What is Gut Dysbiosis and How Can I Avoid It?
Gut dysbiosis occurs when there is an overpopulation of bad bacteria within our bodies. This imbalance can lead to fatigue, anxiety, GI discomfort, trouble with weight loss, autoimmune issues, and more. In order to feel and function optimally, your body needs a healthy balance of both your good and bad bacteria! I work with my clients using microbiome tests to detect gut dysbiosis as well as teach dietary and lifestyle methods to improve the gut composition, like adding probiotic-rich foods!
Here are some of the factors which can lead to gut dysbiosis:
Stress
Believe it or not, high stress can actually deplete your good bugs. One of the key benefits of good bacteria is its ability to lower cortisol (our stress hormone). Without abundant beneficial bacteria, our cortisol can spike leading to negative symptoms for example weight gain. Stress can also weaken the tight gut junctions and lead to ‘leaky gut’. Leaky gut is a term we use to describe when food crossed our intestinal barrier and going into our bloodstream which causes a lot of uncomfortable symptoms. Stress can also lead to GERD which stands for Gastroesophageal reflux disease. This can cause pain or burning sensation in the esophagus, nausea, vomiting, discomfort, and more.
Mindless Eating
It takes 20 minutes for the brain to register full satiety, so eating a meal in less than 20 minutes results in your body not being able to send your hunger signals and may lead you to eat more. Mindless eating can lead to overeating and weight gain so it is important to start developing habits of being more aware our your eating habits. The act of eating uses all senses (smell, touch, taste), and these senses tr
igger enzymatic processes so being in tune with our eating will improve digestion as well.
Poor Diet
High consumption of sugar, caffeine, refined carbs, processed foods, alcohol, drugs, medicine, smoking, and heavy metals can impact the health of our gut and microbiome. These foods and chemicals can lead to killing the good bacteria and also wind up feeding the bad bacteria.
Jessica Mantell M.S., C.N.S., L.D.N.
CEO & Founder of NextGeneration Nutrition
NextGeneration Nutrition believes that better health should be accessible to everyone and that we all are able to improve our health through good nutrition, physical activity, and lifestyle change. We do not support setting shame-based goals but encourages embracing our bodies, genetics, and personality. Our philosophy is abandoning the “One Size Fits All” mentality to create a personalized wellness plan based on your biological makeup and your lifestyle.
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