Understanding the 3 Gut Types and How They Impact Digestion

What is 'Gut' and 'Gut Health'?

Gut refers to your gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which includes your stomach, intestines, and colon. It's responsible for breaking down food, absorbing nutrients, and eliminating waste. 

In fact, research shows that our gut microbiome can affect every organ in our body.

"Every disease starts from the gut, in ayurveda we term this as 'Sarva Rogam Udara Prabhavam'", says Dr.Israa Ismail, Senior Ayurveda consultant at Nirva, "Every single disease must be treated by checking your gut and keeping it healthy. There is no second opinion in that."

So, what is gut health? 

Gut health is a measure of how well your gut is functioning. It's not just about digestion; a healthy gut plays a crucial role in overall well-being. 

Here is why your gut health is super important for your overall health.

1. Microbiome: Your gut is home to trillions of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi. This collection is known as your gut microbiome. A diverse and balanced microbiome is essential for optimal gut health.
2. Digestion: A healthy gut efficiently breaks down food into nutrients that your body can absorb. This helps you maintain energy levels and support overall growth and development.
3. Immune function: Your gut is a significant part of your immune system. A healthy gut helps protect your body from harmful pathogens.
4. Mental health: Research suggests a connection between gut health and mental health. The gut-brain axis, a communication system between your gut and brain, can influence mood, stress, and cognitive function.
5. Weight Management : Gut health can influence metabolism, which affects how your body burns calories and stores fat. The gut also plays a role in producing hormones that regulate appetite and satiety.
6. Skin Health : Do not be surprised, even your radiance and glow is maintained by a healthy gut. The gut-skin axis can impact inflammation throughout the body, including the skin. If you experience any skin conditions like eczema, acne and psoriasis, the first thing you must check is your gut health. 
7. Heart Health: Your gut can also amazingly influence how your heart works! Your gut influences your cholesterol levels, which impacts your heart. Gut health also plays an essential role in regulating blood pressure.

A healthy gut efficiently absorbs nutrients from food, which are vital for growth, development, and overall health. Research is still being carried out to understand the extensive role of your gut and gut microbes in your health. 

So, what do you think? Is it not time to know your gut and understand how to know what your gut is telling you about your digestion?

Types of Gut

According to modern research understanding, gut types are 5. 

They are;

• Stressed Gut 
• Autoimmune Gut
• Toxic Gut
• Gastric Gut
• Dysbiotic Gut

Let's see what these gut types mean.

1. Stressed Gut

This type of gut is seen in people who are always stressed. Stress and gut health are closely linked. The brain and digestive system are two-way connections.

A stressed gut will experience;

• Hormonal Imbalances
• Constipation and Bloating
• Sleep Issues
• Adrenal Fatigue

2. Autoimmune Gut

If you have an autoimmune gut, you likely have more than one food sensitivity. This type of gut is also caused by long-term antibiotic usage. 

Someone with an autoimmune gut will experience;

• Skin problems
• Autoimmune diseases like celiac disease
• Allergies
• Weakened immune system

3. Toxic Gut

Just as it sounds, you get a toxic gut when your gut is exposed to different types of toxins on an everyday basis. From where? From the food you eat to the clothes you wear, cleaning products, cosmetics, and a lot more. When these toxins come into your body and burden your gut, you experience a toxic gut type.

If you have a toxic gut, you may face;

• Brittle nails and hair
• Skin problems
• Feeling fatigued
• Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth

4. Gastric Gut

If you think you have a gastric gut, you may experience;

• Constant bloating
• Feeling full after meals
• Feeling hungry shortly after eating
• Gas or Flatulence

5. Dysbiotic Gut

You will get a dysbiotic gut if your diet is high in carbohydrates, sugar, and alcohol. Dysbiosis is when your gut microbiome is out of balance. A situation where your bad bacteria overpowers your good ones.

If you have a dysbiotic gut, you may face;

• Candida
• SIBO
• Constipation

Now, all these types of gut can be recognised when you face unhealthy symptoms. So, until then, what?

That's where ayurvedic experts explain the importance of understanding your gut type, known as "Koshta". 

What is "Koshta" and Why is it Important?

"Everyone's Koshta is different because everyone's Prakriti is different", says Dr.Ismail.

What does this mean?

Let us decipher it for you in simple terms.

Prakriti is nature, considered as the body constitution of an individual. Prakriti is genetically determined, categorising the population into subgroups based on phenotypic characteristics like appearance, temperament and habits. 

The concept is claimed to help predict an individual's susceptibility to a particular disease, prognosis, and selection of therapy.

What is Koshta?

Koshta is the gut behaviour or response part of your basic constitution, Prakriti. This need not be a pathological gut behaviour, as the gut types are explained in modern science.

So, some of you may have had hard stools or bloating for the majority of your life. If this is the case, you need not panic. You need to know your gut behaviour or reactivity to understand whether your bowel movements are normal or pathological. 

You can ask your Ayurvedic consultant to get through this confusion.

Different Types of Gut or Koshta in Ayurveda

Now, coming to the point of the three languages of Koshta or Gut. The major understanding of your gut type in Ayurveda is noted in the behaviour of your bowels or stools. Read on to learn how to understand what your gut is trying to tell you about your body.

They are - 

1. Pitta Type Koshta - Mrudu Koshta ( Soft Bowel or Soft Stool Clearance) 

'Mrudu' means soft, smooth, or easy. This is usually seen in a person with a pitta temperament. 

If you have a Pitta-type gut, then you may experience;

• Passing the stool is smooth and easy
• Intense appetite and digestion.
• Soft and smooth stools with or without loose stools.
• The person does not need to spend much time in the loo.
• Coffee or hot water is not required to get the bowel moving.

What is the Right Diet and Lifestyle for Pitta-type gut?

• Add food items that taste sweet and sour, as well as a pinch of salt.
• Always remember to add cooling foods (not frozen or refrigerated), such as cucumber, coconut and mint, into your dishes.
• Avoid a lot of spicy food as it can put Pitta into an exaggerated state.
• Drink plenty of water, coconut water or cooling herbal teas.
• It is great if you practise cooling activities like swimming or taking a cooling shower.

Best Herbs that Can Balance Pitta

• Shatavari (Asparagus root)
• Brahmi ( Indian Pennywort)
• Triphala

2. Kapha Type Koshta - Madhyama Koshta ( Moderate Bowel Movement)

'Madhyama' means moderate, which is neither too hard nor too soft. This is usually seen in Kapha's predominant temperament people.

If you have a Kapha-type gut, then you may experience;

• Stools get excreted with moderate easiness
• Stool evacuation is neither difficult nor too easy.
• This is associated with an average type of digestion and appetite.
• The stools may be sticky and sometimes block the pathway.
• More stool bulk.

What is the Right Diet and Lifestyle for Kapha-type gut?

• Add spices to your food such as pepper, turmeric, ginger cumin and fennel to give a push to your sluggish digestion.
• Foods that taste bitter help stimulate digestion a lot.
• It's best if you avoid or limit the consumption of heavy, greasy and dairy-rich foods.
• Practise morning routines like oil pulling and tongue scraping to stimulate digestion and remove all the accumulated kapha.

Herbs that Can Balance Kapha

• Ginger
• Triphala
• Coriander
• Fennel

3. Vata Type Koshta - Krura Koshta ( Hard Bowel Clearance)

'Krura' means complex or challenging. This is usually seen in people with a vata-predominant temperament.

If you have a Vata-type gut, then you may experience;

• Difficulty in passing the stools
• Unpredictable appetite and digestion.
• Tendency to constipate. 
• The person needs to spend a lot of time in the loo.
• Bowel motivation needs a cup of coffee or hot water.
• Stools will be dry, pellet-like, and lack smoothness.
• Pain and straining with the passage of stools. Sometimes, there is pain in the abdomen and bloating.

What is the Right Diet and Lifestyle for Vata Type Gut?

• Add moistening foods such as soups, stews and cooked veggies.
• Consume grounding and heavy food such as root vegetables and grains, which will balance Vata's lightening quality.
• Always choose warm foods to compensate for Vata's cold nature.
• Eat at regular intervals.
• It's essential to practise stress management like yoga, meditation and deep breathing.
• Practising oil massage (abhyanga) works great in balancing Vata in your body.

Herbs that Can Balance Vata

• Triphala
• Amalaki (Indian Gooseberry)
• Ashwagandha (Liquorice)

There! Now you can evaluate yourself and know which category of Koshta you belong to!

Note : All these do not mean that a person of vata temperament will always have Krura Koshta or hard stools. Koshta type is the normal inborn tendency that is always present in you. This tendency can become from better or worse. This depends on the food and lifestyle you follow.

For example, you are a Vata Prakriti person, and you experience constipated stools or flatulence most of the time, you can avoid these symptoms of vata by practising a lifestyle that balances worsening of vata in your body.

Digestion and Koshta - The Act of Agni (Digestive and Metabolic Fire)

Another method to know your gut type is to understand the capability of your gut to digest the food you take. Your digestive health is directly tied to the strength and quality of your agni, or digestive fire. 

• When Agni is robust, your body efficiently absorbs nutrients and eliminates waste.
• Conversely, a weakened agni can lead to digestive discomfort like heartburn, constipation, gas, diarrhoea, bloating, and more. 

Ayurveda emphasises strengthening and maintaining good digestion as a cornerstone of health.

As ancient texts state, 'Digestive fire (jatharagni) is the master of all fires in the body, as its strength influences the health of other tissues. Therefore, nurturing digestive fire with wholesome food and drink is essential for maintaining lifespan and vitality.

The quality of your digestive fire has a lot to do with your dosha type or prakriti type.

• Vata Type: Erratic and/or delicate digestion
• Pitta: Fiery and/or intense digestion
• Kapha: Slow and stable digestion

Ready to find out what gut type you are? Take this prakriti quiz that helps you give some idea about your gut type. Click here

But wait, your gut type can also be influenced by an imbalance dosha in your body. This imbalance comes from your regular food habits and lifestyle.

So, make sure you consult an Ayurvedic expert to know how exactly your gut is behaving right now!

Research on 3 types of Gut

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory says, from its most recent research findings, that humans have three different gut types. This resonates with what the ancient knowledge of Ayurveda mentions.

The research study uncovers microbial genetic markers that are related to traits like age, gender and body mass index. The findings will allow experts to diagnose and predict outcomes for diseases like colorectal cancer and get informed treatment - just like predicting health conditions from your prakriti type.

The types of gut represent the composition of gut microbes;

• Enterotype-1 (Dysbiotic Gut)
• Enterotype-2 (Eubiotic Gut)
• Enterotype-3 (Mixed Type Gut)

"We found that the combination of microbes in the human intestine isn't random," says Peer Bork, who led the study at EMBL: "our gut flora can settle into three different types of community - three different ecosystems."

Doesn't that sound amazing?

Nurture Your Unique Gut!

It's essential to recognise that each person's gut health is unique, and a one-size-fits-all approach may not be effective. Understanding your gut type and underlying dosha imbalances can help you tailor your diet, lifestyle and herbal remedies to address your specific needs.

For personalised guidance and treatment, it's best that you consult a qualified Ayurvedic expert.