How unhealthy is your gut? Take a 2-minute quiz to find out – and exactly how you can fix it
DO you feel sluggish in the afternoons or a bit down in the evenings?
These could be signs your gut is in trouble, experts warn.
But there are a whole host of other signs too – from skin redness to bloating and constipation, and anxiety to recurrent colds.
If you’re unsure whether poor gut health could be causing your ailments, there’s a simple checklist that can do the work for you.
It’s from the new book Genius Gut by Dr Emily Leeming, a leading microbiome scientist and dietitian.
She said: “Gut health is your gut functioning at its best.
“It’s where there’s no disease or disorder, no gut symptoms, and a healthy gut microbiome.
“If your microbiome is unhealthy, you’re likely to feel the same too – from feeling sluggish to low mood, and often digestive problems as well.
“Your gut isn’t just a digestive system, it’s a powerhouse – your second brain.
“Your gut microbiome influences every aspect of your health and has the capacity to signal to your brain influencing your mood and how well you think.
“Your thoughts and moods can influence the biology of the rest of your body.”
While your poo can reveal major clues as to how unhealthy your gut is (think sudden changes in how often you ‘go’ or poo that’s mushy, runny or hard pellets), the quiz below can too.
The gut-brain quiz
Answer the following 12 questions.
For the first four, give yourself a score of 1 for yes, and 0 for no.
For questions five to 12, score 0 for yes, and 1 for no.
- Is the shape of your poo either a smooth sausage, or a sausage with cracks?
- Do you ‘go’ between three times a day and three times a week?
- Is your poo dark brown?
- Does your poo exit smoothly and easily?
- Do you often get stomach pain, or pain when you try to ‘go’?
- Do you often get other uncomfortable gut issues like being bloated all day or frequent, terrible-smelling farts?
- Do you often feel sad or down?
- Do you struggle to concentrate and think well?
- Do you feel tired often?
- Are you stressed often?
- Do you struggle with craving certain foods?
- Do you feel anxious or worried a lot?
Add up your scores and check the key below.
- 12 = I’m unstoppable!
- 10-11 = I feel kinda alright for the most part.
- 8-10 = Hmmm, meh.
- 5-7 = I’ve had better days.
- 0-4 = I’m really struggling.
Dr Leeming said: “This quiz is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
“If you’re struggling with your gut or mental health, please see a healthcare professional.
“Please note that while what and how you eat can support your mental wellbeing, this shouldn’t replace or delay seeking mental health guidance or taking prescribed medication.
“If you have a condition, syndrome, disorder or disease – you may have unique needs that I unfortunately can’t cover.
“Please talk to your healthcare professional for advice.”
Why gut health is so important
Dr Emily Leeming said: “Your gut microbiome influences every aspect of your health and has the capacity to signal to your brain influencing your mood and how well you think.”
With that in mind, here are all the ways the gut and brain interact.
- People who are lonely tend to have lower diversity of gut bacteria, often linked with poor health.
- Scientists can predict whether a two-year-old is likely to have early symptoms of anxiety if their mum had a less diverse gut microbiome during her third trimester.
- Your gut bacteria are a key factor in healthy ageing, and they influence your immune system’s response, for better or worse.
- When a woman’s oestrogen levels are high, their microbiome tends to be more diverse, with lower diversity of bacteria in menopause and later life.
- Research shows antibiotic use is linked to early puberty in girls, but not boys.
- Women in Asia tend to experience fewer menopause symptoms than Western women, and this could be down to their gut microbiome.
- Studies suggest the microbiome might be relevant to ADHD and autism.
- The connection between fibre and your health is powerful and linked to a 30 per cent lower risk of death.
- Certain gut bacteria are thought to be involved in the release of oxytocin, potentially influencing how social, conscientious and empathetic you are.
- Your gut bacteria influence how your body makes your ‘happy’ hormone serotonin, and your reward neurotransmitter dopamine – influencing your mood, motivation, and behaviour.
- There is a clear link between the gut and the brain with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), as 38 per cent of people with IBS have anxiety and 27 per cent have depression.
- Some studies have linked cognitive performance to the gut microbiome – particularly to learning and memory.
- People who eat more fibre tend to perform far better in cognitive tests, involving memory and problem solving.
- People with depression have a different gut microbiome and tend to have lower levels of short-chain fatty acids, special healthy molecules that are produced by the gut bacteria when you eat fibre, the roughage from plant foods.
Source: Genius Gut by Dr Emily Leeming
How to improve poor gut health
Dr Leeming reckons there are several core ways to get your gut health back on track.
1. Go hard on the veg
First up – make half your plate vegetables at dinner time.
“Veggies are bright, colourful, packed with flavour and textures,” Dr Leeming said.
“They also contain the double whammy of fibre and polyphenols, rocket fuel for your gut bacteria.
“Plus, they’re proven to make you happier too.
“Having two or more servings of veggies a day is linked to having the cognitive age of someone five years younger in later life.”
2. Taste the rainbow
And when you’re choosing your vegetables, “go for the colourful five”, she added.
“A more diverse gut microbiome is linked to better health, and for those with certain gut bacteria – with better emotional wellbeing,” according to Dr Leeming.
Try mixed bags of stir fry veg, mixed bags of salad leaves, mixed frozen vegetables, frozen forest fruits, mixed bags of nuts and seeds, cans of mixed beans – you get the idea.
3. Eat early
What you eat is important, but so is when you eat it, Dr Leeming said.
“Have your dinner early,” she said.
“Eating at regular times and early before bed (and ideally in an eating window of 10 hours) can help in sleeping better at night, being less likely to feel hungry, and is linked to more energy, better mood, higher diversity of gut bacteria, better blood sugar and fat control, and improved blood pressure.”
4. Something fishy
Unsure what to pair your vegetables with? Try oily fish at least twice a week.
According to Dr Leeming, regular fish eaters tend to have more grey matter in key brain regions like the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, linked with better cognitive function.
5. High fibre
Getting enough fibre and protein is key for every meal – but particularly for breakfast.
“The morning meal is a prime opportunity to add in some fibre and polyphenols for your gut bacteria,” Dr Leeming said.
“It also seems to make us happier too.
“Make sure to add in protein, keeping you feeling fuller and more energised for longer, and dramatically easing sweet and savoury cravings later in the day.”
6. Drink up
You may not immediately associate coffee with being good for your insides.
But two cups of coffee a day is related to better brain health and function compared to having no coffee or drinking decaf, Dr Leeming said.
However, pay attention to the type of coffee – and steer clear of the ones high in sugar.
7. Beauty sleep
You should try to sleep for between seven and nine hours every night.
“Sleep quality is equally important,” Dr Leeming added.
“Try a wind-down bedtime routine and regular sleep and wake times.”
8. Get moving
“Every week you should do at least two and a half hours of moderate intensity movement that raises your heart rate,” she said.
This could be anything from walking fast to hiking to cycling.
Alternatively, you should do 75 minutes of high intensity movement, where you’re out of breath and/or sweating, the expert added.
For example, jogging, swimming or team sports.
As well as cardiovascular exercise, it is also important to incorporate muscle-building exercises into your routine at least twice a week, Dr Leeming said.
Why not try lifting weights, working with resistance bands, rock climbing or body weight exercises?
9. Don’t sit still
“Both sitting for a long time without moving and being sedentary for a large part of the day aren’t great for your health,” Dr Leeming said.
“If you’re sitting down for a while, try and move your body every 30 minutes – even if it’s only for a minute or two.
“If you are sitting at a desk for work every weekday, then it’s recommended to try and work standing up for two hours (and progress to four hours) a day.”
Everyday habits harming your gut
Several factors can negatively influence gut health, either by altering its function or wiping out the beneficial bacteria (allowing bad bacteria to thrive). Here are some common ones:
A poor diet
High sugar and high-fat diets can lead to an imbalance in gut bacteria.
This typically means processed foods, like cakes, biscuits, fried foods and more.
Artificial sweeteners may also disrupt gut flora, and alcohol – particularly cocktails and mixers with high sugar – aren’t beneficial either.
Lack of fibre
Dietary fibre is essential for healthy gut bacteria and therefore, a diet low in fibre can negatively impact gut health.
Fibre is in foods such as wholemeal bread, oats, jacket potato, fruits and vegetables.
Antibiotics
We all need to take antibiotics now and again, sometimes they are necessary.
But antibiotics can kill beneficial gut bacteria along with harmful ones, leading to imbalances in the gut.
Other medications like NSAIDs and proton pump inhibitors can also affect gut health.
Make sure to implement gut health habits – or take a probiotic – during antibiotic use.
Stress
Stress affects us all but some are better at dealing with it than others.
Stress can alter the gut microbiome and increase gut permeability, leading to a “leaky gut”.
Symptoms include diarrhoea, pain and gas.
10. Booze less
Adults should consume no more than 14 units of alcohol a week on a regular basis, according to the NHS and Dr Leeming.
That’s about six pints of average-strength beer or six glasses of typical-strength wine.
11. Get outside
“Spending a total of two hours or more across the week outside in nature is linked with better health and wellbeing,” Dr Leeming said.
12. Stress less
“Zen out your brain, zen out your gut,” the gut health specialist said.
Genius Gut by Dr Emily Leeming is out on July 25, 2024.