The one thing which is more important than anything and cannot be purchased with money is good health. A healthy person can be rich or poor. Money can’t make anyone healthy, although money can buy stuff that can improve health. Being healthy is very important as what is the use of anything if we are not able to use them due to poor health.
Science has improved so much with time, now we can differentiate between types of health. For example, many are not aware of this, but digestive and gut health is very different from each other.
Gut Health vs Digestive Health
The main difference between Gut Health and Digestive health is that Digestive Health is a small part of Gut Health; this means Digestive health is directly or indirectly influenced by Gut Health. Except this, they also have their symptoms, Importance and can be maintained or improved by a different measure. If gut health is maintained, digestive health is improved along with it.
Gut health is known as the state of the intestinal lining, or in simple words, it is responsible for making good bacteria so that diseases caused by other bacteria such as fungi, etc., can be avoided. It is important to have good gut health, and this can be done with proper food easily. This includes high fiber food, almonds, low sugar intake, etc.
Digestive Health is measure by the number of nutrients absorbed in the body through breaking the food and liquid. If maximum nutrients are absorbed, the individual is likely to have healthy digestive health. This also can be improved by doing physical activities and intake of proper diet and water.
Comparison Table Between Gut Health and Digestive Health
| Parameters of Comparison | Gut Health | Digestive Health |
| Meaning | state of the intestinal lining | It is healthy digestion by breaking food and liquids. |
| Importance | ward off infectious agents | Absorb the important nutrients. |
| Symptoms | Unintentional weight change, constant fatigue, autoimmune diseases, etc. | Bleeding, skin irritation, food intolerance, etc. |
| Food | Olive Oil, Almonds, etc. | Yogurt, fennel, chia seeds, etc |
| Measures to improve | Manage stress, less sugar, regular exercise, etc. | High fiber food, and plenty of water, etc. |
What is Gut Health?
Gut Health is becoming the center of attraction for the researcher or scientists. Now not every person is aware of Gut Health. There is a gut microbiome present in our body. These are considered as the good bacteria which help in warding off the bad bacteria.
Signs or Reasons of an unhealthy Gut Health can be:
- Upset Stomach: bad gut health can lead to stomach-related problems which include, bloating, constipation, heartburn, etc., which can lead to more difficulty in processing food and carrying out the waste from the body.
- A-High Sugar Diet: intake of high-sugar food results in decreasing the level of good gut health as it can lead to the termination of good bacteria out of the body.
- Weight Changes: if the individual is suffering unintentional gain and loss of weight, he is most probably suffering from unhealthy gut health.
- Constant Fatigue: if an individual is suffering from insomnia or lack of proper sleep. As a result, he will feel constant fatigue which is also a symptom of bad gut health.
More signs include skin irritation, autoimmune conditions, and food intolerance, etc. in case if any sign is noticed, the doctor should be consulted.
What is Digestive Health?
Digestion is the process of absorbing important and necessary nutrients in the body by breaking down food and liquid that we eat. It is very easy to detect if a person is suffering from any digestive health-related problem. And proper measure can be taken to improve it, few measures are:
- Eat Real Food: real food should be added to the diet, fast food should be taken which includes fruits, cereals, and anything that can be eaten raw, fast food should not be mistaken with the junk food that should be avoided the most. Food rich in fiber should be eaten.
- Hydration: it is important for breaking down the process that a person should drink at least 3 liters of water in a day; otherwise, it becomes quite difficult to digest the food.
- Stress level: mental health also makes an impact on digestive health; therefore, every person should maintain or keep a check o his stress level.
- Chew the food: the more chewed food is eaten, the easier the digestion process becomes.
- Physical activity: any physical activity on a daily basis also improves digestion and digestive health. A person who does any physical activity daily has a more good digestion system than a person who does not perform any physical activity.
Main Differences Between Gut Health and Digestive Health
- Gut Health is a broad concept that includes various other factors of the body, whereas the digestive system is merely just a part of the Gut Health. This implies that if the gut health of a person is not good, therefore, its digestive health is automatically bad.
- Gut Health is important as it wards off the infectious agents as good gut health contains healthy bacteria. This will lead to a decrease in viruses and fungi etc., whereas having a good digestive system is important as it is responsible for the absorption of food nutrients which are required to perform every activity in our daily life.
- Symptoms of bad gut health include constant weight changes (either gain or loss), feeling of constant fatigue, and weak immune system and symptoms of the unhealthy digestive system include bleeding, skin irritation, food intolerance, and many more.
- To improve gut health, individuals should take proper sleep of a minimum of 8 hours, manage the stress level, perform physical activity on a daily basis, and improve digestive health individuals should eat food with high fiber, drink plenty of water and avoid deep-fried food.
- Overall digestive health is a part of gut health, whereas gut health is a vast concept that includes other health or activity.
Conclusion
It is clear how gut health and digestive health are linked but not the same. It is important to maintain both of them as any lack of these can cause serious harm to the whole body directly or indirectly. The simplest activity or thing a person can do is health healthy and sleep well. We take these little things very lightly, but in reality, they impact our lives the most. Not only the gut and digestive health but the overall development of an individual is impacted by them.
But in case of any serious symptoms, medical help should be taken immediately as in most cases, people avoid seeking a doctor and neglect this. As a result, the symptoms which can be cured easily with medicine become more dangerous, sometimes incurable.
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359644603027466
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924224402000201
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S154235651831019X
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123876690000028