Digestive health is crucial to your overall well-being, as it plays a key role in nutrient absorption, waste elimination, and immune function. As naturopaths, we believe that health issues can be traced back to imbalances in the gut. The gut is home to a complex ecosystem of microorganisms that influence not only digestion but also hormone regulation, immune health, and neurotransmitter production. Maintaining a healthy gut is essential for supporting these interconnected systems and preventing a wide range of health conditions.
How bowel symptoms can reflect broader health issues
Unhealthy bowel symptoms can be a sign that something more significant is affecting your overall health. These symptoms may include diarrhoea, constipation, blood in the stool, unintentional weight loss, abdominal cramps, changes in stool consistency, and bloating or gas.
If left untreated, these digestive issues can progress into more serious conditions, such as leaky gut syndrome (intestinal permeability), SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), candida overgrowth, reflux, IBS and more.
- Leaky Gut: Leaky Gut known as “intestinal permeability” refers to microscopic damage to the lining of the intestines. This damage allows undigested food particles, toxins, and fragments of bacteria, yeast, and other microbes to leak into the bloodstream. When this occurs, the immune system mounts an immune response, triggering inflammation. This can lead to symptoms such as pain, bloating, diarrhea, and food sensitivities.
- SIBO & Candida: The gut is home to a complex balance of bacteria and yeast—some beneficial, others harmful. An imbalance, often caused by factors like overuse of antibiotics, a diet high in refined sugars and carbohydrates, or chronic stress, can lead to an overgrowth of harmful microbes. This disrupts the gut microbiome, leading to symptoms like bloating, gas, fatigue, and more.
- Reflux and IBS: Reflux, occurs when stomach acid flows back into the oesophagus, causing symptoms like heartburn, regurgitation, and chest discomfort. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) leads to symptoms like abdominal pain, bloating, and alternating diarrhoea and constipation. Both conditions can be triggered or worsened by stress, diet, and certain lifestyle factors, and often require dietary changes, stress management, and sometimes medications for relief.
All of these health conditions are manifestations of underlying gut issues. If something doesn’t feel right or if you’re experiencing persistent digestive symptoms, it’s important to seek professional support and consider gut microbiome testing. Early intervention can help identify imbalances and provide support to get to the root cause of your overall health.
The 7 Key Bowel Symptoms to Look Out For
1. Persistent Diarrhoea
Persistent diarrhoea is where loose or watery stools occur frequently. This can be 2–3 times per day for a few weeks or on going.
The potential causes for persistent diarrhoea can be from a parasite or viruses. Food allergies from dairy or gluten can also cause persistent diarrhoea as well as medication or potentially excess release of bile acid.
If symptoms are persistent for more than 2 days without improvement, you experience dizziness, blood in stools and severe abdominal pain.
2. Chronic Constipation
Chronic constipation involves having fewer than 3 bowel movements per week for months or even years.
Underlying causes of chronic constipation is a low fiber diet, low production of good bacteria, medication, stress, lifestyle and IBS.
If there is blood in your stool, difficulty doing every day activities, pain and if there is no bowel movement for 3 weeks.
3. Blood in Stool
Bright red blood means bleeding from the lower gastrointestinal tract.
Dark red – Bleeding higher up in the colon or small intestine
Black – Bleeding in the upper GI tract. This type of stool is known as melena.
Common causes can include haemorrhoids or colon cancer.
It is imperative to seek medical attention when the bleeding becomes very heavy, you experience signs of shock, shallow breathing, dizziness and nausea come about as well as vomiting and pain.
Blood in your stool can indicate a chronic health condition which could result in colon cancer.
4. Unexplained Weight Loss
Unexplained weight loss can be connected to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), coeliac disease, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).
If you experience bowel symptoms such as unexplained weight loss, seeking medical attention is very important.
The gut microbiome plays a role in weight, it can contribute to those who put on weight and those who lose weight. There have been findings that endotoxins like LPS (lipopolysaccharide) can contribute to unexplained weight loss due to their inflammatory impact and metabolic disturbances.
5. Abdominal Pain and Cramps
Abdominal pain can manifest in various forms, and its intensity and location can provide important clues about the underlying cause.
- Sharp Pain: Often sudden and intense, sharp abdominal pain can be a sign of more acute issues, such as appendicitis, gallstones, or ulcers. It is often localized to a specific area and may worsen with movement or eating.
- Cramping: This type of pain often comes in waves, like menstrual cramps, and can be associated with gastrointestinal conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), food intolerances, or gas buildup. It typically improves or worsens with the passing of gas or stool.
- Bloating: Bloating refers to a feeling of fullness or distention in the abdomen, often accompanied by discomfort. It is commonly linked to conditions like IBS, constipation, or indigestion.
Digestive disorders linked with abdominal pain
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): This common condition often presents with bloating, cramping, and excessive gas. It is usually accompanied by changes in bowel movements.
- Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO): An overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine can cause excessive gas, bloating, diarrhea, and malabsorption of nutrients.
- Food Intolerances: Conditions like lactose intolerance or gluten sensitivity can cause bloating and discomfort after consuming certain foods.
- Gastrointestinal Obstructions: In some cases, excessive bloating and gas may indicate a blockage in the intestines, requiring medical attention.
If excessive bloating or gas is paired with other concerning symptoms, such as unexplained weight loss, blood in the stool, or severe abdominal pain, it’s important to consult a healthcare provider to rule out more serious conditions.
6. Changes in Stool Consistency
Changes in stool consistency can provide insights into digestive health, indicating potential issues with your gastrointestinal system.
- Loose Stools: These can be a sign of diarrhoea, often due to infections, food intolerances, IBS, or inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.
- Hard Stools: Stools that are hard, dry, or difficult to pass may indicate constipation, which can be caused by dehydration, a low-fiber diet, or digestive conditions like hypothyroidism or IBS.
- Thin Stools: Stools that are consistently narrow, pencil-thin, or ribbon-like can be a warning sign of a blockage or narrowing in the colon, potentially due to conditions like colorectal cancer or diverticulosis.
This can indicate leaky gut syndrome. This condition, also known as increased intestinal permeability, is thought to be linked to digestive issues where the lining of the intestines becomes damaged. This may allow toxins, undigested food particles, and bacteria to “leak” into the bloodstream, which can lead to inflammation and digestive symptoms, including changes in stool consistency.
7. Excessive Gas or Bloating
There are a variety of factors that link gas and bloating. They are mostly dietary related and digestive.
- Dietary Factors: Foods like beans, cabbage, onions, carbonated drinks, and dairy (for lactose-intolerant individuals) can lead to excess gas production. Some people also have sensitivities to specific foods like gluten or fructose.
- Digestive Disorders: Conditions such as IBS, celiac disease, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) can cause excessive gas and bloating due to impaired digestion or an imbalance of gut bacteria.
If you’re finding it difficult to swallow, not releasing a bowel movement regularly and are continuously getting digestive pain and bloating. This is abnormal and requires medical attention.
The Impact of Diet on Bowel Symptoms
Common food intolerances that are often seen are for foods containing gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye) and also lactose (found in dairy foods).
Some individuals experience digestive symptoms when they consume gluten and dairy.
Diarrhoea is a common problem for those that are sensitive to gluten and dairy. This is because gluten and lactose trigger irritation of the gut lining, increasing inconsistent bowel formation. These food products can also cause constipation as they also affect gut motility – slowing digestion.
Another common symptom of gluten and dairy intolerance is bloating, which often accompanies cramping and a distended abdomen. This is due to both of its inflammatory contaminants.
Many clients can also experience FODMAP Sensitivity (Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Monosaccharides, and Polyols). FODMAPs are a group of short-chain carbohydrates that are poorly absorbed in the small intestine. For individuals with sensitivity to FODMAPs, these carbohydrates ferment in the gut, leading to digestive symptoms.
FODMAPs can either speed up or slow down digestion, leading to irregular bowel movements, including both diarrhoea and constipation. FODMAPs also cause fermentation in the colon, leading to gas production, bloating, and abdominal distension.
Foods high in FODMAPs include beans, lentils, onions, garlic, apples, milk, and certain sweeteners (like sorbitol and mannitol).
Histamine intolerance occurs when the body is unable to break down histamine properly due to a deficiency in the enzyme diamine oxidase (DAO). Histamine is a naturally occurring compound found in various foods and plays a role in immune responses, but excess histamine can trigger digestive symptoms.
Excess histamine can affect gut motility, leading to diarrhoea in some individuals. This can lead to excessive gas production and bloating in the digestive tract.
When to Seek Professional Help
Always remember that if you feel like there is something about your gut health that isn’t right, then it is important to seek professional help.
From helping thousands of patients over ten years, the most common reasons for gut pain we’ve discovered are…
– You’re eating foods, often regular everyday foods, that your body doesn’t like.
– You have too many bad bacteria in your gut from taking antibiotics and eating too much refined food over your life and they are now attacking and inflaming your gut lining.
– You’ve somehow picked up a microscopic parasite somewhere in the past that’s feeding off and destroying your gut lining.
– You’re not producing enough digestive enzymes to break down your food so it ferments and putrefies, making lots of toxic substances that irritate and inflame your gut.
And these are things that doctors, specialists and dieticians aren’t looking at so they find your gut pain a mystery.
But by analysing your history through a ‘health’ lense and running special ‘functional’ tests we’re able to identify with laser-like accuracy your underlying dysfunctions. Then we can design you a customised health plan that gets rid of your gut pain once and for all.
To discover our natural way to rid you of gut pain all you need to do is schedule an appointment.
During your consultation with will thoroughly assess your current gut pain issues, your previous medical and lifestyle history, your diet and determine if you will need to do any special functional tests.
Once this is completed, we can then develop a plan that fits your needs and lifestyle and rids you of gut pain so you can live the rich, rewarding lifestyle you deserve.
Get in touch today to get to the bottom what’s happening in your gut.
