Your gut health is a key indicator to your overall wellbeing and health. There are all kinds of suggestions and products on the market today that are designed to improve gut health, but how many people actually know what that means? Having good gut health means that your body digests and processes nutrients efficiently, all while keeping the balance of the bacteria you need for proper digestion and function and eliminating the bacteria that is bad for you. Continue reading to learn how to tell if you have good gut health.
You Hold a Steady Weight
One sign of good gut health is that your weight doesn’t fluctuate without a good reason. If you make changes to your diet or your exercise routine, your weight will shift, and this is healthy. Your weight should shift in a predictable way. You should never suddenly gain a lot of weight, nor should you drop 10 pounds without any effort.
The reason that your body is able to maintain a healthy weight without these fluctuations is that it is functioning efficiently. When you eat, your carbs are used to make glucose, which is distributed throughout your body and stored as energy for your cells. Your entire system works well and you should maintain your weight. If you lose weight, it could be an indication of excess intestinal bacteria. This may take the precious nutrients before they are dispersed to your cells.
You may gain weight if your body becomes resistant to insulin or if your nutrients are being taken by bacteria, which will make you hungrier than normal. Keeping your weight without a lot of sudden changes is a sign of good gut health.
You Sleep Well and Have Energy
If you find that you sleep well at night and have sustained energy throughout the day, you likely have good gut health. The hormone that your body produces for getting a good night’s sleep is serotonin. It is actually produced in your gut. If your gut is healthy, it will produce this hormone, which will help to ensure that you sleep well at night.
You will find that you have sustained energy throughout the day because your body has an opportunity to repair and reinvigorate itself while you are sleeping. As long as you have good energy and sleep well at night, you probably have good gut health.
You Tolerate Most Foods
If you find that you can tolerate most food choices, you probably have a good gut. You might have a food allergy, which is not necessarily a sign of an unhealthy gut, but you will be able to tolerate and digest any food that you are not allergic to without a problem.
It is often said that food intolerances are caused when you don’t have good quality bacteria in the gut, and this can lead to bloating, gas, diarrhea, and other problems. In fact, you can feel as though you have food poisoning when you simply aren’t able to digest foods as well as you would like. If you are able to eat most foods without a problem, you probably have good gut health.
Having good gut health is important so that you can have a good quality of life. As with many conditions, poor gut health is often a result of not getting adequate sleep or exercise, or having too much stress in your life. You might not be eating enough nutrition to keep your body going the way it should. You can make small lifestyle changes and improve your gut health a great deal.
Having good gut health and low inflammation is essential to getting the most out of life, and if you find that you can tolerate most foods and you have enough energy to get through the day, you likely have good gut health.