6 Red Flag Warnings That Your Gut Needs Help🚩
6 telltale signs signaling that your gut may need some attention asap!
A Meg PSA: From digestive discomfort to sneaky cues… I like to think of our body’s signals and symptoms as its way of communicating with us.
It’s all information.
Through symptoms, our body is often saying: “Hey, listen up, you need to dig deeper and I need some help!”
6 Red Flags That Your Gut Needs Help:
You skip days of pooping
If you typically skip one of more days of pooping, this is a huge invitation from your body to welcome in more support. When we’re not pooping daily, not only do we feel like ‘crap’ (because we’re full of it!) we also cannot appropriately support detoxification, promote healthy hormone balance and remove unnecessary waste. Often times, those who don’t poop daily are sheerly carrying for weight on them due to the extra stool that makes them feel heavier and like their clothes don’t fit as well.
You’re uncomfortably bloated after most meals
While some slight bloating after meals (especially bigger meals) can be normal - the telltale sign to notice is if your bloat is consistently happening daily, builds throughout the day and is accompanied with discomfort or pain. THIS warrants deeper digging and can often be a result of bacterial overgrowth like SIBO, digestive insufficiency or unidentified food sensitivities. PS: bloating is often a side effect of chronic constipation (see #1).
You have bad breath
Your gastrointestinal tract starts in your mouth and ends in your anus - therefore mouth health has a deep impact on overall gut health lower down the chain! To learn more about the mouth-gut connection and how to support it, checkout one of my latest blogs here. In many cases, bad breath can be a result of a buildup of bacteria that has been hanging out in the mouth too long due to things like poor motility, constipation or mouth breathing. In many cases, I see things like H pylori, SIBO, candida or autoimmune related motility problems in cases of bad breath!
You have frequent smelly burps & gas
Burps and gas here and there is normal - the telltale sign is when it becomes smelly and life disruptive - this is not normal! While this can be rooted in many things, often poor digestion (including things like low stomach acid, pancreatic enzyme insufficiency, sluggish bile, poor mealtime hygiene) can be a root cause.
You feel cold and/or exhausted after meals
Again, some level of blood flow shifting post meal can be normal as your body shunts circulation to the digestive tract to help with digesting and absorbing your food. However, frequently feeling noticeably cold and exhausted post meal can be a signal of a deeper issue with digestion, possible food sensitivities or blood sugar imbalance.
You have undigested food in your stool
Beyond seeing some undigested corn in your stool (which can be normal) if you’re frequently seeing things like vegetable skins, leafy greens or undigested carbohydrate foods in your stool - we need to talk! This can be a sign that digestion needs support and you may benefit from things like digestive supplements, digestive bitters, gallbladder support and mealtime hygiene practices. Another biggie for undigested food in stool - low stomach acid!
