Gut Health and Weight Loss (The Missing Link?)

Your gut health has a much bigger impact on your weight loss than previously thought. So much so your gut microbiome can hold you back from losing weight even though you’re cutting calories and exercising.

There are many factors involved in weight loss other than lowering your daily calorie intake. Your gut health is a key factor in your ability to lose weight and there are more scientific studies backing it up.

So much so research is finding the composition of your gut microbiome can predict how likely you are to have successful weight loss. And if your gut health is out of whack then you could be altering your satiety hormones causing you to overeat.

Here you’ll discover just how big of a factor your gut heath and microbiome play in weight loss. You’ll uncover what are the symptoms of bad gut health, how to improve your gut health and the best gut health boosting supplements to take for weight loss.

How Your Gut Bacteria Can Influence Your Weight

Gut bacteria are also known as gut microbiome, microbiota and flora. They’re made up of tiny microorganisms that live inside your gut.

They help you digest and absorb foods as well as playing a key role in your overall physical and mental health. There are good gut bacteria and bad gut bacteria. Ideally you’ll have significantly higher amount of good gut bacteria but poor food and lifestyle choices can cause the bad gut bacteria to take over.

When your gut health becomes out of balance like this then you’ll start to experience problems. Studies have found you’ll be more likely to suffer from obesity, diabetes, depression, anxiety and possibly even cancer.

Gut inflammation and microbiome imbalances can keep you from losing weight. Those who are overweight and have trouble losing that weight have a harder time breaking down starches in their gut. And those with less good gut bacteria will have a harder time replenishing their gut microbiome making it harder to lose weight.

Poor gut health will also cause your hormones to become altered impacting your ability to lose weight. Ghrelin is known as the “hunger hormone” and it’s job is to stimulate your appetite so you eat more food to replenish your body.

But ghrelin can become overstimulated with poor gut health causing you to constantly overeat with an elevated appetite. Leptin is another hormone impacted by bad gut health. It’s known as the “Fat Controller” hormone since it’s job is to burn more fat for energy.

But like ghrelin, leptin can become altered with poor gut health causing your body not to burn as much fat as it should be. Leptin sensitivity will become lowered with an out-of-whack gut microbiome making it significantly harder to lower your body fat.

Can Good Gut Health Make You Lose Weight

bad gut health weight gain

If you’re trying to lose weight then it’ll be key to lower the inflammation in your gut and get your gut microbiome back to where it should be. Having too many bad gut bacteria in your gut will only continue to grow without doing something about it.

There are literally trillions of bacteria in your gut that will greatly influence your ability to lose weight along with your overall health. Inflammation in the gut can also lead to leaky gut syndrome. This is when the lining of your gut wall becomes compromised and then the “bad guys” can make their way into your blood stream.

This further leads to an increase in bad gut bacteria as well as your ability to properly digest foods. When you’re not able to digest foods effectively your body will have a harder time becoming satisfied with the food. This will cause you to feel hungrier more often as your body wants to replenish itself but has a hard time digesting and absorbing nutrients from the foods you eat.

appetite hunger hormones

But as you improve your gut health by lowering inflammation and replenishing good gut bacteria you’ll be able to boost weight loss.

One of the causes of stubborn belly fat is bad gut health. Studies have found lean individuals have a healthier gut microbiome than those who are overweight with a large waist circumference. They found the gut bacteria that helps you lose weight such as Bacteroidetes were way higher in the leaner than those who were overweight.

Other studies have found transplanting strains of healthy gut bacteria from thin mice was able to help overweight mice lose weight. This was despite calories and food being eaten the same. This also would work both ways as the lean mice would gain weight faster when transplanted with the bad gut bacteria from the overweight mice.

Symptoms of an Unhealthy Gut

unhealthy gut symptoms

It’s fairly easy to notice the symptoms of having an unhealthy gut. Chronic constipation, bloating, cramping and diarrhea are all hallmark symptoms of having poor gut health. If you experience any or multiple symptoms like this in your gut frequently after eating then there’s a good chance your gut health is poor.

Gut inflammation can not only give you stomach pains but it’ll also lead to food intolerances and allergies. About 70%-80% of your immune system is in your gut so you’ll experience related problems if your digestive tract is out-of-sorts.

With poor gut health you’ll have a harder time digesting foods that lead to bloating and diarrhea. You’ll probably notice with time your ability to properly digest foods you used to be able to is harder as your gut health declines.

leaky gut weight gain

Skin problems like eczema and autoimmune diseases are also correlated with poor gut health. Your gut microbiome has a big impact on your skin and there are many studies finding a link with healthy skin and good gut health. Gut inflammation can cause leaky gut leading to the bad guys making their way to your skin.

Your mood is also greatly impacted by your gut health. Those suffering from anxiety and depression usually also have some kind of gut imbalance as well. It’s called the “Brain-Gut Connection” because your gut is also your second brain.

If you ever gotten butterflies in your stomach when nervous and felt a mood boost after eating one of your favorite foods then you know this connection. Your brain and gut talk to each other through hormonal releases and the vagus nerve. When your gut health is poor then expect it to negatively impact your mental health as well.

How to Improve Your Gut Health to Lose Weight

improving your gut health for weight loss

Getting your diet right and taking the right supplements will have the greatest impact on improving your gut health. If you continue to eat bad foods that negatively impact your gut microbiome then it’ll only get worse and worse.

The first step is to stop eating the bad foods that are causing poor gut health in the first place. The worst foods foods gut health include:

  • sugar
  • processed foods
  • refined carbs
  • seed oils
  • gluten (especially if sensitive)
  • fried foods
  • artificial sweeteners

Then the next step is to start eating more healthy foods that are going to rebuild the good bacteria in your gut. These are unsurprisingly healthier whole foods that most of us aren’t eating enough of.

Increasing your fiber intake is key. Fiber is essentially a prebiotic which acts like a fertilizer to boost the growing of healthy gut bacteria.

Fiber will give fuel to your colon cells and studies have found just 2 weeks of boosting your fiber intake can significantly improve your gut microbiome. Vegetables and some fruits are usually the best high fiber food choices you can add to your diet.

Lowering your stress levels can also improve your gut health. The “Brain-Gut Connection” can become triggered when you’re stressed causing stomach issues like bloating, pain and cramps. Stress can make your gut lining weaker and lead to leaky gut allowing the bad critters to make their way into your bloodstream.

Best Supplements for Gut Health and Weight Loss

Now there are a couple supplements to take that’ll boost your gut health and help with losing weight.

Probiotics

My Pick
BioTrust Pro-X10

Advanced Probiotic Supplement with Prebiotics

Pro-X10 provides you 6 different highly effective strains via the patented Microencapsulation Technology™ – that means far more live beneficial bacteria delivered to your gut!

Benefits:
  • Promotes a healthy balance of gut bacteria
  • Supports a healthy digestive tract
  • Supports a healthy immune system

Probiotic supplementation will quickly help to rebuild and replenish your good gut bacteria. Probiotics are essentially live bacteria and yeasts that’s good for your gut health. Remember your gut is packed with good and bad gut bacteria. When the bad gut bacteria take over and dominate is when problems start up. So adding back in the good gut bacteria with a probiotic supplement will be key.

Gut Reg

My Pick
BioTrust Gut Reg

The Essential 2-in-1 Powerhouse for Healthy Gut Lining

4 Key Ingredients Provide PEAK Support for Healthy Gut Lining and Healthy Gut Function...

Benefits:
  • PepZin GI®, the exclusive, patented, research-backed complex of zinc and L-carnosine
  • L-Glutamine, crucial for gut lining and known as the "fuel for the immune system
  • Ginger extract, the gastrointestinal "superpower" spice

Now that you’re rebuilding the good gut bacteria it’s critical to also heal your gut lining. Remember that a damaged gut lining can lead to leaky gut which causes weight gain and other health problems. It’s key to “reseal” back up your gut lining and lower the inflammation.

I recommend Gut Reg which uses a powerful 2-in-1 support system to do just this. It’ll rebuild and reseal your gut lining while also lowering the inflammation in your digestive tract. And if you find yourself stressed a lot then this supplement will also help to counteract the gut damaging impact of chronic stress.

The Last Word

Your gut health can greatly impact on your ability to lose weight. So it’s no surprise those who have trouble losing weight also have some level of poor gut health.

Counting calories isn’t everything when it comes to weight loss. There are many other factors that are also involved and a big one if your gut health.

You’ll be fighting an uphill battle trying to lose weight if your gut health is out-of-whack. Getting your gut health back is more straight forward and accomplishable once your start doing the right stuff.

Cut out the bad foods that are causing the bad gut bacteria to flourish. And then start eating the good foods and supplements that’ll rebuild and replenish your good gut bacteria. Then losing weight will become a whole lot easier.