Ways to Check Gut Health

Knowing more about your gut health is always a sensible idea, as your gut health plays a crucial role in your overall physical and mental wellbeing, with a well-balanced gut helping support better brain, metabolic, and immune system health. So, naturally, you’ll want to know where your gut health stands and if you need to make changes to improve it.

The good news is that there are several ways of checking your gut health. You could do some simple tests at home, or you could investigate more deeply by sending a sample of your stool to a lab, which will give you clear, medical insights into what’s going on in your gut.

To learn more about your gut health and how you can check on yours, use this guide. You will learn:

• Why your gut health matters
• Ways to check your gut health
• The signs of an unhealthy gut
• Ways to improve your gut health

Understanding Gut Health and Why it Matters

The gut, also known as the gastrointestinal tract, is essentially the entire digestive system, and it runs all the way from your mouth, through your stomach, and to the anus. Its job is to break down food, absorbing all the necessary nutrients your body needs to function properly, and, of course, remove waste, which ends up as passed stool.

Gut health refers to the delicate balance of all the microorganisms that live inside the gastrointestinal tract, including bacteria and viruses. A healthy gut has a very diverse population of all of these microorganisms, and that’s called a good microbiome.

This all matters because the gut contains up to 80% of your immune cells. When you have a well-balanced microbiome, the gut supports better nutrient absorption, immune system health, and even mental health (as the brain and the gut are always in communication with one another). It essentially plays a role in your entire well-being, which is why knowing more about your gut health and how to improve it is such a crucial part of anyone’s wellness journey.

6 Ways to Check Gut Health

You don’t have to play any guessing games when it comes to your gut’s health, as there are several ways (many of them very easy) that will tell you exactly what’s going on. Or, at least, whether your gut is relatively healthy or otherwise.

1. Send a Stool Sample to a Lab

The first way provides the most insight into your gut health.

You can order stool tests for gut health online (including from here at Repose Healthcare) to do it all from home, which gives you plenty of privacy. All you need to do is order the appropriate gastrointestinal pathogen PCR test, follow the instructions inside to collect a stool sample, and return to the lab using the prepaid envelope inside.

These stool tests analyse the stool, looking specifically for infections, inflammation, and overall signs of digestive function and malabsorption. They are key in diagnosing digestive issues.

It makes sense to do a stool test if you are showing signs of an unhealthy gut, such as diarrhoea, blood in the stool, or stomach pain; however, you don’t necessarily need to show symptoms to take control of your health by doing a stool test, as it can shed light on what’s going on inside.

2. Check Your Colon Transit Time

Colon transit time refers to the length of time it takes for food to move through your digestive system. It’s an easy way to check gut health at home, as you just need to time it from when you eat to when you next pass stool.

The sign of a healthy gut is if you pass stool within twelve to twenty-four hours after you eat, as this is typically how long the food needs to be digested. If you seem to pass stool much earlier or later, that’s a sign something isn’t quite right, and it’s worth doing some further testing.

3. Do the Apple Cider Vinegar Test

This one offers a super simple way to check gut health at home, as all you need is some apple cider vinegar. This test is used to see if you have low stomach acid.

All you need to do is drink one to two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar mixed with water before a meal (undiluted ACV can damage tooth enamel, so avoid that). Then, observe how your body reacts. If you experience:

A mild warming sensation: your stomach acid levels are likely fine.

No sensation at all: you may have low stomach acid levels.

Burning: You may have an inflamed stomach lining or high sensitivity.

4. Look at Your Tongue

Arguably, the easiest way to check gut health at home is by simply examining your tongue. Yes, your tongue can say a lot about what’s going on in your digestive system. Here’s what to look for.

A pink tongue: this is the sign of a healthy tongue. It should be pink and moist.

White coating: a white coating on the tongue may suggest you have either low stomach acid or too much yeast.

Yellow coating: a yellow coating indicates you might have an infection or inflammation in your digestive system.

Cracks: if you have cracks on the tongue, you may have chronic gut issues such as malabsorption. It could also signal dehydration.

Scalloped: if your tongue has teeth marks on the side, that indicates dehydration, inflammation, or certain nutritional deficiencies.

5. Examine Your Stool

Another way to test your gut health at home is to visually examine your stool. Look specifically at the colour, consistency, and smell.

The Bristol stool chart is a useful tool for identifying healthy vs unhealthy stools. It includes seven types of stool:

1: Small, hard lumps that are usually hard to pass. Indicates constipation.

2: A lumpy sausage-shaped stool. Indicates constipation.

3: A sausage-shaped stool with some cracks. A healthy stool.

4: A smooth, sausage-shaped stool, slightly soft. A healthy stool.

5: Very soft blobs of stool that pass easily. Can mean diarrhoea.

6: Mushy stool. Can indicate diarrhoea.

7: Liquid – no solids at all. Indicates diarrhoea.

Anything but three and four indicates a problem. If your stool consistently indicates constipation or diarrhoea, you may have problems in your gut. Stool tests for gut health will help shed light on what is actually going on.

6: Track Symptoms

If you show any symptoms of poor gut health (which we will go into more below), it is important to track them, as this will give you insights into your gut health. Track symptoms like gas, diarrhoea, constipation, stomach pain, skin rashes, brain fog, and fatigue alongside the meals you have eaten that day. Over time, this should show you the types of foods that lead to symptoms.

When Should You Check Your Gut Health? The Signs of an Unhealthy Gut

Are you unsure whether it is worth learning how to test gut health at home? There are clear signs that you have poor gut health, including the following.

• Digestive Discomfort: This is arguably the biggest warning sign that something is not quite right in the gut. The most common digestive discomforts are excessive gas, bloating, diarrhoea, constipation, and heartburn. Showing these symptoms only now and again may not be a sign of a big problem, but if you consistently have digestive discomfort, that’s a sign your gut isn’t processing food very well.
• Feeling Tired: If you are feeling tired most days, even when you have slept enough, that’s a sign that your gut microbiome is out of balance. There’s a definitive link between irritable bowel syndrome and fatigue.
• Food intolerances: If you experience gastrointestinal symptoms after eating certain foods, that might be a sign of poor-quality gut bacteria. Some common symptoms of food intolerances include nausea, stomach pain, and diarrhoea.
• Unexplained weight changes: If you lose or gain weight unintentionally, it may be because of a poorly balanced gut microbiome.
• Skin problems: Your gut and your skin are linked. If you experience problems like skin rashes, eczema, or acne, it may be related to your gut.
• Autoimmune conditions: Your gut contains most of your immune cells, which is why poor gut balance is linked to certain autoimmune conditions, such as hypo/hyperthyroidism and type 1 diabetes.
• Migraines: Migraines are hard-hitting headaches that can cause light sensitivity and extreme pain. If you experience frequent migraines, it may be related to your gut health, as it is common for individuals who get migraines to also experience stomach issues.

If you show any of these signs, doing a gut microbiome test is the most sensible step, as it’s the route to understanding your gut health more clearly.

How to Improve Your Gut Health

Have you discovered that your gut health is less than perfect? Perhaps you are showing signs like bloating, diarrhoea, or skin problems and want to take control. If so, there are several impactful ways to improve your gut health, if you start doing these, remember to monitor your progress so you figure out what works for you. Keeping a diary stating your symptoms vs your meals is a great way to understand your gut better.

• Take Probiotics: Probiotics are friendly bacteria and yeasts that help restore a healthy and balanced gut microbiome. You can take probiotic supplements for a straightforward way of getting more in your diet.
• Consume Natural Probiotics (fermented foods): This is preferable to taking probiotic supplements most of the time. Some natural probiotics include yoghurt, kefir, kimchi, miso, and sauerkraut.
• Avoid Food Triggers: Once you have identified the types of foods that trigger gastrointestinal symptoms, take them out of your diet.
• Stay Hydrated: Drinking enough water is a key part of maintaining a healthy gut, as water helps the digestive system break down the food and absorb nutrients. It also helps prevent constipation.
• Sleep Enough: Getting enough sleep, between seven and nine hours every night, is important for promoting a healthy and diverse gut microbiome, as it regulates hunger, reduces stress hormones, and reduces the potential overgrowth of harmful bacteria.
• Exercise: Exercise is good for your health as a whole, and it improves gut health because it boosts helpful bacteria and reduces inflammation. Plus, it helps accelerate the process of food transporting through your gut, which prevents bloating and constipation.
• Manage Stress: To help create a healthier and more balanced gut-brain axis, manage stress as much as possible. Incorporating stress-busting habits into your day can help enormously, for example, doing yoga, meditation, and deep breathing.
• Eat More Fibre: Eating more fibre is essential for good gut health. Some good fibre-packed foods are pasta, nuts, lentils, bread, and seeds.

Check Gut Health at Home for Improved Physical and Mental Wellness

Your gut health matters more than you may have previously thought. Checking your gut health is a great way to understand what’s going on inside, and there are several ways you can do it, from simple tricks you can do at home to sending a sample to a lab for proper testing.

If you are worried about your gut health, perhaps because you are showing signs of an unhealthy gut, it is best to do a proper test to see what’s going on. From there, you can take steps to improve your gut health, from taking probiotics to exercising more to managing stress.