Struggling with any of These 5 Symptoms? Look no Further than your Gut
When I was dealing with chronic gut issues - it was never JUST my digestive symptoms that bothered me.
If anything, it was my other "non-gut-related" symptoms that were the most annoying.
Things like insaaaane fatigue. Hormonal issues. Bad PMS. Low libido (or a non-existent libido if we're being really honest here). Brain fog. Memory issues. Anxiety. Panic attacks.
The whole dang gammit.
After I started to do personal research on digestive health, and then during my formal studies, the dots started to connect.
Could my gut issues be contributing all these other symptoms that I was struggling with?
Well, my friend, let me tell you: my gut was absolutely contributing to my other symptoms.
And perhaps that could be the case for you, too.
If you can relate - even if you don't currently struggle with obvious GI symptoms - keep reading.
I'm sure you'll have a few ah-ha moments.
In this blog post, I'll be connecting the dots between your gut, and your "seemingly unrelated symptoms" - like acne, fatigue, anxiety, brain fog, and PMS.
Your Gut & Acne
While there are many things that could be contributing to your acne - it's definitely worth taking a look at your gut as an underlying cause.
In the case of "leaky gut,” endotoxins (such as LPS, or lipopolysaccharides) may be able to pass through the intestinal lining, and into the bloodstream where they can contribute to free radical damage, inflammation, and the potential increase of "substance P".
This inflammation may contribute to excess sebum production, and potentially alter the microbiome of the skin. This can contribute to acne, and other skin conditions.
With acne, while it's important to support your skin's microbiome (and consider how you're nourishing your body) - it's also important to look at your gut microbiome and digestive health.
Your Gut & Fatigue
There are a few ways that your gut could be contributing to your fatigue.
The majority of your immune system lives in the gut: as the GALT (or gut-associated-lymphoid-tissue). If there is an imbalance in your microbiome, some sort of dysbiotic overgrowth, or a stealth-infection - your GALT might be working super over-time.
This could be contributing to a fatigued body, without an “obvious” reason for why!
If you have dysbiosis, an overgrowth, a bacterial or parasitic infection, or leaky gut.. it's inherently stressful on the body. This low-grade chronic stress can impact the HPA-axis, and our stress hormones, which can also ultimately contribute to fatigue.
There is also some science that shows our microbiome may have modulating effects on our mitochondria. Our mitochondria are our cell's "powerhouses." If our microbiome is out of balance, it could mean that our mitochondria may not be able to function ideally - depleting us of energy.
If you're struggling with fatigue (especially chronic fatigue!), and you've already ruled out other common contributors, like say, mono - then it's definitely worth digging deeper into your gut health.
Your Gut & Anxiety
Many of our neurotransmitters are actually made in our gut. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers made by our neurons, that communicate with specific target cells. You might be familiar with a few of them:
Dopamine - our "feel-good" neurotransmitter; it impacts how we experience pleasure, our ability to think and plan, and our focus and interest in things in our lives
Serotonin - otherwise known as our "happy chemical" - impacts our mood, emotions, digestive processes, appetite, and is a precursor to melatonin
GABA - is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, and can help to calm, reducing feelings like fear and anxiety, balance mood, and even aid in reducing PMS symptoms
While many of our neurotransmitters are made in our brain, there are some microorganisms that live in the microbiome that produce and modulate some of these neurotransmitters. It's estimated that upwards of 80-90% of serotonin is made in the gut!
So - what does this mean for you and your anxiety?
If you have an imbalance in your microbiome (say, dysbiosis of some sort), or if we aren't feeding our microbiome with the appropriate nutrients that they need to be able to synthesize these neurotransmitters - your mood may suffer!
By addressing both your nutrition (and optimizing it for your gut!), and any potential imbalance or dysbiosis - you may be able to support your gut bugs in creating more of these happy chemicals, thus improving your mood and emotional wellbeing.
Your Gut & Brain Fog
Have you heard of the term "leaky gut?" (I mentioned it briefly above) This is where the lining of our intestine becomes permeable - or "leaky" - allowing unwanted substances into our bloodstream (like undigested proteins, pathogens, toxins, etc.). This can become really problematic, as our gut lining's role is to only allow things through that we want into our bloodstream - like nutrients from our food.
Leaky gut can contribute to inflammation and oxidative stress throughout the body. Which can both impact the integrity of our blood brain barrier.
Our blood brain barrier effectively acts as a safe-guard for the brain - only allowing things like vital nutrients in, and keeping things like toxins and pathogens out.
When our blood brain barrier becomes susceptible to this inflammation and oxidative stress - it can too, like our intestinal lining, become "leaky."
If various toxins or pathogens are able to penetrate through the blood brain barrier, they could have neuro-cognitive effects - thus leading to things like brain fog, confusion, and trouble concentrating.
Science definitely needs to look into this further, but if you currently struggle with symptoms like brain fog, or trouble concentrating - it could warrant a look at your gut to see if it may be contributing!
Your Gut & PMS
OK, so your gut can have a wide-reaching effect on different hormones throughout the body, but for our sake here - we're going to relate it back to PMS symptoms that you may experience.
Inflammation - especially chronic, systemic inflammation can contribute to PMS (especially painful periods!). If something happening within the gut is causing inflammation systemically, it could be an underlying cause here.
High levels of estrogen can also contribute to PMS symptoms like irregularity, low sex drive, breast swelling + tenderness, fatigue, bloating, etc.
But how does that relate to the gut?
There's something called the “estrobolome.” It’s a grouping of microbes within the gut that whose job is to metabolize estrogen. They produce an enzyme called beta-glucaronidase, that helps to convert estrogen to its active form.
Which when the gut is functioning properly, beta-glucaronidase maintains a sort of estrogen “homeostasis." When it’s the gut becomes dysfunctional, it can lead to too much, or too little free estrogen floating around - which can can contribute to symptoms like PMS.
One other important thing to consider is that if our bowels aren’t moving properly (ie. if you aren't pooping frequently enough), it can cause the reabsorption of estrogen-like toxins into the blood steam. This can contribute to hormonal issues, and ultimately PMS.
So - by now you've learned how your gut could be contributing to your acne, fatigue, anxiety, brain fog & PMS symptoms.
Digging deeper, and supporting your gut on a really foundational level, can make the world of a difference when it comes to these other bothersome symptoms.
Not sure how to get started on supporting your gut?
Check out this blog post, where I highlight the 7 gut health fundamentals I recommend all my clients start with.
Resources
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-is-dopamine#1
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232248#_noHeaderPrefixedContent
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6313445/
https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/15707/microbiota-and-mitochondria-impact-on-cell-signaling-physiology-and-disease#:~:text=Microbiota modulates mitochondrial function and,contact between host and microbiota.&text=Direct and indirect effects of,%2C histamine%2C spermine%2C bacteriocins.
https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/15707/microbiota-and-mitochondria-impact-on-cell-signaling-physiology-and-disease#:~:text=Microbiota modulates mitochondrial function and,contact between host and microbiota.&text=Direct and indirect effects of,%2C histamine%2C spermine%2C bacteriocins.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5736941/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038963/
