5 Important Features of an Effective Gut Health Supplement
The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is one of the most important organs of the human body and is essential for your health and wellbeing. It transports the food you consume to your stomach and helps convert it into energy and nutrients that can be digested and used by the body. It also plays a role in shuttling waste materials out of the body.
Hence, you must do everything in your power to ensure that your gastrointestinal tract is healthy, functional, and well taken care of. The GI tract also plays a more complex role in the maintenance of gut health and overall wellbeing. It is linked to various aspects of physical and mental health such as immunity, type-2 diabetes, and emotional stress.
The GI tract contains billions of microbes, including bacteria and viruses, that help human beings process and digest food. These microbes also play a role in allowing the body to maintain thus facilitating overall health. The microorganisms living in the stomach and the intestines of human beings are collectively known as the human microbiome.
Factors Influencing Gut Health
While every person has a unique microbiome, studies have revealed that certain generalities persist across the population. Through these common factors, we can begin to understand which behaviors are healthy and optimal for gut health and which are not.
Scientists believe that healthy individuals have a diverse array of microorganisms living in their GI tract. These can include microbes such as fungi, bacteria, and viruses; although researchers are of the opinion that bacteria form the majority of the human microbiome.
By contrast, unhealthy individuals have less diversity in the composition of their microbiome. Such people usually have a large number of bacteria that are associated with disease and ill-health in their GI tract.
However, scientists are yet to figure out whether the existence of certain bacteria causes disease or if the existence of the disease facilitates a rise in the number of the associated bacteria. In all probability, both of these factors influence and exacerbate one another. Which is why maintaining a healthy microbiome in the GI tract is so important for the maintenance of good health.
The Importance of a Healthy Gut
An overabundance of specific bacteria in your gut can cause different types of health issues. Some bacteria have been linked to inflammation while others are associated with lower immune function. An enhanced risk of allergies and asthma is one of the outcomes of an out-of-balance microbiome. Other possible consequences include chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, certain types of cancer, and multiple sclerosis.
In the realms of mental health and psychological wellbeing, gut health has been linked to depression, anxiety, and senility. The makeup of your gut can influence the level of risk you face of schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia. Therefore, older adults in particular need to take great care of their microbiome to prevent the loss of mental faculties as they age.
An Overview of Gut health supplements
High-quality gut health supplements contain live bacterial cultures that can improve the condition of the GI tract by introducing healthy bacteria into the microbiome. However, these supplements can only be useful when combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Some of the important features of effective gut health supplements are as follows:
- Supports Bowel Elimination: The best gut health supplements contain magnesium citrate, which can facilitate muscle relaxation and timely bowel elimination. Other ingredients such as Cape Aloe can be added for better stool bulk and transit time.
- Complements Dietary Fiber Intake: A high-quality gut health capsule will help complement your nutrient and dietary fiber intake. A fibrous diet is important because it can help your body produce short-chain fatty acids and increase the diversity of your microbiome.
- Enhances Biofilm Defense: Eliminating the pathogenic biofilms that protect harmful bacteria living in the human gut is one of the primary functions of a gut health supplement. These supplements contain a combination of unique enzymes that can help dissolve the biofilms.
- Completely Hypoallergenic: The best gut health supplements are completely hypoallergenic and do not contain any ingredients that could potentially lead to an allergic reaction, such as gluten, wheat, shellfish, yeast, peanuts, artificial colors, or dairy products.
- Promotes Detoxification: A gut health supplement that facilitates gastrointestinal regularity through improved digestion, assimilation, and waste elimination, can then also play a role in the detoxification and cleansing of the body as a whole.
In Conclusion
An effective gut health supplement can go a long way in improving the balance of your microbiome and warding off diseases associated with problems of the GI tract. However, for the best results, you must only purchase gut health supplements manufactured by a reputed brand or trusted company. This will help you ensure that the ingredients used in the product are all safe, ethically sourced, and of the highest quality.