After you have had COVID, there are several symptoms you may have noticed lingering, including low energy, brain fog, and lung issues. Yet there are also less-common symptoms that pop up. You may have noticed some gut symptoms flare up when you had COVID. And with this post written by Ballarat naturopaths, let us learn more how COVID affects our gut health.
Maybe you had diarrhoea or abdominal pain. A symptom that may not have resolved but instead continued, maybe even developed into a chronic gut problem like irritable bowel syndrome.
Gut Health: Gut Involvement
The specific mechanisms by which COVID causes gut issues are still being investigated. The leading theories is that the damage occurs in the same way other viruses trigger changes to the gut. When you have COVID, the virus can cause changes in your gut; changes that then linger.
The change occurs in the signalling connections between your gut and your brain. A change to your gut-brain signalling that remains even after the infection is resolved. This change, in an area full of nerves that connect the gut to the brain, can have negative effects.
Gut-Brain Connection
There are so many nerves in your gut that it is often referred to as the second brain. Normally, these nerves control all the aspects of digestion. When they are working normally, you don’t feel anything. Digestion is a normal, painless process when everything is working well. These nerves help your body to know when to produce digestive juices, when you need to use the toilet, and when you are full.
When the nerves aren’t working well, or the gut-brain signalling is altered you can end up with various symptoms like pain, diarrhoea, constipation, or other bowel changes. These conditions are referred to as: disordered gut-brain interactions. The change in the gut-brain signalling which was caused by the COVID infection is what has caused this disorder.
Are you experiencing any of the mentioned above? Have a chat with our best naturopaths in Bendigo and Ballarat to discuss a personalised approach that best applies to you.
You can also check these healthcare articles regarding general health issues.
