The main causes of poor digestive health
Poor digestive health can be caused by a number of issues. These issues can range from acute incidents like picking up an infection or perhaps even acute emotional stress. Also, more chronic issues like chronic emotional stressors as well as what we eat, how we eat, when we eat, medications (particularly antibiotic use), supplement use and more.
I find that in most cases of significant digestive upset, it can often be tracked back to a period in your life where you were under significant stress physically or emotionally. That moment or even the treatment involved in that moment acts as a trigger that leads to the development of chronic symptoms associated with poor digestive health.
This is why I find that performing a health timeline with my clients is so important as it enables us to find triggers which can sometimes help guide our approach to once again establishing some level of balance in the digestive system.
In my own personal experience, I was able to track back to a 6 month window about 3-4 years previous where I had a significant car accident, was in the final few months of University, and picked up an infection whilst in Egypt. From that point my health and vitality gradually deteriorated. With that history and appropriate testing we were able to pick up on a common hospital born pathogenic bacteria called Clostridium Difficile and another common pathogenic bacteria Helicobacter Pylori.
Once these infections were resolved and balance was restored to my digestive system, my health bounced back immediately. Digestive dysfunction can occur for a number of reasons and this is why a holistic approach to optimising your gut is one that often elicits the most effective long-term results.