5 Clues Why Your Gut Health Still Isn’t Improving
Are you facing challenges on the gut healing journey?
In our work as health coaches, we’ve noticed some common (but not always obvious) reasons why people struggle to get their gut health on track.
On a more personal level, we’ve also experienced many of these setbacks ourselves. We know the frustration is real!
So let’s jump into some of the TOP reasons why you may be struggling:
#1 – You’re Still Eating Inflammatory Foods
When healing the gut, the most essential step is to eliminate inflammatory foods from the diet. We truly can’t emphasise this enough!
Think of it like this: if you broke your leg, in order to get well you’d need to rest it + resist applying any weight. If you did decide to get up and walk around (painfully!), your healing would be interrupted or even undone. It’s the same with your gut!
Top on our list of inflammatory foods are these:
- Gluten
- Refined sugar
- Industrial seed oils
- Dairy
- Grains + legumes
- Alcohol.
Related: Getting Started with Gut Healing (+ FREE Week 1 Plan!)
#2 – You Have Underlying Food Sensitivities or Intolerances
Sometimes, even eliminating the common inflammatory foods listed above isn’t quite enough.
That’s because when we have poor gut health (especially leaky gut), we can develop intolerances or sensitivities to certain foods… even the healthy ones!
Common intolerances you may have heard of include histamine and FODMAP intolerance, but we can also develop immune sensitivities to certain foods that we often eat.
Unfortunately, even though many of these foods are healthy (think: avocados, bananas + dark chocolate!) they may be causing you symptoms.
This is why identifying food intolerances and sensitivities is another crucial part of the gut healing process. Once you have identified foods you react to, it’s important to reduce or eliminate them while you work on your gut health.
And the really good news?
Once your gut health is improved, many of the foods you’re sensitive to can be reintroduced… without symptoms!
#3 – You’re Stressing Out
Of all the things that can undo your gut healing efforts, stress is at the top of the list!
Emotional + physical stress have very real effects on your body, and always slow down the healing process.
This is because when our body is producing stress hormones, we move out of the healing “rest and digest” mode that’s critical for restoring gut health.
Related: 5 Habits that Hurt Gut Health
Now… most often, we see stress creeping in when people are very concerned by their symptoms.
Constant checking, evaluating and worrying about symptoms is what puts many of us into a spiral of stress and confusion about the way forward.
This is why it’s SO important to prioritise stress management, self care + most of all, trust the process while you’re healing.
#4 – Your Probiotic is Ineffective (or Making Things Worse!)
We all know that probiotics are a vitally important part of any gut health regime.
But between fermented foods and probiotic supplements, there are a tonne of products on the market today… it can be hard to choose a probiotic that’s truly effective and worth the money.
In some cases (e.g. histamine intolerance), your probiotic may even be contributing to symptoms!
This is why it’s crucial to do your research when it comes to a probiotic that suits you, as well as understand the impact of diversity, strength and quality when it comes to choosing a probiotic.
Related: 3 Surprising Benefits of Fermented Foods
#5 – SIBO, Parasites + Other Conditions
Now… if you’ve tried everything and your symptoms are really getting the better of you, it may be worth looking into some underlying conditions that may be present.
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (“SIBO”) and parasites are two conditions that need attention 1:1 attention from a functional medicine practitioner or naturopath on top of the gut healing strategies we teach.
This is because these types of overgrowths can be stubborn and require more than just dietary changes + supplementation.
In this case, using targeted antimicrobials and other treatments with a practitioner just may be what you need to get back on track with your gut healing journey!
True Health + Beauty Starts in the Gut
Get Glowing Online is an online course designed to guide you step-by-step through the diet + lifestyle changes that support inner health.
In other words… naturally glowing skin, balanced weight and vibrant health!
Click here to learn more about Get Glowing Online.
