15 Causes of Digestive Problems
The gut is made up of the small and large intestine. The entire inside lining of these intestines is made up of tightly packed cells that let in food particles so that we can utilize their nutrients. These cells need to stay tightly packed in a tight junction to properly allow the digestion of food particles and nutrients to get through. Damage to these cells can create larger gaps between the cells and larger undigested food and pathogens can enter leading to inflammation and bloating. In addition, the gut is also lined with a wide diversity of good bacteria that help you to absorb nutrients and fight off pathogens and toxins from entering the body’s cells.
Digestive problems can be really frustrating and affect your daily life. If you are experiencing certain issues with your gut health, this can affect your hormone balance. The most common gut symptoms include bloating, gas, indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, and stomach pain. In addition, some related issues are inflammatory skin reactions, brain fog, low mood, and joint pain. Your hormones and gut are undeniably connected, so it's important to look into what can be a cause of digestive problems.
Here are 15 potential causes of digestive problems:
1. Stress
Stress is a primary cause of digestive problems. Stress increases inflammation in the body which can loosen the tight junctions in the gut letting in toxins and large food particles. This will exacerbate the inflammatory response causing more stress. Inflammation occurs when your white blood cells sense an invader or an area of injury in the body, so they release chemicals to surge the area as well as increase blood flow there. During this time, gut health and hormones are affected. Cortisol, the stress hormone, is increased, and over time the increase in stress response to inflammation will create hormonal imbalances with estrogen and progesterone. Inflammation stimulates prostaglandin, which is a hormone that induces uterine contractions or cramps. This hormone works in parallel to estrogen and opposition with progesterone. So when prostaglandin is high, estrogen is high and progesterone is low creating issues with gut health and hormones.
2. Low Fiber
Low fiber is another cause of digestive problems. Usually, those having issues with constipation and low bowel movements, in general, consume low amounts of fiber in their diet. Though fiber is touted as solving all digestive issues, there is a sweet spot with how much you should consume. Fiber is not digestible so consuming too much can cause a lot of stress on the intestines. Fiber and the intestines are analogous to a car in traffic, a decent amount of cars will make the traffic run smoothly but too many will stop traffic all together. The same goes with fiber-rich foods, consuming a decent amount will improve the flow of bowel movements, but too much will stop bowel movements all together for days.
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3. Frequent NSAID Use
NSAIDs or Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen. Many people use these drugs to combat headaches, muscle pain, inflammation, fever, and PMS. Using these drugs over time though at a frequent rate can affect the gut lining. NSAIDs work by inhibiting an enzyme called COX, as a result, a chain reaction won’t be able to create prostaglandins which are inflammatory hormones and chemicals. These drugs do have a negative effect on gut health though. Research shows that the gut lining can become degraded by these drugs causing indigestion, and constipation or diarrhea.
4. Gut Infections or Overgrowth
Another cause of digestive problems is gut infections or overgrowth. When pathogens or parasites enter the body, they can compete with our good gut microbiota in the intestines. This can result in the pathogens utilizing our digested food for energy leaving our gut microbiota to die off. These pathogens and parasites can then take control and rapidly grow in our bodies and utilize our tissues and nutrients to survive.
Overgrowth is when you have too much bacteria, even good bacteria in the small intestine. This part of the gut usually is not the home for most of our gut bacteria because the small intestine is long and the food usually moves relatively quickly through this part of our body. The large intestine is usually where most of the gut microbiota is found. You can develop an overgrowth from surgery or from a condition like Crohn’s disease.
Source: NIH
5. Frequent Antibiotics
Frequent antibiotic usage is another cause of digestive problems. This is because antibiotics’ role is to eliminate bacteria from an infection in our body. Many of these antibiotics have a broad spectrum meaning that they kill the bad bacteria which is causing the infection, but they also kill the good bacteria in our gut. Overtime, antibiotic use can impact our overall gut bacterial balance.
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6. Alcohol
Another cause of digestive problems is the consumption of alcohol. Because ethanol is the main component in alcoholic beverages, it can alter the composition of the gut bacteria in addition to killing the bacteria themselves.
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7. Environmental Toxins
Environmental toxins are another cause of digestive problems. When exposed over a long period of time, the tight junctions can loosen and these toxins can enter our body and our cells. Examples of these environmental toxins can be heavy metals, pesticides, artificial sweeteners, and nicotine.
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8. Food Additives
Food additives can also be a cause of digestive problems. Many shelf-stable foods contain a large ingredient list with many things you may not even know how to pronounce. Well, many of these ingredients you should be careful to consume because they can irritate and damage the gut lining. These ingredients are added usually to preserve the food’s homogeneity, or they keep the calorie intake low by using an artificial sweetener. Ingredients to watch out for are synthetic amorphous silica, titanium dioxide, Splenda, maltodextrin, and carboxymethylcellulose.
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9. Low Protein
Protein is important to consume daily because if intake is low, this can be a cause of digestive problems. If you are vegan or vegetarian, you may be consuming less protein than you need in a day, but it is always important to take a look at a whole week’s intake of meals to see if you are low. Low protein diets can be detrimental because they can lower stomach acid production. We need a proper amount of stomach acid production in order to efficiently break down our food so that we can absorb as many nutrients as possible. Protein is the hardest macronutrient to digest, so if stomach acid is low then it will be tougher to digest food in the future. In addition, we need very low pH stomach acid in order to protect our gut from pathogens.
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10. Excess Sugar
Excess sugar intake is another cause of digestive problems, especially in the US. Our daily sugar intake has risen dramatically over the past few years in the US due to corporations sneaking added sugar into almost every packaged food on the shelf. The average US American is consuming about 20 teaspoons of sugar in a day, while the American Heart Association recommends Americans to consume between 6 to 9 teaspoons a day. Intaking this high caliper amount of sugar is detrimental to gut health. In a study comparing low and high sugar diets, they found a slower duration of time for food to transfer through the gut on the high sugar diet. In the high sugar diet, there was also an alteration in the bowel flora to show an effect on gut microbiota. High sugar diets were also found to disrupt the overall gut circadian rhythm.
11. Restricting Food
Restricting food or undereating is another cause of digestive problems. When you restrict food, you don’t get enough nutrients to your gut bacteria which can decrease the diversity of the gut lining. In addition, similar to a low protein diet, you need to eat enough food in order to keep producing enough stomach acid.
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12. Past Trauma
Another cause of digestive problems is past trauma. When you have been through a traumatic event, you can create a prolonged stress response in your body. As mentioned, stress long term can impact the biodiversity of the gut bacteria.
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13. Certain Medications
Certain medications can also be a cause of digestive problems. As a rule of thumb, always consult your doctor when you are taking medications and ask about possible gut-related side effects. Medications can eliminate gut microbiota in a similar way that antibiotics do.
14. Food Reactions
Food reactions can be a sensitivity or can be a full-on allergy, either way, these reactions can be a cause of digestive problems. Overtime if you are continually consuming food you know will cause you to have bad gas, bloating, diarrhea, or constipation, this can elicit a prolonged stress and inflammatory response in your body. If you notice extreme symptoms in response to eating certain foods it may be time to get tested and to see if you have a sensitivity.
15. Autoimmune Conditions
Autoimmune conditions are when your white blood cells sense a part of your body as a pathogen or intruder and will attack that organ or tissue. Common examples of this are celiac disease and type 1 diabetes. In celiac patients, the consumption of gluten elicits an autoimmune reaction in the small intestine. In type 1 diabetes patients, their body elicits an autoimmune reaction to their pancreas destroying their ability to make insulin, as a result, insulin must be administered externally to maintain blood sugar levels.
