Gut health has been widely studied over the last 10 years. There is increased understanding that having a healthy gut, helps create a healthy weight, healthy immune system, and a happy person! The gut has several body parts involved, including stomach, small and large intestines. For the purposes of the newer way of looking at Gut Health, the liver, pancreas, spleen, and other abdominal organs are not often referred to as the Gut in non-medical literature, although they are very important to gut and overall health.
You have a healthy gut if you have normal nutrition, effective absorption of food, water and minerals, regular bowel movements with normal consistency. Your healthy gut should not have acid or reflux disease, enzyme deficiency or food intolerance, inflammatory states, or cancer. You should have normal gut bacteria without GI infections, (vomiting, diarrhea). You should have a healthy immune system and a normal quality of life. This includes feelings of well-being from balanced gut chemicals (serotonins) that prevent depression. You can see that gut health is more important to our entire system than we have previously thought!
How can you get a healthy gut? That is a million-dollar question, literally! Most people that are studying gut health, also try to sell books and supplements to improve your gut health and their pocketbook. There are some very good recommendations, however, that can help you improve your gut health without breaking the bank.
Common sense recommendations include following a low fat, low sugar diet. Focus on high vegetable diet with moderate protein, including red meat (you need minerals found in meat for your gut). Abstain from tobacco. Avoid NSAID, anti-inflammatory drugs, like ibuprofen or Aleve. Do not take antibiotics unless absolutely necessary. If you do have to take antibiotics, add in probiotics (found in yogurt and supplements), to add back good bacteria to the gut. Exercise, and focus on good sleep and stress reduction. If your gut is unhealthy and you have concerns, please see your medical provider to discuss a diagnosis and treatment plan to improve your Gut and Overall Health.
Reference is Bischoff, BMC Med