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World Digestive Health Day is about wellbeing for digestive health. For this reason, we raise awareness every year on May 29 with World Digestive Health Day. Support the event by raising awareness of the role lifestyle and wellbeing have on digestive health. The color periwinkle blue represents many of the gut health issues such as IBS. Purple represents other gut issues. The color green represents gastroparesis. And the color blue represents colon cancer. Please look at our Cause Chart to see which color pertains to your particular gut health awareness campaign.
The gut microbiota is the community of microbes (bacteria, viruses, fungi) that live in the gastrointestinal tract and in particular the large intestine (large bowel).
The balance of your community of gut microbes is important to the health of the gut microbiota ‘ecosystem’ and your health. Think of it like a rainforest, where the health and survival of the plants and animals effects all the other species living there and in the environment as a whole. The composition of the gut microbiota will, therefore, impact your health too.
Our gut microbiota has many helpful interactions with our body but three of the main functions are:
Lifestyle factors like diet, physical activity, sleep and managing stress can support our gut microbiota.
But the digestive system is unique. iIt communicates signs, both healthy and warning signs, using all of the five senses. These senses provide health indicators. So by listening, tasting, seeing, smelling and feeling more, you can really tune in to your gut.
Sound: The rumbles and groans generated in your abdomen are caused by the propulsion of gas and fluid through different regions of the gut. The fluid is a mixture of food, drink, and digestive juices. These noises are more obvious when you are hungry or nervous because stimulation of the vagus nerves cause gut propulsion.
Sight: Feces can differ in color, but black and tarry stools can indicate bleeding in the small intestine or stomach while pale stools accompanied by dark urine could indicate gall stones.
Feel: Cramping and abdominal pains are most likely due to spasm but if persistent may indicate intestinal obstruction. Pain like a knife just below the breast bone that is relieved by eating may suggest peptic ulceration. Pain in the right upper corner of the abdomen that goes to the back just below the right shoulder blade may indicate gallstones. Bloating may be related to a combination of stress and ingestion of gassy fruits and vegetables.
Taste: Sufferers of acid reflux may experience a sour taste caused by regurgitated stomach acid.
Smell: Contrary to popular belief, men don’t produce smellier gas. The smell of an individual’s gas is related to the fermentation of unabsorbed carbohydrate and protein food and therefore relates to what they have been eating, how much escapes absorption, and the effect of stress on gut transit.