What Is The Gut Microbiome? A Guide to Targeting A Major Contributor To Gut Health In Fibromyalgia

The goal of every fibro warrior is to live a life free of pain, with more than enough energy to do all the things you want to do, and to be able to think clearly.

But with all the things going wrong in your body, it can be hard to imagine that you could get your fibromyalgia symptoms under control, so you can finally say goodbye to the handfuls of pills, endless hours spent at appointment, and the guilt that comes with cancelling plans.

Oftentimes, it just comes down to choosing the right strategies to support your body and your health. So many strategies out there are designed to relieve your fibromyalgia symptoms, when you should be preventing them from happening in the first place.

Maybe you’ve been following a keto diet, intermittent fasting, and trying to exercise every day and wondering “why am I still in pain, waking up feeling exhausted, feeling bloated and blah, and struggling to hold a conversation? Aren’t all these changes supposed to help?!”.

And when you know gut health is important in fibromyalgia, but nothing seems to help, it can make you feel frustrated and hopeless.

Today, you’re in luck! I’m going to share a strategy that has been missing from your efforts so far. This strategy that will help you get your pain under control, boost your energy, and get your brain back without costing you a fortune or requiring that you give up everything you love.  

I'll cover gut health and balancing the gut microbiome, how it works and how you can get started.

Keep reading for more details.

What Is The Gut Microbiome?

The gut microbiome is the collection of microorganisms that live in the gut. These microbes include bacteria, viruses, fungi, yeast, and sometimes, parasites. Our little friends are so tiny, in fact, that we can’t see them without the help of a microscope.

Our digestive tracts are filled with these microbes. It is estimated that there are 100 trillion bacterial cells in our gut. In fact, bacterial cells are thought to outnumber our human cells 10 to 1. How crazy is that?!

While this may seem gross, many of these bacteria help keep us healthy. They produce nutrients for us, help to break down food, and take up valuable space to prevent more pathogenic (bad) bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites from moving in. They also play a huge role in regulating the immune system, inflammation levels, gut health, and hormones.

Our gut microbiome is influenced by many factors, including our mother’s microbiome during pregnancy and breastfeeding, infections we’ve been exposed to throughout our lives, how “clean” our environment is (i.e. disinfectants and sanitizers we may be exposed to), food poisoning, travel, pesticides, the food we eat, mould exposure, how effective our immune system is, stress, supplements, various medications (including antibiotics, stomach-acid lowering medicines, and the birth control pill), among others.

Research has linked fibromyalgia to imbalances in the gut microbiome, which can also be called gut dysbiosis. Some researchers even theorize that we may be able to use the gut microbiome as a diagnostic tool in fibromyalgia one day, as it appears fibro warriors have a specific signature of species living in their gut microbiomes.

We’re not there yet; however, we do know that the toxins and inflammation produced by the microbes in the gut microbiome damage the lining of the digestive tract causing it to become a “leaky gut”, damage the mitochondria, mess up your stress and sleep hormones, activate the stress response, and prevent your body from healing properly.

The gut microbiome has wonderful benefits for our health when it’s healthy and detrimental consequences when it isn’t. Incorporating the gut microbiome into your fibromyalgia health plan will help you to get your pain under control much faster, prevent symptoms flares, and give you the mental clarity you need to stay on track with your goals.

Addressing gut health and the balance of the gut microbiome should be an essential part of every fibromyalgia health plan.

Watch This: The 3 Secrets To Beating Pain, Exhaustion, & Fibrofog Masterclass

Why Is The Gut Microbiome Important?

Gut dysbiosis causes a number of symptoms, including:

• Bloating

• Gas

• Diarrhea

• Constipation

• Mucus in the stool

• Pain

• Brain fog

• Fatigue

• Lack of appetite

• Nausea

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Allergies

• Hypothyroidism

• Autoimmune conditions

• Fatty liver disease

• Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes

• Sugar and carbohydrate cravings

• Weight loss or gain

• Psoriasis, eczema, or skin rashes

• Painful periods

• Chronic inflammation

• Yeast infections

• Feeling better or worse on probiotics or antibiotics

• Nutrient deficiencies

• Inability to tolerate many different foods

That’s a long list, isn’t it? A condition that you may be more familiar with is Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It’s common knowledge that Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is often diagnosed in people with fibromyalgia. Estimates range from 25% to 81% of fibro warriors who also suffer from IBS.

Irritable bowel syndrome is the collection of symptoms that arise from an imbalanced gut microbiome. These symptoms include abdominal pain or cramping, diarrhea, constipation, straining, urgent bowel movements, mucus in the stool, gas, bloating, anxiety, and depression. Once the gut microbiome is corrected, IBS symptoms diminish significantly.

In my work with hundreds of people with fibromyalgia, I’ve seen the profound effects of addressing gut health and gut dysbiosis over and over again.

By balancing the gut microbiome, you’ll have more control over your symptoms and increase the efficacy of all your other health changes.

This way, you will finally achieve the goal you’re aiming for – A painless, energetic life free of fibromyalgia symptoms.

Also, balancing the gut microbiome gives you more freedom in your day-to-day life.

Imagine going out for dinner with friends or family without worrying about where the bathroom is. Or being able to travel to an exotic destination without having to worry about all the little things that make exploring with fibromyalgia bearable. You know what I’m talking about. It’s frustrating having to ask the hotel about their mattresses, pillows, and bedding or worrying about whether you’ll be able to do that walking tour without crashing the next day (or worse…). Planning around how you feel with fibromyalgia could be a full-time job in itself.

That means you won’t have to continue spending hundreds of dollars on supplements and medications, spend your precious free time at appointments, or deal with the guilt and embarrassment of having to cancel your plans yet again.

But, What About My Probiotic?

If balancing the gut microbiome sounds like another thing to add to the to-do list, I get it.

There is more than one factor causing your fibromyalgia symptoms and the gut microbiome is just one of those factors.

The point is: The gut microbiome is a big factor contributing to fibromyalgia symptoms. If you haven’t targeted it yet or you haven’t done so in the right way, you’re not going to make as much progress as you’d like to.

Many people with fibromyalgia will say “I Take A Probiotic, How Could My Gut Microbiome Be Out Of Balance?”

Let’s start by defining a probiotic. A probiotic is a supplement containing healthy bacteria. It often comes in pill form; however powder and liquid probiotics are becoming more popular. When adding healthy bacteria to the gut, the idea is that those healthy bacteria make a home in our gut microbiome. By doing this, they take up space and use resources, which prevents pathogenic microbes from having enough space or resources to thrive.

Whenever the gut microbiome topic comes up, many people jump to the conclusion that a probiotic is the best option to fix this problem. I’m going to share a little secret with you: A probiotic is not going to fix your gut microbiome when you have fibromyalgia.

A probiotic may help calm your stomach and take away some bloating, but all those benefits will go away once you stop the probiotic. That means the probiotic is just a band-aid solution. With fibromyalgia, the gut dysbiosis is severe enough that a probiotic is not going to fix it.

When pathogenic microbes move into your gut microbiome, they’re often much stronger than the healthy bacteria present there. This means the “bad” bacteria can take up more space and steal more resources than the healthy bacteria can, resulting in shrinking populations of healthy bacteria over time and growing populations of pathogenic microbes.

Adding more healthy bacteria into your gut isn’t going to stop this from happening. You’re going to need stronger options to fix this imbalance and ensure you’re not stuck relying on a daily pill to keep your symptomatic improvements in check.

Tips for Supporting A Healthy Gut Microbiome

Here are a few tips to help you maximize your results with balancing your gut microbiome and preventing it from contributing to your fibromyalgia symptoms:

First, Ditch The Sugar

To achieve the best results, you have to consider the huge impact your nutritional intake has on the health of your gut microbiome.

When you consume foods that support a healthy gut microbiome and avoid foods that harm it, you can effectively get rid of the pathogenic bacteria and support the healthy ones.

Research has shown that changes in your food intake can produce measurable changes in your gut microbiome in as little as 24 hours. That’s fast!

These quick changes can be good or bad, as in they can either support the growth of more healthy bacteria or encourage the growth of more bacteria that are detrimental to your health goals.

For example:

Sugar feeds the microbes in your gut microbiome. When you have an imbalance in the “good” and “bad” species of microbes in your gut microbiome and you’re consuming lots of sugary treats, beverages, and simple carbohydrates (think breads, pastries, pastas, etc.), this will feed the pathogenic microbes and make the imbalance worse.

For better results, make sure you read ingredient labels and opt for whole foods with little sugar.  This way, you won’t be encouraging growth of the microbes you are trying to get rid of. 

Next, Incorporate Anti-Microbial Herbs Into Your Meals

When you add herbs that help to clear out pathogenic bacteria into your food, you will make much faster progress in balancing your gut microbiome and experiencing the fibromyalgia symptom relief that comes with it.

In other words, you can use food to give your gut microbiome a reset, and then support the growth of health bacteria with much more ease compared to trying to add a probiotic to an environment that is not going to support them.

Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Include herbs such as oregano, rosemary, and thyme into your meals

• Both fresh and dried herbs are beneficial

• If you’re not sensitive to FODMAPs, garlic and onion are also very helpful in balancing your gut microbiome

Finally, Watch Your Fibre Intake

Nowadays, many people prefer to take a fibre supplement because they experience the gut health benefits of consuming fibre, such as more regular bathroom habits and less digestive symptoms. It’s best to get your fibre from whole foods where you can, rather than taking a supplemental option.

If you want to improve the health of your gut microbiome, you can’t overlook this crucial step.

Fibre is a type of carbohydrate that your body cannot digest. Because you don’t digest fibre, it travels through your digestive system and feeds your gut microbiome. These types of fibres can also be called prebiotics.

And if the idea of feeding the microbes in your gut makes you feel queasy, consider this:

When your gut microbiome is balanced, you’re feeding the healthy bacteria that live there. This allows the microbes to provide you with health benefits, such as producing vitamins, reducing inflammation, and reducing your fibromyalgia pain, fatigue, and brain fog.

You can support these healthy microbes without taking a probiotic every day and while ensuring your gut health is as good as it could possibly be.

That means if you don’t do pay attention to your fibre intake, you’re encouraging the gut dysbiosis that is contributing to your fibromyalgia symptoms.

One thing you can do is take a tally of how much fibre you’re consuming each day and ensure you’re getting enough. Here are the recommended daily amounts of fibre to consume:

• Women under 50 years of age should consume at least 25g of fibre daily.

• Women over 50 years of age should consume at least 21g of fibre daily.

• Men under 50 years of age should consume at least 38g of fibre daily.

• Men over 50 years of age should consume at least 30g of fibre daily.

This fibre can come from vegetables, fruits, oats, chickpeas, lentils, quinoa, beans, and many other foods.  

Start Focusing On Gut Health With Fibromyalgia Today

I hope this guide on balancing your gut microbiome has been helpful.  If you take anything away from this guide, remember that you have a ton of control over the health of your gut microbiome and there’s lots you can do to ensure gut dysbiosis is not contributing to your fibromyalgia pain, fatigue, and fibrofog.

The best way to achieve the reduction in fibromyalgia symptoms that comes with a healthy gut microbiome is to start with reducing your sugar intake, that way you can set yourself up for clearing out those pathogenic microbes and ensuring the healthy bacteria flourish. So, what do you say? Are you ready to give it a go?

Join The Flourishing With Fibromyalgia Academy

Now that you know the ins and outs of the gut microbiome and how it contributes to your fibromyalgia symptoms, it's time to dive even deeper into this and grab your spot in the Flourishing With Fibromyalgia Academy. There is a whole step-by-step course dedicated to the gut microbiome in the Academy, in addition to the courses dedicated to re-training your stress response, supporting healthy mitochondria, and so much more. The Flourishing With Fibromyalgia Academy includes everything you need to get your fibromyalgia symptoms under control once and for all.

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