I love a good toilet story and have many to share, especially from trips to exotic locations - Asian squat pans are not the easiest to use when in a hurry. You will be delighted to hear that I have local stories too, like the time I was out running (there was my first mistake) and had to blast into a friend’s house, demanding to use her toilet. We were close, but not that close!
If it feels like your digestion has only two settings, a tortoise or a hare, you're in good company. More than 40% of people worldwide deal with a functional gut issue, and the two extremes, constipation and diarrhoea, sit at either end of the same dial.
That is what is so confusing about gut health. It feels counterintuitive that constipation and diarrhoea share a common cause, but they do. Inside your digestive system are trillions of microbes, and when the balance of “good and bad” species tips into dysbiosis (becomes unbalanced), you can feel it in many forms: bloating, bowel irregularity, low energy, decreased immunity and poor mood.
Let’s take a look at the mechanics
Gut motility is the “dial” that shifts the pace of your digestion. It involves the coordinated squeeze-and-release of muscle that moves food through your body. Too slow and things back up; too fast and nothing gets absorbed properly. Your gut bacteria play a critical role in setting that dial.
A 2022 review in Gut Microbes described gut motility as a two-way street:
- When you eat fibre and plants, your bacteria break them down into bioactive molecules that talk directly to the nerves, muscles and hormones driving your motility.
- How fast your gut moves also decides which microbes get to live there. Think of your motility as a conveyor belt:
o If it runs too fast, you flush through the slower-growing species before they can settle;
o If it runs too slow, a different crowd takes over.
Your microbes set the pace, and the pace reshapes your microbial populations, hence the two-way street.
So what tips the balance in the first place?
Your gut microbe population is remarkably changeable according to your lifestyle. Here is what can tip it into dysbiosis:
- Your diet, and the food itself. Diets higher in sugar, fats and animal protein reduce microbial diversity. You might think, "I'm eating what I've always eaten, so why the change?" But the food you buy may have changed in terms of additives and the composition of raw ingredients.
- Poor sleep. Poor sleep can disrupt cortisol balance, which, in turn, can affect gut microbiome balance. It can also increase gut permeability, which drives more leakage of toxins into the bloodstream.
- High and ongoing stress, and a sedentary lifestyle. Both are culprits in the pro-inflammatory equation.
- Antibiotics. Antibiotics are effective against harmful bacteria, but they also kill many beneficial bacteria. In trying to control one infection, you can go too far, altering your microbiome and reducing its diversity. When you do need a course of antibiotics, taking probiotics and eating prebiotic-rich fibre before, during and after can help.
- Some pharmaceuticals. The interaction between gut microbes and commonly used medications is complex and bidirectional. Examples that might affect your microbiome include proton pump inhibitors (acid reflux), metformin (type 2 diabetes), some serotonin reuptake inhibitors (depression), ACE inhibitors (blood pressure), laxatives and even paracetamol. I'm not suggesting you stop any of these, but be proactive about eating more gut-enhancing foods.
- Ageing itself. As you age, your gut microbiome changes and the presence of protective bacterial species is reduced. Healthy older people tend to have greater numbers of good bacterial species than those who experience unhealthy ageing or chronic disease.
The good news is that you can improve your gut balance
- Feed the good guys. Fibre and prebiotic plants are the raw material your bacteria ferment into butyrate and other helpful signals. Fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains all support butyrate production and variety matters more than any single "superfood."
- Top them up. Probiotics can help nudge the microbiome back toward balance, and studies show a combination of strains tends to outperform any single one for supporting regularity.
- Pair them. Combining probiotics with the prebiotic fibres that feed them, a "synbiotic," gives the good bacteria a better chance of settling in.
- Mind the basics. Hydration, movement, sleep and stress all influence your gut microbiome balance too.
This balance-first thinking is exactly why we built Zestt Gut+ the way we did. It's a synbiotic in a daily lozenge and is designed so that the probiotics reach the parts of your gut they need to:
- Three targeted probiotic strains (including Bifidobacterium lactis and Lactobacillus acidophilus) alongside New Zealand gold kiwifruit and yacon prebiotics and Rātā honey, made to support your gut's natural balance. It's not a magic fix (nothing is), but it's a simple, everyday contribution to good gut health.
So, if your gut's been “velocity challenged” lately, be kind to it: more plants, more water, some movement, and a little daily support. Good luck out there; it can be wild!