Gut Health & Dysbiosis: How Imbalances Like SIBO, Candida, and IBS Drive Chronic Symptoms
Understanding microbial imbalance, digestive symptoms, and functional medicine strategies for restoring the gut microbiome
Did you know that an estimated 70% of the immune system resides in the gut? The human microbiome—composed of trillions of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms—plays a central role in digestion, immune regulation, hormone metabolism, detoxification, and even mental health (1).
When this delicate ecosystem becomes disrupted—a condition known as dysbiosis—the effects extend far beyond bloating or irregular bowel movements. Research links gut imbalances to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (2), obesity and metabolic dysfunction (3), anxiety and depression (4), cardiovascular disease (5), and chronic inflammatory conditions, making gut health a foundational pillar of overall wellness (6).
At Denver Sports & Holistic Medicine, we approach gut healing through a functional medicine model, focusing on identifying and correcting the root causes of dysbiosis rather than masking symptoms.
→ Gut Health & Digestive Restoration
→ Functional & Integrative Medicine
What Is Dysbiosis?
Dysbiosis refers to an imbalance in the composition, diversity, or function of the gut microbiome. This may involve a loss of beneficial bacteria, overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria or fungi (such as Candida), reduced microbial diversity, or impaired immune signaling within the gut.
Over time, dysbiosis creates a pro-inflammatory internal environment that affects digestion, immunity, metabolism, hormones, and neurological health.
Common Causes of Dysbiosis
Dysbiosis rarely develops from a single factor. In most cases, it reflects the cumulative impact of diet, lifestyle, medications, stress, and environmental exposures that gradually alter the gut microbiome and weaken the intestinal barrier.
Understanding these root contributors helps explain why symptoms often persist despite “doing everything right”—and why true gut healing requires addressing more than food alone.
Diet is often the first—and most powerful—place to begin.
Diet
Diet is one of the most significant drivers of microbiome imbalance.
High sugar intake feeds opportunistic organisms like Candida, promoting yeast overgrowth and intestinal inflammation. Gluten-containing foods can increase intestinal permeability—commonly referred to as leaky gut—allowing immune-triggering compounds to enter circulation. Highly processed foods often contain preservatives, emulsifiers, artificial additives, and inflammatory seed oils that disrupt microbial diversity while depriving beneficial bacteria of fermentable fiber.
→ Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity: What It Is and Why It Matters
Eating Hygiene
How you eat is just as important as what you eat.
Eating too quickly, poor chewing, constant snacking, or grazing throughout the day can impair digestion, disrupt stomach acid production, and interfere with the migrating motor complex—an important mechanism that helps prevent bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine.
Mindful eating practices support enzyme secretion, bile flow, and microbial balance.
Chronic Stress
Chronic stress profoundly alters gut physiology.
Elevated cortisol suppresses stomach acid and digestive enzyme production, disrupts gut motility, increases intestinal permeability, and dysregulates immune signaling. Stress also impairs the gut–brain axis, reinforcing symptoms such as bloating, anxiety, food sensitivities, and fatigue.
→ Acupuncture & Nervous System Regulation
Alcohol
Alcohol is a frequently overlooked contributor to dysbiosis and leaky gut.
Even moderate consumption can reduce beneficial bacteria, increase intestinal permeability, irritate the gut lining, and impair nutrient absorption—especially when combined with stress, sugar intake, or poor sleep.
→ Alcohol and Gut Health: How Drinking Drives Leaky Gut and Inflammation
Environmental Toxins
Pesticides, herbicides (including glyphosate), heavy metals, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals negatively affect the gut microbiome by promoting oxidative stress, inflammation, and loss of microbial diversity.
→ The Dark Side of Food Processing: GMOs, Glyphosate, and Gut Damage
→ Detoxification & Environmental Medicine
Medications That Contribute to Dysbiosis
Many commonly prescribed medications are not designed with the gut microbiome in mind. While they may be appropriate or even necessary in certain situations, long-term or repeated use can quietly disrupt digestion, alter microbial balance, impair detoxification pathways, and increase intestinal permeability—often without obvious gastrointestinal symptoms at first.
These medication-induced shifts in the microbiome can compound existing gut issues, drive chronic inflammation, and interfere with hormone metabolism, immune regulation, and nutrient absorption.→ Your Gut, Hormones & Medications: How Common Drugs Disrupt Digestion and Detox Pathways
Antibiotics
While antibiotics can be life-saving, they are one of the most common causes of long-term dysbiosis.
Antibiotics indiscriminately eliminate beneficial bacteria, reduce microbial diversity, and create an environment where opportunistic organisms such as Candida or Clostridium difficile can thrive.
→ Healing the Gut After Antibiotics: Restoring the Microbiome and Preventing Dysbiosis
Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs)
PPIs reduce stomach acid, impair protein digestion and mineral absorption, and increase the risk of bacterial overgrowth and gut infections such as Clostridium difficile (7).
→ Acid Reflux Causes: Why Heartburn Isn’t Always Too Much Acid
Laxatives
Chronic laxative use can disrupt gut motility, flush out beneficial bacteria, create dependency, and contribute to electrolyte imbalances, further worsening dysbiosis (8).
NSAIDs
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin damage the intestinal lining, increase permeability, and alter gut microbial composition (9).
Opioids
Opioids slow gut motility, reduce microbial diversity, and increase inflammation, contributing to constipation, bacterial overgrowth, and leaky gut (10).
Antidepressants and Antianxiety Medications
SSRIs and benzodiazepines influence gut motility, microbial diversity, serotonin signaling, and nutrient absorption. Long-term use has been associated with reduced microbial diversity and increased gut permeability (11).
→ Functional Medicine for Depression: Addressing Root Causes Beyond SSRIs
Hormonal Birth Control
Synthetic hormones can disrupt estrogen metabolism, reduce microbial diversity, increase intestinal permeability, and promote yeast overgrowth, contributing to chronic inflammation and dysbiosis.
→ Non-Hormonal Birth Control: Protecting Hormones, Gut Health, and Future Fertility
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy profoundly alters the gut microbiome, impairs immune function, and increases susceptibility to infections and gastrointestinal complications (12).
When dysbiosis persists, its effects are rarely confined to the digestive tract. The gut is a central communication hub—interfacing with the immune system, endocrine system, nervous system, and cardiovascular system. As microbial balance and gut barrier integrity decline, inflammation and immune dysregulation can spread throughout the body, driving symptoms and disease patterns that often appear unrelated to digestion.
This is why patients with dysbiosis may experience autoimmune conditions, metabolic dysfunction, mood disorders, skin issues, or cardiovascular disease—sometimes years before digestive symptoms become obvious.
The Gut-Health Connection: How Dysbiosis Affects Systemic Illness
Research increasingly shows that gut health is deeply intertwined with overall health. Below are some of the most well-established connections between dysbiosis and systemic disease.
Autoimmune Disorders and Enhanced Intestinal Permiability
The immune system relies on a healthy gut microbiome to function optimally. Dysbiosis can lead to increased intestinal permeability, often referred to as leaky gut.
This allows undigested food particles, microbial fragments, and toxins to enter the bloodstream, triggering immune activation. Over time, this process can contribute to autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, and multiple sclerosis. Functional medicine approaches—including dietary strategies like the Autoimmune Protocol and targeted gut-healing protocols—can help restore gut balance and support immune regulation (13).
→ Leaky Gut Syndrome – How to Restore Your Health From the Inside Out
→ Immune Health & Autoimmune Support
Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Resistance
Dysbiosis is closely linked to metabolic syndrome, which includes obesity, high blood pressure, and insulin resistance.
Imbalances in gut bacteria can promote chronic inflammation and disrupt metabolic hormone signaling. A healthy gut microbiome plays a critical role in maintaining insulin sensitivity, lipid metabolism, and energy regulation. Restoring gut health through nutrition and lifestyle interventions can meaningfully reduce metabolic risk and improve cardiometabolic outcomes (14,15).
→ Metabolic Syndrome: Root Causes, Risks, and How to Prevent It Naturally
→ Hormone & Metabolic Optimization
Mental Health and the Gut-Brain Axis
The gut–brain connection is a rapidly expanding area of research. The gut microbiome influences neurotransmitter production, inflammation, and stress signaling.
Dysbiosis has been associated with higher rates of anxiety and depression, in part due to altered serotonin production and immune activation. More than 90% of the body’s serotonin is produced in the gut, highlighting the importance of microbial balance for mental and emotional health (16,17).
Skin Conditions: How Dysbiosis Contributes to Eczema, Acne, and Rosacea
The skin often reflects the health of the gut. When the microbiome is imbalanced, immune dysfunction, inflammation, and hormonal disruption can manifest as chronic skin conditions.
Eczema and Leaky Gut
Eczema (atopic dermatitis) is strongly associated with increased intestinal permeability. When the gut barrier is compromised, inflammatory compounds enter circulation and activate immune pathways that contribute to chronic skin inflammation. Individuals with eczema frequently show reduced microbial diversity and increased pathogenic bacteria.
Acne and Gut Dysbiosis
Acne is not purely a hormonal issue—it is also driven by inflammation, impaired detoxification, and insulin dysregulation linked to gut health. Certain gut bacteria influence sebum production and immune responses in the skin, making dysbiosis a major contributor to persistent acne.
→ Healing Acne Naturally: A Functional Medicine Approach to Clear Skin
Rosacea and the Gut–Skin Axis
Rosacea has been closely linked to gut dysbiosis and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Gut inflammation and microbial imbalance can trigger immune hyperreactivity, leading to facial redness, irritation, and flare-ups characteristic of rosacea.
Cardiovascular Disease and the Oral–Gut Microbiome Connection
The digestive system begins in the mouth, making oral health an often overlooked—but critical—factor in cardiovascular risk. The oral and gut microbiomes are closely interconnected, and dysbiosis in either location can contribute to systemic inflammation and vascular disease.
Poor oral hygiene, frequent use of harsh antibacterial mouthwash, high-sugar diets, smoking, and alcohol consumption can all disrupt the oral microbiome. When oral dysbiosis develops, pathogenic bacteria may enter the bloodstream, triggering immune activation and inflammatory cascades. Oral pathogens such as Porphyromonas gingivalis have been identified in arterial plaque and are associated with atherosclerosis and hypertension.
Gut dysbiosis further compounds cardiovascular risk by promoting chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, altered lipid metabolism, and cholesterol dysregulation. Together, oral and gut microbiome imbalances create a pro-inflammatory environment that accelerates vascular damage.
Supporting a healthy oral–gut microbiome through proper oral hygiene, nutrition, gut restoration, and lifestyle choices represents an important—and frequently missing—component of comprehensive cardiovascular prevention.
→ The Link Between Oral Health and Chronic Disease
Strategies for Restoring Gut Health
Restoring a healthy gut microbiome is essential for reducing inflammation, supporting immune balance, and improving whole-body health. While the exact approach should be personalized, the following foundational strategies consistently support microbiome repair and long-term resilience.
Nutritional Interventions
Diet is one of the most powerful tools for shaping the gut microbiome.
Prioritize Whole, Nutrient-Dense Foods
A diet rich in organic fruits and vegetables, grass-fed and grass-finished meats, wild-caught fish, and healthy fats provides the fiber, polyphenols, and micronutrients needed to support microbial diversity and gut barrier integrity.
Consume Probiotics and Prebiotics
Probiotic-rich foods such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi can help introduce beneficial bacteria. Prebiotic foods—including garlic, onions, bananas, and asparagus—feed these microbes and support their ability to colonize and thrive.
Eliminate Ultra-Processed Foods
Reducing sugar, artificial sweeteners, inflammatory seed oils, and heavily processed foods helps limit the growth of harmful bacteria while supporting a healthier microbial balance. Reading food labels is an important first step in identifying hidden gut disruptors.
Gluten Elimination
Removing gluten and gluten cross-reactive foods often helps reduce inflammation, improve gut barrier function (leaky gut), and support microbiome diversity. Many individuals experience relief from bloating, irregular bowel movements, and digestive discomfort after eliminating gluten (18).
Lifestyle Modifications
Lifestyle factors can either reinforce or undermine gut healing.
Stress Management
Chronic stress has a direct and measurable impact on gut health (19). Practices such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, journaling, and breathwork help regulate the nervous system and support healthy digestion.
Regular Physical Activity
Movement promotes gut motility and encourages the growth of beneficial bacteria, supporting overall digestive function (20).
Adequate Sleep
Quality sleep is essential for microbiome balance and immune regulation (21). Aim for 7–9 hours of restorative sleep each night.
→ Why Poor Sleep Is More Harmful Than You Think
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting (IF) alternates periods of eating and fasting, allowing the gut time to rest and repair. Research suggests fasting can enhance microbial diversity, reduce inflammation, improve insulin sensitivity, and support intestinal healing processes (22,23).
→ Is Intermittent Fasting Right for You? A Safety-First Guide to Sustainable Weight Loss
Reduce Alcohol Intake
Limiting alcohol consumption—or choosing gut-friendlier alternatives—helps protect the intestinal barrier and maintain microbial balance.
Reduce Toxic Burden
Minimizing exposure to environmental toxins by using high-quality water and air filtration, non-toxic cleaning products, and cleaner personal care items can significantly support gut and immune health.
Acupuncture as a Supportive Therapy for Gut Healing
At Denver Sports & Holistic Medicine, acupuncture is an important component of our integrative approach to gut restoration. Acupuncture supports gut health through several key mechanisms:
Reducing Stress
By calming the nervous system, acupuncture helps regulate gut motility and digestive secretions.
Enhancing Digestion
Acupuncture can stimulate digestive organ function, improve nutrient absorption, and reduce symptoms such as bloating, IBS, and inflammatory bowel conditions (24,25).
Balancing Immune Function
Acupuncture helps modulate immune activity and inflammatory responses, supporting conditions in which dysbiosis and immune dysregulation overlap (26).
Supporting Whole-Body Healing
By restoring balance across interconnected systems, acupuncture enhances the body’s natural capacity to heal and maintain long-term gut resilience.
Take Charge of Your Gut Health Today
Dysbiosis is more than a digestive issue—it is often a root driver of chronic inflammation, immune dysfunction, metabolic imbalance, and persistent symptoms throughout the body. By addressing gut imbalances through nutrition, stress regulation, lifestyle support, and holistic therapies such as acupuncture, it is possible to restore microbiome balance and support long-term healing.
At Denver Sports & Holistic Medicine, we specialize in personalized, root-cause care designed to help you heal from the inside out. If you’re experiencing digestive symptoms, fatigue, brain fog, hormone imbalances, or unexplained inflammation, your gut health may be a missing piece.
→ Gut Health & Digestive Restoration
→ Functional & Integrative Medicine
Request a free consultation with Dr. Martina Sturm and take the next step toward better gut health, greater resilience, and lasting wellness.
Frequently Asked Questions About Gut Dysbiosis
What is dysbiosis?
Dysbiosis is an imbalance in the gut microbiome—the complex community of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms in the digestive tract. When this balance is disrupted, it can contribute to inflammation, increased intestinal permeability (leaky gut), immune dysregulation, and chronic conditions such as IBS, autoimmune disease, and mental health disorders.
What causes gut dysbiosis?
Gut dysbiosis commonly develops from a combination of factors, including a highly processed or high-sugar diet, gluten exposure, chronic stress, alcohol use, environmental toxins, antibiotic overuse, and certain medications such as NSAIDs, PPIs, hormonal birth control, opioids, and antidepressants.
How does dysbiosis affect overall health?
Dysbiosis does not only affect digestion. Research links gut imbalance to systemic conditions including autoimmune disease, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, anxiety and depression, cardiovascular disease, and inflammatory skin conditions such as acne, eczema, and rosacea.
Can medications disrupt gut health?
Yes. Many commonly prescribed medications can alter gut microbial diversity, weaken the intestinal barrier, and promote overgrowth of harmful bacteria or yeast. Antibiotics, PPIs, NSAIDs, opioids, hormonal birth control, chemotherapy drugs, and some antidepressants are well-documented contributors to dysbiosis.
How can diet improve gut health?
Diet plays a central role in restoring the gut microbiome. Emphasizing whole, organic foods; incorporating probiotic foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut, and kimchi; consuming prebiotic fibers from foods like garlic, onions, and asparagus; and reducing processed foods, refined sugars, seed oils, and gluten can help rebalance gut bacteria and reduce inflammation.
What lifestyle habits support a healthy gut?
Key lifestyle factors that support gut health include stress regulation, regular physical activity, adequate sleep, intermittent fasting when appropriate, reducing alcohol intake, and minimizing exposure to environmental toxins. These habits work together to support microbial diversity and gut barrier integrity.
How does stress affect the gut?
Chronic stress disrupts digestion, alters gut motility, reduces beneficial bacteria, increases intestinal permeability, and promotes inflammation. Stress-management practices such as breathwork, meditation, mindfulness, and nervous-system regulation can help restore gut balance.
Can acupuncture help with dysbiosis?
Acupuncture can be a valuable supportive therapy for gut health. It helps regulate the nervous system, improve digestion and motility, enhance nutrient absorption, and support immune balance, making it a useful complement to dietary and lifestyle-based gut-healing strategies.
Resources
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PubMed- Irritable bowel syndrome and gut microbiota
PMC- Gut microbiota in obesity
PMC- Gut microbiota’s effect on mental health: The gut-brain axis
PMC- Role of gut microbiota in cardiovascular diseases
PMC- Impacts of Gut Bacteria on Human Health and Diseases
PubMed- Proton pump inhibitors affect the gut microbiome
PMC- Transient osmotic perturbation causes long-term alteration to the gut microbiota
ScienceDirect- Interactions between NSAIDs, opioids and the gut microbiota - Future perspectives in the management of inflammation and pain
PubMed- The role of the gut microbiome in opioid use
Scientific Reports- The change of gut microbiota in MDD patients under SSRIs treatment
PubMed- Chemotherapy-induced gut microbiome disruption, inflammation, and cognitive decline in female patients with breast cancer
PMC- The microbiome in autoimmune diseases
PMC- Gut microbiota and metabolic syndrome
PubMed- The gut microbiome and metabolic syndrome
PMC- The gut-brain axis: interactions between enteric microbiota, central and enteric nervous systems
PMC- The Gut-Brain Axis: Influence of Microbiota on Mood and Mental Health
PubMed- Non-celiac gluten sensitivity triggers gut dysbiosis, neuroinflammation, gut-brain axis dysfunction, and vulnerability for dementia
PubMed- Stress and the gut: pathophysiology, clinical consequences, diagnostic approach and treatment options
PMC- Exercise Modifies the Gut Microbiota with Positive Health Effects
PMC- Gut microbiome diversity is associated with sleep physiology in humans
PubMed- The Beneficial Effects of Dietary Interventions on Gut Microbiota—An Up-to-Date Critical Review and Future Perspectives
PubMed- Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress Even Without Weight Loss in Men with Prediabetes
PMC- Acupuncture treatment in gastrointestinal diseases: A systematic review
PMC- Acupuncture improves the symptoms, intestinal microbiota, and inflammation of patients with mild to moderate Crohn's disease: A randomized controlled trial
PMC- Acupuncture and Immunity