Many speak of a weak immune system or worrying about hormone production, but these issues generally derive from your digestive health. The importance of this system in your body should be highly recognized just like the health of your cardiovascular system. There are several reasons why your digestion is important.
What Exactly is the Digestive System?
This is also referred to as your gut, which is comprised of the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine. Several other organs can be classified into this system, but when discussing the health of your body it’s essentially these three.
The primary goal many know this region is to break down consumed food and distribute the nutrients accordingly. Anything leftover during this process is released from your body. An unhealthy digestive system will have difficulty breaking down the nutrients, and lead to several other issues you may not be aware of.
Boosting the Immune System with Healthy Digestion
Your digestive system goes beyond breaking down nutrients for life. The gut makes up 70% of the immune system, and when your digestive health is low, so is your immunity against harmful bacteria and viruses.
Conditions such as the cold, flu, autoimmune disorders, cancer, and even allergies occur when your digestive health is not doing so well. Taking care of your gut could possibly lead to the prevention of these conditions, or lessen the effects that come from them.
Think about how your digestion is the next time you want to invest in vitamin C for heightening your immune system.
Improve Your Mood through Gut Health
Gut health actually has a lot to do with the feel-good hormone known as serotonin. In fact, 80% of your serotonin resides in your digestive system and not in your brain. This is one reason why obesity causes depression for many since their serotonin levels are low.
Improving the health of your gut is going to do a lot for you, especially when it comes to your mood. Stress and anxiety can be harmful on your body, and when either build up it is your digestion that becomes affected leading to sudden mood changes.
Healthy Digestion Means Healthy Skin
Skin conditions such as eczema and other skin irritations often appear when your digestive health is not doing so well. Research shows that poor gut health may cause protein leakage out into the body, which can lead to these irritations on the skin throughout the body.
Acne is another skin condition that comes from an unhealthy digestive system. The high consumption of processed foods and high sugar intake causes many teens and young adults to suffer from this. This can eventually lead to diabetes if you are not careful.
Digestive Imbalances Affect Sleep Patterns
Serotonin is not just for your mood but also used by your body to promote better sleep patterns. Damaged gut health may possibly cause poor sleep and in time can lead to insomnia. Melatonin is a sleep aid many try to induce sleep, but if the reason is your digestive health then it will not have much effect for you.
Reduces Food Cravings Causing Obesity
A healthy digestive system is able to break down the foods consumed to reduce weight gain. However, when gut health is damaged it has difficulty breaking down all foods. High amounts of sugar and unhealthy fats make their way into being stored as fat.
Uncontrollable food cravings are a result of your digestive system when it becomes damaged. Essentially the “bad” gut bacteria are sending signals to your nervous system to supply them with energy foods they need for growth.
Maintaining Digestive Health
You can take action against this by starting a healthier diet with nutritious whole foods instead of consuming sugary snacks and reducing the number of times you eat fast food. Drinking plenty of water keeps your organs functioning properly, and you may want to consider a probiotic to support the growth of healthy bacteria.
