You’ve heard it before: trust your gut. But what if your gut’s been throwing tantrums and serving chaos instead of clarity?
It’s World Digestive Health Day so what better reason to check in? If you’re constantly tired (even after 8 hours of beauty sleep), breaking out for no reason, or craving sweet matcha lattes like it’s your full-time job, your gut might be the drama queen behind it all.
Your gut isn’t just where digestion happens, it’s a key character in your overall health. Inside your digestive tract lives a microscopic ecosystem called the gut microbiome, a whole community of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that influence everything from your skin to your happy hormone levels.
We’re talking about mood, metabolism, immunity, skin clarity, energy, and hormonal balance. Yep, all of it.
So, what is the gut microbiome? Think of your gut as a city as thriving as Dubai, packed with good and bad microbes trying to coexist. When the good guys thrive, you glow. But when the balance is off, thanks to stress, poor sleep, antibiotics, or that 3-day instant ramen diet (yep, we’re talking to you 👀), things start to spiral.
In fact, many of the biggest gut mistakes young women make aren’t what you’d expect. According to Amera Varghese, expert Clinical Dietitian at Smart Salem, it’s not just junk food to blame, it’s “yo-yo cleansing diets, unnecessary supplements, overusing antibiotics, and lack of fibre in the diet”.
While we’re out here prioritising protein and obsessing over collagen supplements, we’re missing out on prebiotic and probiotic-rich foods, the real gut health heroes.
Here are some signs that your gut might be a hot mess…
Your gut could be out of sync if you’ve been experiencing constant bloating or discomfort after meals, forgetfulness, fatigue even after a full night’s sleep, or sudden food sensitivities that seem to appear out of nowhere.
Other common signs include mood swings, low motivation, anxiety, skin breakouts, constipation, or catching colds more frequently than usual, all of which could be your gut’s way of waving a red flag.
These symptoms might be overlooked or masked with plasters, but without digging into your gut health, they’ll keep making an unwelcome return.
And yes, gut health really can affect your mood, skin, and hormones, it’s not just wellness hype. “It’s science, not hype. Your gut is connected to your brain via the gut-brain axis and even plays a role in managing oestrogen and inflammation, both of which affect your mood and skin,” explains Amera.
So, if you’ve been spiralling emotionally during your luteal phase and breaking out, your gut might be the silent instigator.
A gut-wrecking diet doesn’t just mean sugar overload. It’s more subtle than that, high-sugar, low-fibre convenience foods are the real villains. Amera warns “They feed the bad bacteria, throwing the gut out of balance. Long-term, this can lead to inflammation, leaky gut, cravings, fatigue, and even anxiety.”
So, what can you do? Amera shares three small shifts you can start now:
1. Eat a fibre-packed breakfast (think oats, chia, berries)
2. Add fermented foods like kimchi, kefir, or miso to your meals
3. Cut down on processed snacks and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
It doesn’t stop there. You can actually biohack your gut with real data. If you’re ready to stop guessing, Smart Salem’s Gut Microbiome Health Package is next-level wellness. Instead of vague advice, you’ll get real data on what’s happening inside your body.
The test decodes your gut’s unique fingerprint and looks at what microbes are living in your gut, how diverse they are, and what they’re doing to your health, for better or worse.
“The test tells you what types of bacteria are living in your gut, whether there’s overgrowth or a lack of diversity, and if inflammation might be present, giving you clear, personalised next steps,” Amera explains.
Whether you’re dealing with bloating, skin flare-ups, or low energy, this could be your answer.
TLDR? If you’re not feeling like your best self, don’t sleep on your gut. It’s smarter than you think, and it might be trying to tell you something.