Digestive complaints are super common. Thankfully, they are often transient and get better with a few simple tricks and careful nurturing. Here we look at what a balanced gut looks like, why it matters, how to spot what’s normal and when to check in.
Your Outside Starts Inside – Happy Gut, Happy Body
Having a healthy gut is incredibly important for maintaining your health on many fronts. It can play a vital role in your physical, but also mental and emotional health.
A healthy gut is home to the gastrointestinal or ‘gut flora’ (also knowns as the ‘bowel’ or ‘intestinal flora’) which is a highly complex ecosystem. Also called the ‘microbiome’ or ‘microbiota’, it contains up to 100 trillion microorganisms that form a diverse and dynamic collection of bacteria, fungi and viruses. Together, they maintain a delicate balance between friendly or ‘good’ bacteria – which are essential for gut health – and unfriendly or ‘bad’ bacteria that may be harmful to your health but are normally kept in check.
Apart from this, the gut flora plays many other critical roles in the body; it controls digestion, the extraction of energy and nutrients from food, the regulation of the immune system, and in-body production of essential vitamins (B and K) as well as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). SCFAs are important substances that have anti-inflammatory and immune- promoting effects, and which strengthen the protective barrier of the gut.
A healthy gut flora is therefore essential for overall health, and this makes looking after your gut health ever so important.
When the Gut is Out of Balance – Dysbiosis
There are a few factors that may upset the delicate balance within or gut; for example:
- An imbalance in the richness and number of different types of microorganisms (diversity) – many different microbes are generally better than too few.
- An imbalance in the evenness of different types of microorganisms (composition) – normally different types are present in balanced numbers, but sometimes more harmful ones, are overrepresented which can lead to an overgrowth in the gut.
Why Does It Matter If I Have Dysbiosis?
When your gut flora is out of balance and dysbiosis sets in, fewer good bacteria produce SCFAs which normally have protective functions. At the same time, there are more ‘bad’ bacteria. Along with this, the normally protective gut barrier may become somewhat permeable and therefore cannot fully prevent toxins and harmful bacteria from enter the bloodstream. Once in the blood stream, they can travel to many other parts of the body, such as the brain, the heart, the skin, the liver and lungs. This explains why gut dysbiosis negatively affects overall health and wellbeing.
Common Culprits
The gut microbiome evolves constantly, starting from birth. It is however vulnerable and may be disturbed by various factors throughout life. Common culprits than can lead to undesirable changes in the gut flora include:
- Advancing age and poor health status
- Western diet (highly processed foods, food additives, low fibre, etc.)
- Environmental pollutants & pesticides
- Some medications (e.g., antibiotics & antacids)
- Lack of exercise
- Poor sleep
- Stress
What’s Normal and What’s Not
How do you really know what is ‘normal’ when it comes your gut? Well, the following signs and symptoms are reliable indicators your gut is happy and healthy:
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Regular, pain-free bowel motions
- ‘Regular’ can be vastly different for every person, but it is ‘normal’ to have between three bowel motions a week to three a day, mostly daily.
- Men tend to have more bowel motions than women. For women, bowel motions can vary depending on where they are in their menstrual cycle. But overall, most bowel motions happen in the mornings, while eating can also be a trigger.
- ‘Normal’ stool (poo),
- It should be well-formed (sausage or snake-like), smooth and soft or with cracks on the surface (see type 3 and 4 on the Bristol Stool Chart below).
- They should also be easy to pass and brown.
- A ‘normal’ amount of flatulence (gas /wind) and bloating. Whilst is can be uncomfortable or embarrassing, some flatulence and bloating can be normal
- It is normal to produce 500-2,000 mL of gas per day and to pass gas from a handful of times to – on average – 15 times per day. It may be caused by normal digestion, swallowing air when eating, drinking carbonated drinks, the normal break down of food in the diet by gut bacteria, and a high fibre diet.
- Some things in the normal diet are not completely absorbed, but are fermented in the colon (large intestine) where there tend to increase gas production:
Some dietary fibre
Dietary starch
Complex carbohydrates, i.e. beans
Sugars such as sorbitol and fructose
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- Bacteria in the colon can also play an important role in gas production. Some produce gas through fermentation; others consume large amounts of gas but also release these in the form of bad-smelling methane or sulphur-containing gas.
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Healthy bowel transit time
- It generally takes about 30-40 (even up to 72) hours for ingested food to pass through the entire gastro-intestinal tract (from eating to going to the bathroom). If you have regular bowel motions, you know your bowel transit time is normal.
- Normal gut reactions to food and stress
- Generally, this means that no food sensitivities or food allergies that cause unpleasant symptoms are present.
- Good energy levels and mental clarity
- This indicates that your body is breaking down and absorbing the nutrients it needs when digesting the food you eat.
Now that you know what ‘normal’ gut health is, it’s so much easier to understand what is not normal. Many of the signs and symptoms that are ‘not normal’ are also indicative of dysbiosis. People with dysbiosis may experience symptoms such as:
- Watery stool (diarrhoea)
- Bad breath (halitosis)
- Persistent bloating
- Abdominal (tummy) pain or cramping
- Increased sensitivity to pain
- Excessive burping
- Excessive flatulence (often, loud and smelly)
- Stool colour changes (red, black, maroon or light brown)
- Mucus in the stool
- Nausea
- Fatigue
- Low mood, mood imbalances
- Food intolerances or food sensitivities
- Poor sleep
- Poor memory
If you notice these symptoms, it’s best to check in with your healthcare professional and give your gut some extra TLC.
✨In Part 2, we’ll share simple, practical ways to support your gut and restore balance.
About the Author | 📑
Hi, my name is Sandra. I am a naturopath, nutritionist and herbalist from the Sunshine Coast and am a Senior Consultant at Natural Product Centre.
I graduated 30 years ago and have worked in the health and wellness industry ever since. On a professional basis, I love being involved in the development of natural supplements, research and health writing and hope to make a positive difference to the wellbeing of all the consumers and readers I reach, directly and indirectly.
My hobbies include travelling, exploring new places and art galleries and creating my own art. I also love nothing more than spend time in nature and be surrounded by the beautiful local flora and fauna of the coast.
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