The Effects of An Unhealthy Lifestyle on Your Gut
Did you know that your lifestyle and habits can play one of the biggest roles in the health of your body? Yes, you heard that right. The choices you make on a daily basis, the way you choose to live your life and habits you have created are actually one of the biggest contributors to the general wellness of your entire body.
It’s so important to understand the weight of your lifestyle choices and how they can impact your overall health, and I’m going to share more about that. Stay with me to find out the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle on YOUR gut and also how you can take your health into your own hands by creating healthy habits.
Today in our society there are so many more people experiencing symptoms of illness than not. Experts across the board and the population as a whole are constantly searching for reasons WHY we are all battling so many illnesses in comparison to the generations before us. There are new developments in medications and treatments that can help to treat most of these all-too-prevalent diagnoses, but most of them are overlooking some of the most important influences of the body’s health; your habits and lifestyle choices. Believe it or not, so much of what is happening within us is a result of the things we are choosing to do or NOT do in our day-to-day life. The good news about that truth, however, is that you have so much control in healing your body through making positive and healthy choices and creating habits that can help you so much more deeply than other traditional medications.
The Root Cause of the Root Cause
There are so many ways that our bodies are screaming at us to pay attention and get help in healing – gastrointestinal issues, skin problems, joint pain, anxiety or other mood disorders…and the list goes on. Of course, there are diagnoses that explain why your body is reacting the way it is and several different options for “treatment”. But it’s so important to truly look into your system and find the center of the problem, so that you can heal it right at the source. As a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, I focus a lot on your diet and different supplement protocols that will encourage your healing, but what many people don’t realize until working with me, is the importance of your choices and external variables on your body.
We all want to find the cause of our suffering so we can heal or fix it - and I am here to help with that. But what is most shocking to most of my clients is that almost all of the “root causes” or diagnoses share the same “root causes” that got them there. The beauty of this truth and the shared contributing factors, is that you can truly be in the driver’s seat of your healing and take the initiative in making changes for the benefit of your overall health. That’s not to say that it will be easy by any means (old habits die hard, am I right?) But it is definitely attainable slowly but surely, and it is always worth it.
Unhealthy Habits that Hurt Your Gut
Okay, so I’ve explained a little bit about how your lifestyle choices play a role in your overall health and gut health, but I think it’s even more important to emphasize and explain what those significant habits and choices are. There are six primary areas that play the most significant role in your health. What you choose to do or not do in those areas can be the difference between active disease or not.
Diet & Nutrition
This is a primary focus of most nutritional health specialists and one that a lot of people in the medical world are still sleeping on unfortunately. By just changing your diet and focusing on your nutrition, you can heal several illnesses and significantly reduce your risk of serious diseases. The World Health Organization stated that, “at least 80 percent of all heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes and up to 40 percent of cancer could be prevented through a healthy diet.” With a shift and intention in the food you are putting into your body, you could drastically change your health. That’s not to say it is easy, by any means – especially in our society. Unfortunately, the food that is the very best for you (clean and organic) is the most expensive and the least accessible. It is also the least emphasized in all of the marketing and media sources. Here’s a harsh truth: the world we live in wants to keep you unhealthy through the food they push on you, so that you are more likely to need the pharmaceutical treatments that make them the most money. There, I said it.
A good, healthy diet goes beyond “clean eating”. What is the best diet for your sister, is not necessarily the best for you. That’s why it is SO important to look deeper into your own personal gastrointestinal make-up through testing and find out what food sensitivities you have, what you should avoid eating and what you should eat more of. The most exciting thing is that GI map testing is now something I offer in my practice and I’m so eager to help my clients get to the bottom of their diet and what foods are causing inflammatory symptoms. Continue reading about Diet and Nutrition: The Foundation of Gut Health by clicking THIS link.
2. Alcohol Use
This is a big one. It can be hard to wrap your mind around the fact that alcohol is not your best friend, especially when you aren’t an addict or suffering from an alcohol abuse issue. The reality is that alcohol in any capacity is not good for you at all. Whether you’re a nightly drinker or someone that just chooses to indulge socially, what you’re putting into your body is poison, for a lack of better words, and the impact it has on your body is significant. Aside from the headache, lethargy, hangover and overall yucky feeling you may experience after drinking, it can cause so much more damage that you don’t necessarily see instantly. Alcohol consumption leads to leaky gut, decreases gut absorption and increases the production of bile in the liver – which all can lead to excessive diarrhea, bacterial overgrowth, heartburn and so much more.
Unfortunately for all of us, alcohol is so normalized and so highly promoted in our society socially and in every other avenue that it makes it nearly impossible to avoid. There is hardly ever a gathering, event or even casual dinner that is not centered around alcohol or including alcohol as the primary beverage of choice. Eliminating this substance from your life completely or limiting your intake significantly can be a daunting and difficult task, but the benefits will not only be felt, but they will be seen in the trajectory of your health in the long run. To learn more about Alcohol Use and Its Impact on Gut Health, read more HERE.
3. Sleep Habits
The way you sleep and the health of your gut are intrinsically connected and feed off one another more than you realize. Most of us look at the importance of sleep from the lens of how you feel the next day, how productive you are able to be, how you look physically and how well your brain functions. We all know that a lack of sleep can impact all of these areas negatively, but the impact on your body goes far beyond that. Poor sleep habits can actually alter your gut microbiome and increase the level of harmful bacteria in your gut. This can lead to inflammation, digestives issues and a weakened immune system. The impact on your body from a lack of sleep can be minor, but also as severe as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
In addition to the ways poor sleep effects your gut, transversely the health of your gut then effects the way you are able to sleep. Leaky gut reduces the levels of serotonin in your brain, which very often creates problems with sleep. The gut-brain connection is profound, especially in the area of mental health and is definitely worth diving deeper into if you are struggling with any mental health struggles. It is so crucial to prioritize a healthy sleep schedule that allows you to sleep the appropriate number of hours for your current season of life. Continue looking into The Crucial Connections Between Sleep and Gut Health.
4. Stress
So many studies show that the effects of high stress levels on the body are profound. Gastrointestinal function is particularly influenced by stress. If you’re experiencing symptoms like heartburn, indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, nausea and even vomiting, it could be a direct result of high stress levels. Constant and chronic stress cause inflammation all over your body, especially in your gut, and can exacerbate symptoms of GI issues such as leaky gut, IBS, SIBO, GERD and so many others.
You might see this one and laugh to yourself and trust me, I completely understand why. As we reach adulthood, there are inherent stressors that we face and can’t necessarily avoid. There is job stress (which is seen across the board), family and relationship stress, school stress, financial stress, and so many others. Of course, in an ideal world, we would all live a balanced and peaceful life with very minimal stress. But given what is expected of us in this fast-paced world, that isn’t always attainable. If you can’t reduce the stress in your world significantly, there are ways you can encourage your body to feel less stressed in the face of it all. Practicing self-care in ways such as movement, meditation, breathing exercises, being outdoors, rest or any other activities that reduce stress for you personally are all extremely important. Read more about The Effects of Stress on Your Gut here.
5. Exercise & Movement
In a recent study, researchers found that participants who followed a consistent fitness regimen improved the healthy microbes in their gut significantly after just six weeks! However, they found that the gut quickly reverted back to its prior state after another six weeks of sedentary behavior. Research also shows that “exercise increases the growth of specific types of bacteria that help improve brain function, as well as other types of bacteria that may help decrease anxiety and depression.” This is just more evidence that displays the profound connection between gut health and mental health – a connection often not made by professionals or the general population.
In its ability to alter the gut microbiome, consistent exercise can reduce inflammation in the gut and body and boost your immune system. So, while it can be really difficult to commit to a new exercise routine, especially after a duration of not being active, the health benefits are huge and worth the investment of time and effort. If you’re struggling to get into a groove of exercise, my advice would be to start small and start in a way that you can easily maintain. If you bite off more than you can chew, so to speak, you aren’t as likely to commit long-term. Begin with a short daily walk and progress to running, or start with an intro to yoga and progress from there. It doesn’t have to be intense exercise right away. Give yourself grace. Find out even more in another blog The Power of Exercise and Movement on Gut Health.
6. Past or Current Use of Medications
Like I said earlier, we live in a culture that promotes the use of medication for almost all ailments. Antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs are thrown around like candy, just to name a few. In fact, currently nearly 70% of Americans are on at least one prescription drug and more than half take two, researchers say. While I recognize that there is a time, place and need for pharmaceutical medications, I also recognize that there are many situations where they are not needed. The toll that prescription drugs take on your entire body and especially your gut, is significant and has long-lasting negative effects. I strongly believe that medications are incredibly over-used in our society, and they are wreaking havoc on so many people’s health.
Most drugs alter the gut microbiome negatively, changing the climate of your gut completely. Antibiotics are one of the primary medications that severely damage your gut and it takes a significant amount of overhaul and healing to reverse the damages. A large majority of people have been on some sort of antibiotic treatment in their life, because they are so commonly used in childhood to treat several infections. It is so important to note that the healing from this damage is possible, and I have seen incredible improvement and healing through dietary changes, nutrition and supplement protocols. It takes commitment and intention to truly heal your gut lining and therefore your body from the damages of medications, but like any other form of healing, it is always worth it. Read my in depth blog HERE for a further deep dive into this subject.
The Importance of Changing Your Lifestyle
Hopefully through this blog you were able to gain insight into the ways your lifestyle and choices can affect your overall health. I truly believe that knowledge is the most important way to grow and heal, and it is my life’s passion to spread my knowledge with those who are open and ready to hear it. There are so many ways that you can take your healing into your own hands, and change your life just by altering your daily life in big and even small ways.
If you want someone to walk alongside you in your healing journey, collaborating to find the best path of treatment for you, I am here. I am consistently evolving in my practice to offer the best resources and options for each person and their specific needs, and I would love to chat with you and learn more about how I can help you. I am eager to share my extensive knowledge and passion for nutrition and gut health, so that you don’t have to figure it all out on your own. When you are ready to change YOUR lifestyle and work toward healing, reach out to me for a free consultation!
