Gut health is a hot topic in the health and wellness world, and for a good reason: our gut health is so important to our wellbeing. It’s great news that this topic is gaining popularity! If you’re just diving into the concept, I’ve broken it down for you with help from Health Coach Celina Semente. Celina has firsthand experience with gut health due to her challenges with Crohn’s disease. She manages her symptoms through diet and lifestyle and shares tips via her Instagram, @healthierguthappierlife.

What is your gut?

Your gut is your digestive tract, or your stomach, intestines, and colon. This is where you break down food and absorb nutrients to fuel your body. While this is the main function of the digestive tract, it has an impact on several other areas of your health.

What is gut health?

There’s an ecosystem (or microbiome) of bacteria living in your digestive tract. These bacteria can thrive or can be negatively affected depending on what you eat, your stress levels, and even how much you’re sleeping.

Why is it important?

If you don’t feed your microbiome ecosystem well, your health can take a toll. An imbalance in your gut health can impact:

Mental health: Several mental health issues can be directly or indirectly linked to gut health, with anxiety as the most common issue. New research has uncovered the existence of a gut-brain axis, or a direct connection between the gut and brain. If your gut health is off, your mental health will be off! Inversely, higher stress levels will have a negative impact on your digestive tract. You can see how this becomes a vicious cycle!
Digestive health: I know this one seems like a no-brainer. But, having an unbalanced gut can cause a slew of digestive problems like constipation, bloating, and acid reflux.
Immune health: you’ll have a harder time recovering from illnesses, and an easier time catching them.
Energy levels: you might feel sluggish, or experience sleep issues. Serotonin, the hormone that controls your mood and sleep, is created in your gut. Poor gut health can throw your serotonin levels way out of balance.
Hormone levels: aside from serotonin, gut health can affect your thyroid hormone levels, making it easier for you to gain weight.
Skin health: While you can have breakouts from poor gut health, skin issues can indicate gluten sensitivity or celiac disease. This might look like raised bumps or a rash on your body.

At this point, I bet it’s becoming clear just how crucial it is to focus on having a healthy gut. It’s hard to imagine that your gut health affects so many facets of your wellbeing! You may be surprised to find how many of your issues clear up once you get your gut health in order.

Gut health is connected to so many facets of our wellbeing. You might find things falling into place with your health once you take better care of your gut microbiome.

What can I do to improve my gut health?

Lower your stress: as I mentioned above, your stress levels have a direct impact on your gut health. Practicing some mindful stress relief will help lessen the effects on your gut.
Get plenty of exercise: research indicates that exercise increases the amount of good bacteria in your digestive tract.
Drink enough water: current guidelines are about 2.7 liters for women, and 3.7 liters for men. But, don’t feel discouraged if you’re nowhere near the recommended amount. Any increase from your current intake will be helpful!
Get some sleep. Celina says that this is so underrated when it comes to repairing a messy gut. She says you need “legit sleep”: get a restful eight hours a night!
Improve your diet. This is the biggest factor for your gut health, and it’s no surprise! The bacteria in your gut have to deal with whatever you throw on top of them. Removing inflammatory foods is a good place to start. This of course depends on your body but gluten, soy, processed foods, and alcohol can all be harsh. Celina recommends doing a food sensitivity test to uncover any inflammatory foods.
A cleanse can be helpful, but please consult your doctor first. There are lots of scientifically unfounded “cleanses” that are harmful and depending on your health, a cleanse may not be for you at all.
Bone broth can be great for your gut. Celina recommends having this first thing on an empty stomach. It’s also important to include both probiotic and prebiotic foods in your diet.

Just as poor gut health can affect so many areas of your health, there are lots of things you can do to improve it! Getting enough sleep, improving your diet, and lowering your stress are all helpful.

What’s a probiotic?

A probiotic maintains the environment in your gut, helping the bacteria thrive. You can find probiotics in food or as a supplement. If you decide to take a probiotic pill, Celina advises one that’s refrigerated to ensure it contains live cultures. Some examples of probiotic foods include yogurt, kombucha, and kimchi. Celina mentions that if you’re dealing with an inflamed gut, a probiotic may do more harm than good. If so, you should get in touch with your doctor or functional nutritionist before adding a probiotic. Se also advises being cautious with dairy yogurt as this can be inflammatory for some people. Kefir or a non-dairy probiotic yogurt might be easier to tolerate.

What’s a prebiotic?

A prebiotic is food to the bacteria in your gut. This includes produce like apples, potatoes, and mushrooms. You can find a more in-depth list of prebiotic foods here.

Where can I find more information?

There are so many resources on gut health, but Celina’s favorite book is The Inflammation Spectrum by Will Cole. This book focuses on inflammation in the body but has lots of good stuff on gut health. The book walks you through how to identify inflammation and how to fix it.

Is there anything else I should know?

While there’s a lot of good stuff out there on gut health, there’s also a lot of misinformation. Do your research, and when in doubt, speak to a medical professional who specializes in gut health.
Making changes to your body isn’t easy! Take it slow and give yourself grace. Improving your gut health can be a long and complicated journey.
Testing is important if you’re concerned about your gut health. Celina says “test, not guess!” You can do a food sensitivity test to figure out if you’re at risk of inflammation from certain foods. A wheat zoomer test checks for gluten sensitivity.
Gut health issues can be hard to diagnose. It’s important to advocate for yourself - no one else will do it for you. You know your body! Trust the process and ask questions when you speak with your healthcare providers.

Be gentle with yourself on your way to better gut health. Making changes to your health isn’t easy, and it may take some time to see the benefits.

More about Celina:

Celina has a bachelor’s in nutrition + food science and a master's in holistic health studies. She’s worked at an integrative nutrition facility for several years under Nicki Yelton.

Celina is a dog and plant mama who lives in New Jersey. She loves the outdoors, hiking, and yoga.

Why You Should Care About Gut Health