Symptoms of Poor Gut Health
August 2025
The gut does more than just break down and digest food – gut bacteria will also play a crucial role in regulating energy levels, managing weight, promoting skin health, and influencing mood. The gut is strongly linked to how the rest of the body functions and is essential for overall health and well-being. If you’re experiencing digestive issues, skin conditions, constant mood changes, uncontrolled weight fluctuations, or food sensitivities, you may be dealing with imbalanced gut flora.
Symptoms of poor gut health
Digestive issues
An unhealthy or unbalanced gut often causes digestive issues, such as bloating, gas, stomach pain, constipation, and diarrhoea. When the gut and digestive system are out of whack from an unbalanced gut microbiome, the body struggles to process food and eliminate waste, causing digestive issues. Symptoms of digestive issues often occur when the digestive system is working to digest food during or after eating.
Low energy levels
If you are constantly tired, have fragmented sleep, experience the afternoon slump often, or regularly lack energy, the symptoms can also indicate poor gut health. The gut and the brain are deeply connected through the vagus nerve and the enteric nervous system – this is called the gut-brain axis. The gut-brain axis is like a communication network, allowing the gut microbes to influence neurotransmitters, such as serotonin. Serotonin is responsible for managing sleep, mood, and appetite. When the gut is imbalanced, the gut-brain axis fails to communicate effectively, and serotonin isn’t released properly, which can cause issues with both sleep and energy.
Food intolerances
Food intolerances or food sensitivities are strongly linked to poor gut health. Food intolerances occur when the body is not able to break down certain foods, which is caused by insufficient enzymes in the digestive system.
The stomach, small intestine, and pancreas all make digestive enzymes. If the gut is unhealthy, these organs can struggle to produce enough enzymes and affect digestion. Digestive issues from food intolerances include bloating, gas, stomach pain, constipation, and diarrhoea.
Unintentional weight loss or gain
Weight loss or gain can be caused by poor gut health. When your gut is unhealthy or unbalanced, your body can struggle to absorb nutrients, regulate blood sugar, or store fat. Weight loss as a result of poor gut health is often caused by malabsorption, leading to deficiencies of nutrients and minerals. Poor gut health can lead to insulin resistance and increased inflammation, which can cause weight gain.
Skin irritations
The gut microbiome has a strong connection to skin health – this is called the gut-skin axis (the connection between the gut microbiome and skin health).
The intestinal barrier, inflammatory mediators, and metabolites are part of the gut-skin axis. An imbalanced gut can cause inflammation in the skin and reduce beneficial bacteria, impacting the body’s skin health and resulting in conditions like psoriasis, acne, and eczema.
Mood changes
There’s a reason it’s called “gut-instinct” – the gut is filled with colonies of bacteria that can directly affect mental health, temperament, and mood. As mentioned, the gut-brain axis is a communication network that influences neurotransmitters; however, it also produces hormones and metabolites that can affect emotions and behaviours. When the gut is irritated by inflammation or a chemical imbalance, the communication network can falter and directly impact emotions, feelings, and mood.
Preventing poor gut health
There are plenty of ways to prevent and improve gut health, including exercise, diet, and calming the nervous system through sleep, meditation, and light movement. Colon irrigations, also known as colonics, colon cleanses, or colon hydrotherapy, are also an effective way to return the digestive system to full function.
Going to a colonic session every few months, or as recommended by your colon hydrotherapist, can prevent poor gut health. An irrigation will slowly fill the colon with warm, filtered water. The water softens and releases the accumulated waste and toxins in the gut that may be causing gut imbalances and health issues.
Prevent or heal symptoms of poor gut health by contacting our Canberra team for a consultation. Book an appointment online, call us on 02 6106 9517, or visit us at our Canberra clinic on Unit 2/5 McKay Gardens, Turner ACT 2612.
