We’ve all been there: You eat something unusual and suddenly feel unusually bloated. You’re experiencing unusual stomach pains, and even your trips to the bathroom are a little out of whack. But you brush it off, considering that as much as you enjoy the food, your body isn’t digesting it well these days.
But you never think to yourself, “Can my gut really be inflamed from what I’m eating?” Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, While the term “inflammation” gets thrown around a lot, few of us really understand what it means for gut health.
“Usually people don’t know exactly what it is,” said Bulsiewicz, an award-winning gastroenterologist and author of a recent book. Plant Powered Plus. “To me, it’s our immune system being activated, and something like that can be very, very good for us. Inflammation is what protects us when we’re exposed to some kind of infection. Inflammation is what helps us repair our body tissues.”
“But the bigger conversation that’s going on right now is around chronic, ongoing, low-grade inflammation, which is the story is that it contributes to all these different health conditions, which are autoimmune diseases, allergies, but also metabolic diseases, cancer, hormonal problems, mood disorders, such as widespread effects throughout the body.
In his book, the Charleston-based gut health expert talks a lot about the correlation between gut health and overall health, and discusses the biggest symptoms patients often mistake for inflammation.
Bulsevich explains this Swelling is often one of the most misunderstood symptoms people are associated with inflammation. This “gassy” feeling many people have is quickly and often incorrectly assumed to be due to intestinal inflammation from something you ate.
“It’s not really true that in most cases it’s your diet that doesn’t match your microbiome,” Bulsiewicz says. “And basically what I’m saying is your microbiome, it’s conditioned and trained to eat what you normally eat, and for an American, that’s ultra-processed food and almost no fiber.”
Another possible factor, he notes, is that inflammation can be accelerated by a person low energy level.
“There are a lot of things that we take for granted in the modern world that we shouldn’t take for granted, and part of that is low energy,” he says. “What I want people to see and understand is that when you have inflammation, you have fatigue. And not all fatigue is caused by inflammation. When the gut is bad, not only will you get these symptoms of bloating and such, but you’ll also feel like the wind has been knocked out of your sails.
Other parts of your body can also show differences, so it’s important to look at your overall health.
“You may notice symptoms in other parts of your body,” says Dr. Bulsiewicz. “So you can get a headache, you can get joint discomfort, you can get a runny nose, congestion, things like that. Those are all kinds of indicators of increased levels of inflammation throughout the body, I’m looking at.”
What does a good pill really look like?
It can be an awkward conversation starter, but the biggest indicator of gut health, according to Bulsiewicz, is having a healthy palate. But what should a typical number 2 look like?
“Your bowel movements are indicative of the health of your microbiome,” adds Bulsiewicz. “To me, that’s one of the strongest signals we have about what’s going on with the gut. When the gut is good, you have healthy, regular sausage-shaped bowels. You empty completely and you’re satisfied, and when the gut struggles, you’re out of it.”
But Bulsiewicz believes there is something you can do to fight inflammation, and it starts with what you put in your mouth.
The best author explains that our daily patterns are important for our health. In his book, he describes four important components of a healthy diet: fiber, polyphenols, healthy fats, and fermented foods. While there are many different ways to eat well, Bulsiewicz says one of the keys to maintaining a healthy diet is choosing an approach that you actually enjoy and stick to over time.
Why these four are important, he adds, is that each is missing from the typical American diet.
“We’re kind of talking about plant-based foods, so mixed nuts are a great snack. Having a piece of fruit is a good snack. I’m a big believer in the first phase of the protocol in the book. I have people who do smoothies and soups. Because these smoothies and soups, they’re kind of pre-digestive for a person who’s used that way.” it’s actually going to be a much gentler approach that allows you to introduce these different plant foods and your gut adjusts and adapts to them.”
Why can ultra-processed foods harm your gut microbiome?
“There’s a big conversation starting around ultra-processed foods,” Bulsiewicz says. “The key here is that ultra-processed means that it’s something you can’t actually create at home, like it’s impossible. Because you don’t have access to the ingredients, the different additives, that are needed to create this ultra-processed food. You can make your own version of an Oreo, but it’s not an Oreo.”
In addition to their long list of ingredients, ultra-processed foods can contain chemicals and additives that can interfere with the way our bodies and brains regulate appetite. Bulsiewicz says it’s time to take a closer look at what we put into our bodies.
“They have these food additives that we’re learning more and more about, and a lot of what we’re learning is not like we’re concerned about the effects of these food additives on our gut microbiome,” he says. “And they’re also what we call hyperpalatative, which basically means that there’s a lack of normal signals of when you should stop eating (that) you’re going to overeat, and the research that’s been done with these ultra-processed foods and this feature of hyperpalatation shows that people eat an average of 500 more calories a day because they know when to stop eating.
Why restrictive diets can reverse gut health
As with everything in life, there are truths and myths, and some of the biggest myths about gut health are being dealt with in a timely manner.
“There’s a difference between strategies that reduce short-term symptoms and actually making your gut healthier, and that’s the biggest myth to me,” Bulsiewicz says. “Basically what I’m saying is, if you go on a restrictive diet. Most of the strategies that are suggested for gut health are about cutting back, avoiding 150 things, and the thing is, you can reduce your symptoms when you do that because you’re avoiding things that trigger you. But the gut becomes less healthy.”
“The key mistake most people make is that they focus so much on symptom relief that they box themselves into a very restrictive diet.”
Bulsiewicz says that results will come quickly when you start making changes to your diet and lifestyle, but make the changes steady.
“The solution is to start small and go slower with these foods.” “So to get the function back, if somebody really slowly rebuilds, with food and plant fiber, the right amount of things, removing things that aren’t good for the gut, taking supplements, things like that, how quickly do they see results? Very quickly.”
