While no one is immune to the occasional stomach ache, prolonged issues with your digestive tract could be a signal that something is wrong. Indeed, men’s gut health affects their overall health. Common issues with men’s gut health include leaky gut, SIBO, candida overgrowth, and IBS.

gut dysbiosis

Bloating, diarrhea and constipation are discomforts you shouldn’t have to live with. Plus, other chronic health problems like histamine intolerance, autoimmune disease, or chronic fatigue can also be caused by poor gut health.

The Gut Microbiome and Gut Health

Your gut is the gateway to health.

To understand why gut health is so important, you need to know about the gut microbiome. It lives in your gastrointestinal tract and consists of trillions of bacteria, archaea, protists, fungi, and viruses. These microbes are vital for many of the metabolic, immune, and nutritional functions of your body.

When your gut microbiome is out of balance the rest of your body suffers. Most of the issues with men’s gut health can be linked back to gut dysbiosis, which is a gut microbiome that is out of balance. This means there are more bad bacteria than good bacteria living in your gut. It also means that most gut health issues are interconnected.

Here are the four most common issues with men’s gut health.

Leaky Gut

Leaky gut syndrome is an imbalance in your gut microbiome that causes intestinal permeability. This intestinal permeability allows substances to pass through your intestines and enter the bloodstream.

Normally, the lining of your intestinal wall controls which substances can and cannot pass through the use of tiny, finger-like projections called villi. Imagine your gut is a drawbridge that allows tiny boats, or micronutrients, to pass. The problem occurs when larger boats like toxins, microbes, and undigested food particles try to pass through. leaky gut treatment

When these larger substances pass into the bloodstream your body labels them as foreign invaders and triggers an inflammatory response through the immune system to try and eliminate them. Chronic inflammation is linked to many of the diseases that represent the leading cause of disability and mortality worldwide.

Here are a few additional factors that contribute to a bacterial imbalance and leaky gut.

Symptoms of a leaky gut include:

SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth)

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is another common issue with men’s gut health. It’s also linked to gut dysbiosis. SIBO is when there is an imbalance of bacteria in your small intestine. Most of your gut bacteria are meant to be in your large intestine and colon, where they help break down food, synthesize vitamins, and eliminate waste. SIBO Symptoms

Unfortunately, things like a poor diet or certain medications can cause bacteria to overgrow and colonize your small intestine. Symptoms of SIBO consist of:

Candida Overgrowth

If you think yeast infections only affect women, you’re in for a reckoning. Men can get yeast infections, or candida overgrowth, just like women. It is actually a very common men’s gut health issue that is overlooked because men often don’t believe they get yeast infections.

You see, yeast infections are common in men because the fungus that causes yeast infections naturally lives in small amounts in your mouth and intestines. Its job is to aid with digestion and nutrient absorption. Ideally, candida, bacteria, and other microflora exist in harmony in your gut microbiome. But, just like bacterial overgrowth, candida overgrowth disrupts that balance.

digestive issues

Causes of candida overgrowth include high carb diets, excessive alcohol consumption, eating fermented foods, medications, chronic stress, and autoimmune disease treated with immunosuppressants.

Symptoms of candida overgrowth can be experienced throughout the body. It also results in higher levels of inflammation. Here are a few symptoms to look out for:

  • Skin and nail fungal infections
  • Chronic fatigue
  • Gastrointestinal issues
  • Mood disorders
  • Brain fog
  • Autoimmune disease
  • Skin issues
  • Strong sugar and carb cravings
  • Strong seasonal allergies or histamine intolerance

IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)

Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common functional gastrointestinal disorder. It consists of abdominal pain or discomfort and changes in bowel patterns. Studies estimate that 10-15 percent of adults suffer from IBS symptoms. Yet, only 5 to 7 percent of adults have been diagnosed with the disease.

The defining factor of IBS is that it’s not a single disease with a single cause. There exist factors such as food and stress that trigger IBS symptoms to flare. There are also larger, underlying issues like an autoimmune disease where IBS actually presents as a symptom itself.

This makes irritable bowel syndrome tricky to pinpoint and diagnose. It shares a lot of the same risk factors of autoimmunity, including leaky gut, food sensitivities, toxins, infections, and stress, as well as an underlying inflammatory condition.

In fact, leaky gut, SIBO, and candida overgrowth are all factors that could be the cause of your IBS.

If you have had extensive lab testing, studies, and procedures done, but everything comes back normal, you likely have irritable bowel syndrome. Finding the root cause of your IBS is the key to managing and reversing your condition. That root cause may be another gastrointestinal disorder, a hormone imbalance, or other autoimmune condition. gut health doctor

A functional medicine practitioner will be able to identify exactly what gut health issue you may be dealing with.

Men’s Gut Health Treatment Options?

The conventional approach to gut health is to treat the symptoms of a digestive disorder. Unfortunately, if you do not heal the root cause of the problem and start repairing your gut, you’ll most likely suffer from poor gut health your entire life.

A few ways you can begin to repair your gut involve eating whole foods and eliminating highly processed and sugary foods. Exercising regularly and getting adequate sleep each night will also improve your digestive system and balance the microbiota in your gut.

Gut health impacts the rest of your health, which is why sometimes you need extra help to manage and reverse your condition. Our team of functional medicine doctors understands that gut health is complex and interconnected. The gut healing program at Rose Wellness utilizes integrative health protocols to help you find healing.