5 ways to boost your gut for healthy weight loss!

Have you ever felt like you’re doing everything right – eating clean, exercising regularly, watching portion sizes – but the scales won’t budge? Don’t worry, you’re not alone! The missing piece of the puzzle might not be your willpower, but your gut.

Research shows that gut bacteria can influence up to 20% of the energy you extract from food.¹ This means that two people can eat the same meal, but one may absorb and store more calories than the other purely because of differences in their gut microbiome.

Your gut microbiome, the trillions of bacteria in your digestive tract, plays a vital role in regulating your weight and appetite hormones, including leptin, ghrelin, and insulin. If your gut is out of balance, it may sabotage your efforts before you even begin.

Meet the hormones: Ghrelin, leptin and insulin

Ghrelin is the hunger hormone; it signals your brain when it’s time to eat. Think: greedy!
Leptin is your I’m full hormone, telling your brain when you’ve had enough.
Insulin helps regulate blood sugar and fat storage.

When your gut bacteria are healthy, these hormones work in harmony. But when your gut becomes inflamed or imbalanced (dysbiotic), these hormonal signals become confused, leading to hunger, cravings, energy crashes, and stubborn weight gain.

Same calories, different outcomes: The microbiome factor

Weight loss isn’t just calories in vs calories out; it’s more complex. Let’s explore…

Your gut microbiota directly influences energy balance, producing metabolites like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), secondary bile acids, and lipopolysaccharide. These act as signalling molecules that affect how your body harvests energy, stores fat, and regulates gut motility and appetite.² One study found that transplanting gut bacteria from obese humans to germ-free mice caused the mice to gain weight, despite no change in their diet.³ This demonstrates how the gut microbiome can influence fat storage and metabolism.

Certain types of gut bacteria are more efficient at extracting energy from food.⁴ If your microbiome contains more of these energy-harvesting microbes, you may absorb more calories than someone else (with a different microbial makeup). It’s not just about what or how much you eat – it’s about how your gut processes it.

Obese individuals tend to have lower microbial diversity compared to lean people.⁵ This shows that microbes can directly affect weight management and that supporting your gut microbiome may be key to unlocking lasting results.

Gut shifts in pregnancy: A natural example

A great example of this is during pregnancy. During pregnancy, a woman’s microbiome naturally shifts to favour bacteria that extract more energy from food. This helps nourish both mum and baby, but also explains why weight gain, insulin resistance and gestational diabetes become more likely.⁶

If this energy-harvesting shift occurs outside of pregnancy, due to stress, antibiotics, processed foods, or chronic inflammation, it may lead to increased fat storage and metabolic dysfunction.

How does an unhealthy gut stall weight loss?

A disrupted gut microbiome doesn’t just affect digestion; it impacts your entire metabolic and hormonal system. Beyond altering how your body processes calories, it also impairs digestion and nutrient absorption, leaving you fatigued and more prone to reaching for quick-energy foods. At the same time, it increases inflammation and gut permeability, disrupting key weight-related hormones like ghrelin, leptin, and insulin.⁷ It also impacts other crucial hormones and neurotransmitters that influence mood, motivation, and appetite:

Serotonin: Around 90-95% is produced in the gut. It regulates mood, sleep, and appetite. Microbial imbalances can lead to low mood, poor sleep, and emotional eating.⁸
Dopamine: This reward hormone governs motivation, pleasure, and habits. Gut dysbiosis can blunt its signalling, making it harder to feel motivated, satisfied, or stick to healthy routines.⁹
Cortisol: Chronic stress can damage the gut lining and reduce microbial diversity. In turn, an imbalanced microbiome can increase cortisol levels, promoting fat storage (especially around the belly), blood sugar spikes, and sleep issues, making weight loss more difficult.¹⁰

These hormonal changes throw off appetite regulation, triggering cravings and overeating. When your gut is struggling, your motivation, focus, and mood can also take a hit, creating a vicious cycle that makes weight loss feel like more of an uphill battle.

Why did your gut get out of balance in the first place?

Our gut microbiome is shaped from birth, and a surprising number of factors can disrupt it over time:¹¹¹²¹³¹⁴

Antibiotic use – especially in childhood, it has been linked to a higher risk of obesity and diabetes.
Ultra-processed foods
Sugar, artificial sweeteners and food additives
Lack of dietary fibre
Chemical toxins in household or personal care products.
Medications (like NSAIDs, PPIs, steroids, statins).
Smoking, alcohol, and recreational drugs
Chronic stress and poor sleep
Sedentary lifestyle
Pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites).
Birth method (vaginal vs C-section) and feeding (breastfed vs formula) can shape your microbiome for life.

Supporting your gut for healthy hormonal weight loss

Here’s how to reset the balance:

Add probiotics: Fermented foods like kefir provide live bacteria that nourish your gut. Our award-winning kefir, with 27 different bacterial strains, is a powerful daily addition to help rebuild gut diversity.
Fuel with fibre: Prebiotic fibres feed your good bacteria. Eat more whole grains, legumes, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Our Complete Prebiotic contains 18 different natural fibres to keep your microbiome thriving.
Cut the gut disruptors: Minimise sugar, artificial sweeteners, ultra-processed foods, food additives, alcohol, and unnecessary antibiotics – all of which damage the gut lining and starve your good bugs.
Manage stress: Chronic stress feeds inflammation and damages the gut lining. Support your nervous system with daily self-care – walking, journaling, or meditation. Our Ashwagandha tincture is a natural adaptogen that helps reduce cortisol and restore balance.
Sleep matters: Poor sleep raises ghrelin (hunger) and lowers leptin (fullness) – the perfect recipe for overeating. Aim for 7-9 hours a night and create a relaxing bedtime routine. Consider Ashwagandha and our Sing Me to Sleep tea to help regulate sleep and calm your nervous system before bed.

Weight loss isn’t just about discipline – it’s about hormonal harmony, and this starts in the gut! By nurturing your microbiome with the right foods, habits, and targeted supplements, you can help your body and hormones reset naturally.

Cravings calm.

Energy returns.

Your body begins to let go – instead of holding on.

Struggling with weight despite your efforts? It might be time to heal your gut-hormone connection – your waistline and wellbeing will thank you!

Looking for more support? Check out this article – 7 ways to lose weight by adding something IN to your routine!

Any questions? Contact one of our Nutritional Therapists via live chat, weekdays from 8 am to 8 pm.

5 ways to boost your gut for healthy weight loss!

Meet the hormones: Ghrelin, leptin and insulin

Same calories, different outcomes: The microbiome factor

Gut shifts in pregnancy: A natural example

How does an unhealthy gut stall weight loss?

Why did your gut get out of balance in the first place?

Supporting your gut for healthy hormonal weight loss

References

Questions? Talk to a Nutritional Therapist on live chat!

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