Mastering the Microbiome: Your Path to Vibrant Health
Your Gut Microbiome Plays A Central Role In All Bodily Functions
Health means many things to many people. For us, it’s about using food to create the quality of life you want with programs designed to meet your health needs and goals. And for that, the key to healthy living starts in your gut.
Your gut microbiome is often thought of as your body’s second brain. Similar to how your brain plays a central role in all bodily functions, cutting-edge research is revealing that your gut microbiome plays an equally central and complementary role in most bodily functions. =
The resilience of your microbiome is tied to your digestive, immune system, mental, hormonal, and musculoskeletal health. The healthier your gut, the better you’ll focus, perform, sleep, and feel. Read on to discover the basics of gut health and common symptoms of an unbalanced gut microbiome.
GUT HEALTH BASICS
When we talk about your “gut,” we’re referring to your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. While your stomach and small intestine have some gut microbiota, most of your gut microbiome is based in your large intestine, which is made up of microorganisms that float around and are attached to the inner linings of your intestines.
These microbiota support the absorption of nutrients, the production of vitamins, and the strengthening and support of your immune system. Whatever you eat, they’re eating too, and that then fuels and supports your body.
Your daily diet shifts the chemistry of your gut. When you eat meals full of nutrients, probiotics, and vitamins, you’re stocking your gut up with the necessary components to support gut and full-body health. Conversely, sugar and processed foods are known to be inflammatory and hurt gut function. If you’re not feeling great, start feeding and fueling your gut microbiome with nutrients and vitamins. You feel how you eat.
Beyond trying to eat nutrient and vitamin-dense meals, everyone has specific and unique reactions to a variety of foods. These reactions are determined by the microbes in your gut and your genetic predispositions. By listening to your body and adjusting a few core components of your diet, you can make adjustments to your diet to optimize your gut health to feel good and look great. Through intentional and optimized nutritional programs you can discover what’s best for your gut and overall health.
COMMON SYMPTOMS OF AN UNBALANCED GUT
When your gut’s out of balance, you’ll see the resulting symptoms body-wide. Common symptoms of an unbalanced gut microbiome include both the obvious: bloating, IBS, and GI issues and the seemingly less obvious such as fatigue, skin health, brain fog, and hormonal imbalances. Your gut is truly the first defense for a variety of vectors of health.
Gut Health & Your GI Track
Poor gut health often reveals itself through common GI issues, which can bloating, IBS, irregular bowel movements, gas, stomach pain, constipation, diarrhea, or burping. If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, your first move should be to see how you might be able to improve your gut health.
By changing what you’re eating and what your microbiome is absorbing, you can restore your gut balance and hopefully relieve some GI stress.
Your Heart-Gut Connection
Unsurprisingly, the health of your gut can also impact heart health. A healthy gut promotes low inflammation, which keeps metabolic processes working as they should. When your microbiome’s out of balance, inflammation often occurs. As you likely know, inflammation slows and impairs lipid metabolism and metabolic health, which likewise, negatively impacts heart health. Similarly, poor gut health can be revealed through hormonal and vascular problems.
Your Gut, Your Brain
Along with supporting GI and heart health, researchers believe that the state of your gut impacts the health of your brain. A healthy microbiome can impact your mood, emotional regulation, and how your brain processes sensorial information, such as sight, sound, flavor, and texture.
Similarly, the health of your gut impacts your hormonal balance and an imbalanced gut can often lead to mood swings, difficulty focusing, or other cognitive frustrations, such as brain fog. They call the gut your “second brain,” and the balance of bacteria in your gut can truly make a difference in the functioning of your brain!
Researchers also have an inkling that your gut microbiome balance may play a role in conditions such as anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and autism spectrum disorder. By minding what you eat, you also can mind your mind.
Your Immune System: Skin, Muscle, and Joints
The same complexities that lead to hormonal imbalances and all their downstream effects, can also lead to skin reactions, muscle pain, and achy joints, which are often signs of an overactive immune system.
As mentioned, the nutrients your gut microbiome absorbs have a direct impact on the functioning of your body and its systems. Your immune system is one of those systems; upwards of 70% of your immune system sits just outside your gut. If your gut’s not doing great, your immune system will be impacted. That immune response often shows up as inflammation, and ultimately skin, muscle, or joint disturbances.
GUT HEALTH IS WHOLE-BODY HEALTH
When your gut health is dialed in, you’ll feel and perform better. You are both mentally and physically more resilient against potential health setbacks and symptoms. And when your gut is imbalanced, it can impact all areas of your well-being from cognitive ability to physical health to biological functions.
TLDR: Your gut is too important to ignore. Let’s start paying attention together.
At Bala, our priority is to simplify and level up your gut health so you can perform at your best and have control over your body and your health. Whether you’re looking for a quick 2-week reset with our Essentials Reboot, or a six-week reboot and reintroduction of food with our Pro System, our personalized programs are built with you and your gut in mind.
Learn more about how our personalized, nutrition-based, science-backed Bala solutions can change your whole-body health with simple tweaks to your diet.