If you’re looking for a good way to stabilize your weight, it’s time to take a close interest in how to improve gut health naturally. They’re connected! More and more research is coming out that suggests a strong link between gut health and weight.
So, whether you’re trying to lose weight, gain weight, or stabilize your weight, the balance of those tiny organisms that make up your gut microbiome can either help you or oppose you.
Did you know that your body contains significantly more microbial cells than human cells? And that most of these microbes are located in your intestines? Don’t worry! This is natural. It’s not only natural; these microbes play crucial roles in your health, such as
- modulating your immune response,
- regulating your blood sugar and cholesterol levels,
- creating energy, and
- producing specific vitamins like Vitamin K.
Fun fact: Apparently a 154-pound man contains around 40 trillion microbial cells and only 30 trillion human cells.
What Does Improving Your Gut Health Naturally Have to Do With Weight?
The answer is that gut microbes affect how your body absorbs food. Let’s look how this happens.
As food passes through the intestine, it absorbs nutrients through its walls and then transports them to their final destinations. The number and balance of healthy gut microbes – and even the amount of unhealthy microbes – may affect what nutrients your body absorbs. It may also affect how energy is stored in your body.
More than one study (for example, here and here) has involved researchers taking gut microbes out of people with obesity and placing them in mice. You may be surprised to learn that the mice gained weight! Unless the mice had a secret stash of cheese somewhere, the results of these studies suggest that gut microbes could affect weight.
Certain types of microbes also have the capacity to digest things that your body can’t on its own, like fiber. When they digest fiber, gut bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate and propionate that benefit metabolic health and could promote weight loss. Studies have shown that people who eat higher amounts of fiber tend to weigh in with lower numbers on the scale. One study found that high gut microbiome diversity, high fiber intake, and improved energy metabolism were linked to lower long-term weight gain.
Gut Microbes Affect Inflammation
Inflammation is one of the ways that your body fights infection. Typically it’s activated slowly by your immune system for that task. However, inflammation can get out of control when consuming an unhealthy diet. A diet high in fat, sugar, or calories can cause an elevation in inflammatory chemicals in your bloodstream and fat tissue. This may contribute to weight gain.
Moreover, your gut microbes play an essential role in inflammation. Some species of gut bacteria produce pro-inflammatory chemicals that cause inflammation when they pass into the blood due to a leaky gut barrier.
On the other hand, other species of intestinal bacteria may reduce inflammation and prevent weight gain by maintaining a healthy gut barrier that prevents inflammatory chemicals from passing from the gut into the bloodstream.
Gut Bacteria Produce Chemicals That Make You Feel Hungry or Full
If you’ve been doing a deep dive into weight loss research, you know that your body produces a variety of hormones that affect your appetite. These include leptin, ghrelin, and peptide YY (PYY).
Research has shown that certain bacteria in your gut affect how much of these hormones you produce and whether you feel full or hungry.
Studies have also shown that prebiotic supplements can have a similar effect on appetite.
By now you may be asking for concrete action to improve gut health naturally after reading all about these research studies! You want to know what to do in light of all this information.
Are You Wondering How to Stabilize Your Weight By Improving Your Gut Health Naturally?
As you can guess, improving gut health naturally comes down to what you put in your body. The best way to get your gut healthy and stabilize weight is to feed the good microbes and not the bad.
Take a look at your diet. Is it packed with sugars, unhealthy fats, artificial sweeteners, and refined carbs? If the answer is yes, then it’s time to make a change. Eat a diverse range of those foods that are good for gut health like:
- Whole unrefined gluten-free grains
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Nuts and seeds
- Fermented foods
A more plant-based diet is an excellent way to make sure that your good bacteria get the variety of foods they need to thrive.
Do You Want to Lose Weight, Stabilize Your Weight, or Maintain Your Current Weight?
We can help! The solution is often to improve gut health. And one of our specialties at Nava Center is gut health. Using the GI-MAP test, we can assess your gut health and develop a personalized treatment plan with Nava’s Clinical Nutritionists and Physicians to help you uncover the root cause of chronic illness and weight instability.
How it works
The GI-MAP qPCR technology identifies the DNA of the microbes that live in your GI tract, including parasites, bacteria, fungi, and more!
Your Nava Clinical Nutritionist will interpret the results of your GI-MAP stool test. They will then work side by side with you to create a personalized treatment protocol that may include dietary and lifestyle changes, targeted supplementation, and potentially prescribed medications if necessary.
The goal of the treatment plan will be to heal your gut by addressing any gut dysfunction present based on gut infections or imbalances – thus improving your gut health naturally. It’s a great way to start stabilizing your weight.
Contact us for a consultation to get started on your journey to feeling better once and for all!