Gut Health: Why Is It Important?

Who hasn't felt the pain of needing to run to the bathroom when your food just doesn't agree with you? While occasional bloating, gas and diarrhea are normal, maintaining good gut health can reduce these negative symptoms - and bring more benefits beyond stopping the runs.

Our Franciscan Health expert, Vinshi Khan, MD, gastroenterologist with Franciscan Physician Network Gastroenterology in Lafayette, Indiana, weighed in on the importance of gut health and how to keep your digestive system working at its best.

What Is "The Gut?"

We're all familiar with the organs and structures that make up the gut, including the:

• Anal canal
• Colon
• Esophagus
• Mouth
• Rectum
• Small intestine
• Stomach

We also are probably familiar with the gut's role in digestion, breaking down the food we eat, absorbing the parts we need and disposing of the rest. The pancreas and liver help the gut along in these efforts.

The gut is also home to a host of friendly bacteria, including Lactobacillus, Bacteroides and Bifidobacterium, which further aid digestion, said Dr. Khan.

What Does Good Gut Health Look Like?

Those friendly bacteria make up the flora of the gut, particularly in the colon. Unfortunately, they are joined by some common species of harmful bacteria as well. A healthy gut means that there are more good bacteria than harmful bacteria and that harmful bacteria don't overtake the good.

The balance of bacteria in the gut flora can lead to many health benefits, including reducing inflammation that can lead to heart disease and lowering the chance of obesity.

"If you maintain good gut health, it helps you in many ways," said Dr. Khan. "People with good gut health have more energy to go through the day. It may be a small thing, but if you're feeling well because of your good gut health, you do well overall."

What Causes Poor Gut Health?

If good gut health means having more good bacteria than harmful bacteria, then it makes sense that poor gut health is often caused by an excess of harmful bacteria. This imbalance can occur as a result of:

• Antibiotics
• Food poisoning
• Traveling

While these causes can quickly change the balance of bacteria in your gut, there are also day-to-day habits that impact your gut health. For example, eating gas-forming carbohydrates, also known as FODMAP carbohydrates, can lead to poor gut health and symptoms like bloating and loose stools.

What Are The Risks Of Poor Gut Health?

As mentioned, poor gut health can lead to some unpleasant, short-term symptoms that impact day-to-day activities.

"I hear patients saying they always have to figure out where the restroom is," said Dr. Khan. "These symptoms are often not debilitating, but they can affect you negatively."

For example, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a condition that can affect up to 10% of the population, impacts the colon with persistent symptoms like:

• Abdominal pain
• Bloating
• Diarrhea or constipation
• Excessive gas
• Mucus in stool

While IBS has no known specific cause, excessive stress and poor diet may contribute to these symptoms.

On a more extreme scale, poor gut health can lead to more serious conditions, including C. difficile colitis - a condition caused by an excess of harmful C. difficile bacteria which can arise following courses of antibiotics, and which can lead to hospitalization.

What If Your Gut Is Telling You Something's Wrong?

It's common to eat something that doesn't agree with you and to have loose stools or bloating for a day. However, if you have bloating, cramps, excessive gas, diarrhea or other symptoms that last several weeks, it may be time to see a physician.

Regardless, there are some symptoms, like blood in the stool, that require immediate medical attention.