Gut Health

5 Financial Benefits of a Healthy Gut

When you’re suffering from uncomfortable diarrhea… painful constipation… and embarrassing gas and bloating… everything in your life revolves around your gut… 

Including your bank account?

Yes, it’s true – When you have any kind of gut condition, it changes what you can eat. It decides whether you can go to work or school today. And it sends you to the doctor more often than you’d like.

All of that takes a toll on your life and your health. But – it can also strain your savings and flood your credit cards, sometimes making a mess out of your finances. 

And this mess rears its ugly head so frequently, that it now has a name…

Financial Toxicity: The Gut Health Side Effect No One Talks About

It happens to so many people with gut issues that they finally gave it an official moniker: financial toxicity. This refers to the horrible financial toll that living with IBD, IBS, or other gut-related illnesses can cause.

If you’ve been struggling with gut-related challenges, you know how much you spend on doctor visits and medications. But you may not always notice the other ways that your condition affects your finances.

Financial side effects may include:

  • Spending down your savings
  • Canceling vacations
  • Working overtime or side gigs to be able to afford care
  • Having to go without necessary but unaffordable treatments

Let’s take a look at some of the more common gut challenges and their financial impact:

Annual direct healthcare costs for:

Chronic diarrhea: $6,140
Chronic constipation: $7,522
Abdominal pain: $7,646
IBS (irritable bowel syndrome): $,5049

And for comparison, let’s dive a little deeper and take a look at some of the specific costs for another gut issue, IBD (inflammatory bowel disease):

Annual cost of care with IBD: $22,987  (compared to without IBD $6,956) 
Out of pocket costs with IBD $2,213   (compared to without IBD $979)
Average first year medical costs with new IBD diagnosis $26,555

Where does all that money go? 

Here’s the top 5 financial hits you can expect from an unhealthy gut.

1. Special, Expensive Diet

Changing your diet is one of the first things everyone recommends for people with IBS, IBD, and other gut-related health issues. That usually means going gluten-free and dairy-free, eliminating a lot of foods, and following special restrictive diets. No