Five signs your gut could be in distress:

Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria along with yeast and viruses that live among this bacteria. Collectively, these microorganisms are called your gut microbiome.

Your microbiome is as unique to you as your fingerprint. 

When the bacteria, yeast, and viruses that live in your gut are in balance, the rest of your body is in harmony too. However, when things go awry, and the bad bacteria are able to take over the good, it can lead to an unhealthy gut (also called gut dysbiosis), which negatively affects the rest of your body.

Here are some things to look for if you feel your gut may be in distress: 

  1. Skin issues:
    Topical skin care products are often recommended for eczema, psoriasis, acne and other inflammatory skin problems, but in many cases, an unhealthy gut is to blame. Your gut is in direct communication with your skin through what’s called the gut-skin axis.

  2. Diarrhea OR Constipation:
    Occasional loose stool affects everyone at some point, but chronic or acute diarrhea can be a sign of bacterial overgrowth or an infection with Clostridioides difficile, a type of bacteria that lives in the gut in small numbers, but can create problems when it multiples. Diarrhea can also make gut health worse by pushing out the good bacteria in your gut, contributing to even more gut dysbiosis.
    People who suffer from constipation typically have lower levels of certain types of bacteria, including Bifidobacteria, in their stool samples. Which is often why supplementing with this type of probiotic strain can help improve digestion.

  3. Gas + Bloating:
    Gas is produced as a normal part of the digestion and fermentation process in the gut, however some strains of gut bacteria naturally produce more gas than others. If you have more of these super-gas producing "bad" strains, it could lead to excessive fermentation, trapping gas in the gut and creating bloat

  4. Changes to mood, brain fog, chronic fatigue, etc:
    Your microbiome plays a vital role in your mental health and the way you respond to stress. Although the exact mechanisms aren’t totally clear, there’s evidence that certain hormones that are made in the gut—collectively called gut peptides—control the signaling between your gut and brain (and vice versa). If this hormonal balance is thrown off, it can contribute to anxiety, and other mood disorders

  5. Autoimmune Disease:
    Inflammation is at the root of all disease/illness and when inflammation becomes chronic or systemic, your immune systems army of good bacteria become stressed and overburdened by the constant battle of fighting off inflammatory responses…This can lead to confusion and cause the good guys to start attacking healthy cells thinking they are foreign invaders. This process is called autoimmunity and can manifest as chrons, celiac, hashimotos, lupus, diabetes, MS, RA, etc.


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Emily Cox