Summary
DISCLAIMER: Please consult your doctor before making any decisions that could impact your health
This episode of How To Twenty-Something talks about all things gut health from digestion to skin issues to bloating and constipation. I brought on Mia Cedillo to help explain what you should look out for when it comes to your gut, ways to heal your gut, and factors that are causing you tummy problems that you probably aren’t thinking about!
Key Takeaways:
- Common factors that result in poor gut health
- Stress and sleep are to the two most important things to manage when it comes to healing your gut
- Inflammation can show up in multiple different ways that you might not even be aware of
- What to look out for to tell your doctor about your stomach problems
- Bloating isn’t normal
- How and why to include prebiotics and probiotics
What are the biggest everyday habits that quietly wreck gut health?
Diet high in processed food, refined carbs, sugar, and seed oils tops the list, along with frequent use of antibiotics, birth control, steroids, or acid blockers. Chronic stress, poor sleep, and overeating (basically ignoring your body’s fullness signals) round out the main culprits.
How does stress actually mess with digestion on a physical level?
Stress puts your body into sympathetic (“fight or flight”) mode, which shuts down non-emergency functions like digestion — the parasympathetic (“rest and digest”) side gets overridden. Over time, chronic stress can throw off the gut microbiome’s balance, letting harmful bacteria outgrow the beneficial kind, which can eventually contribute to issues like IBS.
When should someone stop self-managing gut issues and see a doctor?
Once symptoms persist or start interfering with daily life despite dietary and lifestyle changes, it’s time to see a functional medicine doctor rather than a conventional one, since functional medicine tends to dig into root causes and run more thorough testing instead of just treating symptoms. IFM.org was mentioned as a way to find one nearby.
Related Episodes
Ep. 36 Creating Your Healthy Foundation
Ep. 50 Top 5 Supplements You Need To Be Taking
Ep. 45 Where do you get tripped up with fat loss? With Kyle Markle
Ep. 152 Why skinny doesn’t mean healthy
Ep. 43 Anti-diet approach to a healthy lifestyle with Sarah Mlnarik