How Gut Health Impacts Your Weight & Metabolism
If you have a gut feeling that something is keeping you from losing weight, you’re probably right…
Trouble losing weight continues to be a struggle, despite decades of advice to cut calories. That’s because it turns out our gut health actually plays a major role in success, and isn’t usually addressed by typical weight loss approaches. Given that our standard American diet is high in saturated fats and very low in fiber, this creates a perfect storm for breeding bad bacteria and wiping out the good bacteria in your gut. So, if you’re on your way to soak up last night’s tequila shots with a greasy burger and fries, you might want to reconsider (and chug a kombucha instead).
Our digestive tract is host to an entire ecosystem of microorganisms that break down our food, create vitamins, and control our immune system. Think of the gut as an “unofficial organ” in the body because it plays such a huge role in our overall health and wellbeing. Healthy humans are likely to have a more diverse species of gut bacteria. A less diverse microbiome, or worse, an overgrowth of “bad” bacteria is commonly seen in people who are either overweight or have bad metabolic health.
Here’s how that works: the lining of the gut is made up of a single-celled barrier for the purpose of exchanging nutrients and water during digestion. The food you eat breaks down to its simplest form during digestion and also feeds your gut bacteria. Let's use Tinder as a method of comparison for the gut lining: you download Tinder to feed your needs of companionship in the same way the digestion of food feeds the species of microbes in your gut.
A diet that’s rich in plants and fiber will further break down during digestion as an important prebiotic, or food for our gut microbiome. Fiber-rich prebiotics help feed the good bacteria, keep the gut lining strong, and reduce inflammation throughout the body (which is incredible if you have IBS, arthritis or even high cholesterol).
A low fiber, high-fat diet, (yes, this includes the keto diet your mother-in-law swears by) will feed the more harmful bacteria. Going back to our Tinder comparison, swiping right on the wrong person—or diet—will not end up in a fulfilling relationship!
Here’s another thing that happens when our gut ecosystem becomes imbalanced: waste products that the bacteria produce increase permeability across the intestinal lining. Ever heard of the term “leaky gut?” Going back to our Tinder analogy - this is like someone hacking into your account and swiping right on every weirdo with a profile! Way too many creepy messages. Leaky gut opens the floodgate to an influx of negative compounds that are too much to handle.
Once you have leaky gut, the bacterial waste products are no longer in your GI tract- they’ve penetrated through the gut lining. Leakage of bacteria and their toxins are released into the blood stream and are now circulating in your blood, causing the body to mass produce proinflammatory cells (this is called metabolic endotoxemia). Over time, this turns into chronic inflammation, which promotes metabolic disease and weight gain.
So how exactly can the gut affect your weight? Chronic systemic inflammation can be seen as the starting point for developing metabolic disorders: obesity, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Within the past decade, researchers have connected reduced bacterial diversity to increased risk of obesity - this is called a microbiome signature. Fortunately, this weight gain-promoting microbiome profile can be reversed.
Moderate exercise, a variety of high-fiber plant foods, quality probiotics, and blood sugar stability are incredibly beneficial to gut health - despite what a 21-year-old tik-tok influencer says as she dry-scoops pre-workout. Calories in does not always equate to calories out because the concept of quantity versus quality is missing from that discussion. A calorie deficit of processed foods might make you lose weight initially, but calorie-dense, low fiber foods will contribute to a microbiome that promotes inflammation and weight gain over time. It also sucks to be hungry eating 1,200 calories a day.
As we circle back to your tequila hangover, a greasy burger and fries might have sounded good five minutes ago, but you’ve evolved and are now a woman working on your gut. Hold your head high, chug your kombucha for electrolytes, take your probiotics, and drink your kale smoothie. Gorgeous girls work on their gut issues.
By Erin Skinner & Melissa Teel from Empowered Nutrition
Image via Sakara
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