The Connection Between Your Gut And Your Goals

‘Tis the season for sticking to your New Year’s resolutions, and we’re here to let you in on a little secret—no matter what your resolutions are this year, having a healthy gut may be the key to helping you reach them!

Yes, you read that right. Having a healthy, balanced gut microbiome can go a long way toward helping you reach virtually all of your goals, even if they aren’t directly related to your health. 

Want to lose weight? A healthy gut can help. Want to eat a healthier diet? A healthy gut can help. Want to get in shape? A healthy gut can help. Want to improve your mental health? A healthy gut can help. Want to be more productive, and creative, or climb the corporate ladder? Guess what…a healthy gut can help! 

We know it sounds a little outlandish, so let us break it all down for you. 

Gut Health Basics

The term ‘gut’ is used to refer to your digestive tract as a whole, which is made up of several organs including your mouth, esophagus, stomach, and intestines. The gut plays a crucial role in the body’s ability to extract nutrients from food as well as eliminate waste and toxins from your body. Because of this, your gut is at the core of your health, and keeping it healthy is essential for your overall well-being.

When we’re talking about gut health, the term ‘gut microbiome’ comes up often. This term refers to the collection of microorganisms like bacteria and fungi that live in your digestive tract. We know it may be a little weird to think of these microorganisms living in your body, but rest assured that they play a vital role in your overall health by helping with digestion and nutrient absorption as well as the regulation of your immune system and hormone production. Of course, not all of the bacteria in your gut are this helpful. In fact, some of them can be harmful to your health, which is why maintaining a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut microbiome is the key to keeping your gut happy and healthy. 

But what influences this balance? Some of the most common factors include diet, stress levels, medications, and environment. And the good news is that many of these factors are ones that you have quite a bit of control over!   

Your Gut and Your Goals

So, what does this all have to do with your goals? It comes down to something we said earlier—your gut is at the core of your overall health, which in turn impacts the rest of your life. 

Your Gut Can Help With Weight Loss

The gut microbiome is closely linked to metabolism, which allows it to play a role in weight regulation. In fact, research has found that individuals with a diverse and balanced gut microbiome tend to have, and maintain, a healthier weight. Additionally, a healthy gut can also improve your body’s ability to absorb nutrients and regulate appetite, which leads to better control over your food intake and cravings. 

What’s more? Some studies have also found that supporting the gut microbiome with probiotics can not only help you prevent weight gain but also assist in your weight loss efforts! 

Your Gut Can Influence Your Fitness Levels

Oftentimes, we think of weight loss and fitness goals as going hand in hand, but that isn’t always the case. You may set fitness goals for yourself to help you lose weight, but you could also set goals that are focused on other fitness activities, such as building muscle or increasing endurance, and your gut health can play a role here as well. 

For example, one thing that may hold you back from reaching your fitness goals is the feeling of being sore while your muscles recover from a workout. Research has shown that gut-supporting activities like taking probiotics can assist with muscle recovery, so you can feel ready to face your next workout head-on. 

Additional research has found that the gut microbiome plays an important role in controlling energy expenditure during intense exercise. This indicates that a healthy gut has the potential to help enhance your athletic performance, especially when it comes to endurance workouts. 

Your Gut Can Support Healthy Food Choices

The connection between your diet and your gut is complex and interrelated. As we already mentioned, your diet is one of the biggest factors within your control that impacts the composition of your gut microbiome. With that being said, it’s also important to understand that this connection also works the other way—your gut health can also influence your diet. 

Research suggests that thanks to the gut-brain axis, your gut plays a role in appetite control by stimulating cells and neurotransmitters that produce and secrete appetite-controlling hormones. Two of these hormones include ghrelin and leptin, which are known for controlling feelings of hunger and initiating feelings of fullness, respectively. 

When it comes to the foods you choose to include in your diet, researchers have also found that the bacteria present in your gut can initiate food cravings, and supporting colonies of helpful bacteria with things like probiotics can lead to healthier food choices overall.

Your Gut Influences Your Mental Health

Your mental health is an important part of your overall health and wellness. If you are looking to improve or support your mental health this year, then taking care of your gut can help. This is another area where the gut-brain axis comes into play. This axis allows your gut and brain to communicate with each other, which includes the transmission of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. 

Research has found that certain strains of gut bacteria produce key neurotransmitters like serotonin, which are then sent to your brain via the gut-brain axis. This goes to show that maintaining a healthy gut can go a long way toward helping you improve or maintain your mental health, especially when it comes to your overall mood.    

A Healthy Gut Supports Other Goals as Well

Even if your goals aren’t specifically health-related, keeping your gut healthy can still give you a leg up. After all, the way your body feels on the inside and outside heavily contributes to the motivation you have to work toward your goals. 

If you are experiencing gut discomfort, a downswing in your mood, headaches that seem to consistently come and go, or just generally aren’t feeling your best, then you likely won’t have the energy or motivation to take steps that will bring you closer to achieving your goal. And since your gut is at the core of your overall health, taking steps to keep it as healthy as possible will go a long way toward keeping you feeling your best, which will ultimately help you have what it takes to keep moving in the right direction, no matter what your goals are.