Malnutrition Body: How Does The Gut Play A Role?

Author's Bio: Katie Bailey, MS, RD, LD, FNC

Hi everyone. Welcome back to our channel.

What is malnutrition and what effect does it have on the body?

What are some common signs and symptoms associated with malnutrition?

How is malnutrition and gut health connected?

How can you improve malnutrition through gut health?

These are the questions I'll be addressing in today's video.

[Video Transcript Below Video - it is the same information]

Hi, I'm Katie Bailey. I'm a gut health dietitian at Oswald Digestive Clinic, where we help individuals improve and resolve their bothersome gut issues.

If you're interested in learning more about gut health, I'll link our free guide Five Ways to Improve Your Gut Health HERE.

All right, let's get started on today's topic.

What is malnutrition and how does it affect the body?

Malnutrition is a condition that arises when the body does not receive the essential nutrients that it requires to function properly.

It can manifest in various different forms, including undernutrition, which results from having a deficiency in essential nutrients or overnutrition where the body has excessive amounts of certain nutrients.

And malnutrition can have severe consequences on our overall health affecting multiple body systems in organs. When the body's deprived of essential nutrients, it can lead to many different health issues, including weight changes depending on the type of malnutrition can either cause or cause you to lose or gain weight.

It can cause a weakened immune system making individuals more susceptible to various different diseases. You may see muscle wasting with a lack of that protein in essential nutrients.

Developmental delays, especially in children, as well as mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and cognitive impairment.

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What are some common signs and symptoms associated with malnutrition?

So malnutrition can manifest in various different ways, and signs and symptoms are going to vary depending on the underlying cause and the specific nutrients that are deficient or in excess.

So some gastrointestinal symptoms someone may see is abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, constipation and heartburn.

Physically malnutrition can cause weight changes, muscle wasting, thinning or dull hair, pale or discolored skin, or a swollen or puffy face.

Cognitive and behavioral changes include fatigue, irritability, memory problems, and difficulty concentrating. And then immune system related symptoms include frequent infections and slowed wound healing.

How is malnutrition and gut health connected?

So the gut plays a crucial role in the body's ability to absorb and utilize the nutrients that we consume. It's a complex system that not only helps to break down our food and absorb nutrients, but it also is a barrier against harmful substances and pathogens.

When the gut is compromised, it can lead to malnutrition, even if an individual is consuming adequate nutrients, malnutrition can impact the gut's ability to properly function, and poor gut health can contribute to the development of malnutrition.

There are several factors that contribute to the relationship between gut health and malnutrition.

The first is digestive and absorption functions.

So the gut is responsible for breaking down the food that we eat into smaller molecules that the body can absorb and utilize.

So any disruption in these processes can lead to malnutrition.

The second thing is our gut microbiome.

So this community of microorganisms play a crucial role in nutrient absorption, immune function, and overall gut health. So an imbalanced gut microbiome can contribute to malnutrition and vice versa.

The third thing is gut integrity.

So the gut lining acts as a barrier preventing harmful substances from getting into the bloodstream.

Now, malnutrition can compromise this barrier and increased intestinal permeability.

So any disruption in any of these processes can lead to malnutrition.

When it comes to digestion conditions like enzyme deficiencies or infections or structural abnormalities that are going to impair digestion can lead to malnutrition diseases that affect nutrient absorption like Crohn's disease or celiac disease, or intestinal surgeries can also lead to malnutrition and disruptions in our gut.

Microbiome can also lead to malnutrition because it's going to increase inflammation and impair our nutrient absorption.

How can you improve malnutrition through gut health?

So addressing malnutrition often requires a multifaceted approach that's going to target specific nutritional deficiencies or excesses, as well as the underlying gut health issues.

So strategies to improve malnutrition related to gut health include dietary modifications, so adjusting the diet to ensure adequate nutrients while considering specific dietary intolerances. So really focusing on a whole foods diet, limiting processed foods and inflammatory foods.

You're going to want to incorporate nutrient dense foods or supplement for specific nutrient deficiencies. And then lastly, avoiding or reducing foods that are going to make your symptoms worse or increase inflammation, so things like food allergies or food intolerances.

The next thing you can do is to incorporate probiotics and prebiotics.

This is going to help restore a balanced gut microbiome and improve nutrient absorption.

So that's going to look like increasing your of fermented foods or starting a probiotic and also increasing your fiber intake to make sure that you're feeding that beneficial bacteria.

The next thing you can do is work on gut barrier repair, so specific supplements or dietary interventions to really support the repair and integrity of that gut lining. So things like bone broth and collagen and l-glutamine can be very supportive for this purpose.

And then lastly, lifestyle modifications like optimizing your sleep, managing your stress levels, getting in regular physical activity can also positively impact your gut health.

In Summary

So to wrap up our topic for today, a healthy gut is essential for maintaining proper nutrient balance and preventing malnutrition.

Conversely, malnutrition can have a significant impact on our gut health, creating a vicious cycle that only perpetuates the condition.

So by addressing nutritional deficiencies in our gut health, individuals can potentially overcome the challenges of malnutrition and achieve optimal health.

So that's it for today's video.

If you like this video, please hit the like button and subscribe for more nutrition videos.

If you're interested in working with our clinic, you can click the link HERE to schedule an appointment.

We do take insurance and you can find more information about that on our website.

Thank you for watching. I'll see you next time.

Bye.

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If you'd like to explore any of this information further or obtain an individualized nutrition plan, you can schedule an initial appointment at our clinic. We also take insurance and some of our clients get full coverage, which is great.