, obesity, skin conditions, autoimmune disorders, allergies, and even neurological conditions. Healing gut health restores overall well-being.

What lifestyle factors affect your gut health?

Diet, stress, sleep, activity level, and habits like smoking and drinking all interfere with healing gut health. Here’s why:

1. An excessive amount of stress

Chronic stress alters gut microbiome [2] balance and compromises intestinal barrier integrity, allowing bacteria and toxins to leak into the bloodstream and trigger the systemic inflammation underlying many modern diseases. Managing stress through yoga, meditation, counseling, or other techniques is key for gut health.

2. Eating a limited range of foods

Eating a narrow range of foods feeds only certain types of gut bacteria, leading to reduced microbial diversity. Aim for a diverse diet to provide an array of nutrients to support the growth of different beneficial bacteria and overall microbiome health.

3. Sleep deprivation

Lack of sufficient sleep negatively alters microbial populations and diversity in the gut microbiome and weakens immune functions. Get seven to nine hours of quality sleep nightly to enable the gut time to properly repair and rebalance.

4. Smoking cigarettes or excessive alcohol consumption

Cigarette smoking [3] and heavy alcohol consumption may irritate and damage the GI tract lining and alter the balance of microbial communities. Quitting smoking and moderating alcohol intake helps foster the growth of beneficial bacteria.

5. Lack of physical inactivity

Regular exercise enhances motility, reduces inflammation, and promotes microbial diversity in the gut. Include activities like walking, swimming, yoga, or strength training for 20 to 30 minutes daily to boost gut health.

What are the signs of an unhealthy gut?

1. Feeling tired

Chronic fatigue or low energy levels can signify inflammation, leaky gut, or improper nutrient absorption—all of which may stem from gut imbalance. Energy often rebounds as the gut heals.

2. Food intolerance

Are you suddenly reactive to foods you once easily digested? It may signal a damaged intestinal lining, an inability to digest nutrients properly, or a shift in the gut microbiome. Healing the gut restores proper digestion.

3. Unintentional weight gain or loss

Gut imbalance can impair metabolism and the absorption of carbs, fats, and proteins needed for a stable weight. As gut healing occurs, weight normalizes.

4. Skin irritations

Rashes, acne, and eczema may signal intestinal permeability, food reactions, or inflammation from a gut microbial imbalance. As the gut microbiome is brought into proper balance, skin health improves, too.

4 types of food for healing a damaged gut

1. Bone broth

Rich in collagen, glutamine, and other amino acids that heal the intestinal lining, bone broth can reduce gut inflammation and nourish good bacteria. Aim for one cup daily.

2. Fermented foods

Fermented foods [4] contain probiotics that help repopulate healthy gut bacteria. Try foods such as kefir, yogurt, kimchi, and sauerkraut. Have a few servings daily.

3. Anti-inflammatory fats

Foods like avocado, olive oil, and salmon provide omega-3s that reduce gut inflammation and intestinal permeability. Incorporate daily.

4. Gut healing supplements

Diet and probiotics should always be your first go-to step to work on gut healing. However, certain supplements can provide added support once the dietary foundation is in place.

Give supplements a short-term trial to evaluate if they improve your symptoms. If beneficial, continue use. If not, discontinue. Here are some research-backed options:

5. Digestive Enzymes

Digestive enzymes help break down carbs, fat, and protein. Low levels may cause digestive woes. For instance, lactose intolerance stems from inadequate lactase enzymes to break down dairy sugars.

Stomach acid supplementation:

  • Betaine HCl: Betaine HCl temporarily increases stomach acid for improved digestion. It should be avoided in peptic ulcers.
  • L-Glutamine: This amino acid repairs the gut lining. It may improve leaky gut, inflammation, and digestive health.
  • Nuu3 Gut Health 365: Nuu3 Gut Health 365 combines digestive enzymes and probiotics in one daily supplement to support gastrointestinal wellness. The digestive enzymes help break down food particles, while the probiotic strains promote healthy gut flora. This synergistic formula may aid digestion, ease occasional digestive discomfort, and help nurture a balanced microbiome. It’s designed to work with your body’s natural processes to optimize nutrient absorption and overall digestive function.
Gut health healthy food

What is a gut-healing diet?

A gut-healing diet provides nutrients that repair and reinforce the intestinal barrier, balance the gut microbiome, and reduce inflammation. It eliminates inflammatory and gut-irritating foods while incorporating gut-soothing and microbiome-supporting foods. Following a gut-healing diet helps resolve GI symptoms and restore total body wellness.

Why should you use a gut-healing diet?

You should adopt a gut-healing diet if you are experiencing common leaky gut symptoms like food sensitivities, IBS, autoimmunity, skin conditions, fatigue, or other chronic issues. It removes trigger foods that create leakage or inflammation and provides ingredients that seal and soothe the gut lining. For healing a leaky gut naturally, a repair-focused diet works better than a standard healthy diet alone.

Frequently asked questions

How does your gut health affect your overall well-being?

Gut health impacts nutrient absorption, digestion, inflammation levels, immune functions, mental health, and metabolism. An unhealthy gut manifests in numerous chronic illnesses, while a healthy gut prevents disease and provides total body well-being.

What’s the best gut diet?

The best gut-healing diet limits processed foods, alcohol, sugars, refined grains, and potentially irritating foods like dairy, gluten, excessive carbs, and unhealthy fats. It emphasizes whole, fiber-rich plant foods, fermented foods, collagen sources like bone broth, and anti-inflammatory fats. Personal elimination of trigger foods is also key to healing gut health.

Why does the gut microbiome vary among individuals?

Differences in age, genetics, diet, lifestyle, antibiotic use, stress levels, and environmental factors like where you live make each person’s gut microbiome unique. Even identical twins have noticeably different gut bacterial compositions. Lifestyle choices have the biggest impact on gut microbiome variation between individuals.

How does the gut microbiome respond to fasting?

During extended fasting, populations of beneficial bacteria like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria tend to decline while those of harmful bacteria and those that can feed on mucus increase. Periodic 12 to 24-hour fasts are likely fine, but prolonged fasting can negatively alter gut microbiome balance.

Conclusion

Supporting digestive health through gut-healing foods, microbiome-feeding prebiotic fibers, fermented foods, collagen sources like bone broth, stress and toxin reduction, activity, and sufficient sleep should be a lifelong effort.

When experiencing gut issues, a temporary gut healing diet helps restore total body balance by sealing and soothing the intestinal barrier and balancing the gut microbiome. Feed good gut bacteria daily through whole, varied foods and healthy lifestyle habits for lasting digestive wellness, and you should see the signs your gut is healing quite soon.