How Do You Actually Fix Gut Health?
Gut health is incredibly important for our overall health and the state of our gut plays a huge role in how we respond to foods and the environment, how we absorb nutrients, hormone health, our energy and mood, systemic inflammation, and so much more.
But instead of finding the root cause of gut issues, symptoms are commonly addressed with band-aid treatments.
If you have heartburn, you are prescribed an antacid (which further lowers your stomach acid levels). If you have IBS this is treated with fiber, laxatives and sometimes an antidepressant. If you have food sensitivities, you are told to remove this food … but none of these Band-Aids fix the root cause of the issue.
We have to understand why the gut got to where it is right now — what lifestyle and dietary choices led us to the current state.
But What Even Is Good Gut Health?
Given that we are all in different environments, have different pasts, eat different foods, and have different day to day activities — there is no one single way to define a ‘good’ gut health. But in general, with a properly functioning digestive system you should have …
- Daily poops (at least 1 time a day, ideally 2-3), solid structure, easy to pass. The more we can poop, the better we will feel! You should be pooping at least 1X a day.
- Minimal skin or acne issues.
- Relief from bloating or stomach discomfort after meals.
- Enjoy a wide range of food, within reason, without experiencing severe issues. You shouldn’t have to extremely restrict your food in the long run. Having a lot of food intolerances is a sign of a sluggish digestive system.
Just like every system in the body, digestion is energy dependent.
“Systemic metabolic problems make local problems worse” ~ Dr. Ray Peat
Thyroid health and energy metabolism are intimately involved since the thyroid is the metabolic regulator. In hypothyroidism there is less stomach acid and other digestive juices, so gas, slow transit time, food allergies, bloating and constipation are common.
But the good news: The lining of the gut is replaced every THREE DAYS!1 And on top of that, your gut microbiome can change within a single day based on what you eat.2
Meaning, long gut healing protocols don’t make ANY sense. This doesn’t mean you will fix your gut overnight — just sharing to motivate and encourage you that your gut can and will heal. It won’t take 1 day, but it also shouldn’t take years.
If you are still trying to fix your gut several months or years later, the approach you are taking may not be working.
How Do You Fix Gut Health?
For most individuals, I believe in a rather stand-offish approach for the gut as I believe that we should not interfere with Mother Nature. The microbiome is incredibly complex, and rather than trying to micro manipulate, I truly believe in giving her the tools and resources, and letting her do her thing.
Pooping 1-3 times a day, and giving the digestive system adequate energy and nutrients — and she will fix herself. But you have to be in a good energetic state for this to happen. There are now thousands of studies in the literature documenting the connection between digestive health and thyroid health.3
And while many of these studies are for ‘clinical’ hypothyroidism, subclinical hypothyroidism will still manifest as some sort of digestive issue, maybe not as severe, since any down regulation in systemic energy production will negatively impact digestion, a very energy intensive process.
Let’s analyze examples of how energy production and thyroid health are intimately connected to gut health:
•Gut lining health — The length and thickness of the intestinal villi, which determines the thickness, permeability and strength of the intestinal lining, is impacted by thyroid health. “In hypothyroidism, the intestinal villi were short and the intestinal wall (muscle layer) was thickened, thereby increasing intestinal tone and leading to reduced intestinal motility.”4,5
Active thyroid hormone (T3) is a critical regulator of intestinal epithelial and gut mucosal development, differentiation and homeostasis.6,7
•Gut motility — Hypothyroidism leads to slower gastric emptying times.8,9,10
◦In one study comparing hypothyroid patients to a healthy patient:11
Esophageal emptying
Healthy patient = 90.13%
Hypothyroid patient = 57.83%
Esophageal transit time
Healthy patient = 21.5 sec
Hypothyroid patient = 50.5 sec
Gastric emptying half-time
Healthy patient = 28.43 min
Hypothyroid patient = 79.48 min
“Hypothyroidism affects the entire gastrointestinal system and causes hypomotility.”
Thyroid hormones are known to influence gut motility by modulating the ENS and altering smooth muscle function and the MMC12,13 essentially down regulating the motor activity of the digestive system.
Slowed motility can quickly lead to digestive issues as the slower your digestion, the more food your bacteria gets, so the more time bacteria has to ferment that food.
•Digestive enzymes and bile
◦Low T3 (active thyroid hormone) leads to poor stomach acid secretion.14
◦Moreover, thyroid health is intricately connected to liver health and thus
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LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.