Gut Health

Back-To-College Special: Overcome These 5 Common Health Challenges

When you finally get to college, everything changes. You’re dealing with a new living situation… keeping up with demanding courses… and trying to make new friends all at once. 

Your life is a whirlwind of less-than-healthy food options, late nights, and test anxiety. All of that can take a surprising toll on you, and make it even harder to cope with the new hurdles you’re facing. 

For most college students, the BIG 5 most common health challenges include:

  • Staying healthy
  • Not gaining weight
  • Getting enough sleep
  • Boosting brain power
  • Managing anxiety and depression

The truth is that all of these potential problems are connected through a common root cause: an unbalanced gut. And dealing with that directly can also help ward off these five common problems that can interfere with your college career (or any career for that matter.)

Gut Central

Think of your gut as your body’s central hub. 

Your gut microbiome – the trillions of bacteria in your gut – provides the resources every system in your body needs to do its job well. It’s directly connected to your immune system, your metabolism, your body clock, and your brain function. 

So by keeping your gut microbiome in healthy balance, you’ll have a much easier time dealing with the 5 most common college health challenges.

college students

Gut Balance Changes Everything

When your gut microbiome has a healthy balance, beneficial probiotic bacteria vastly outnumber harmful bacteria. Those probiotics produce essential nutrients, antioxidants, feel-good brain chemicals like serotonin, and other important compounds that keep your body running smoothly.

But when your gut microbiome gets knocked out of balance, a condition called dysbiosis, the harmful bacteria take over. Instead of supporting your total body health, those bad bacteria wreck everything. They produce toxins and trigger inflammation all over your body. And they make sure probiotic bacteria can’t offer the support you need to succeed.

An unbalanced gut microbiome full of harmful bacteria sets you up to:

  • Get sick all the time
  • Gain weight
  • Lose sleep
  • Have trouble focusing
  • Get more anxious and depressed

Luckily, you can quickly conquer dysbiosis, rebalance your gut, and keep it in healthy balance with proper gut support (more on that later). For now, let’s have a look at the BIG 5 college health challenges and what you can do today to feel your best this year and beyond... 

Challenge #1: Staying Healthy

Colds, flus, and other infections spread through dorms quickly. Once a virus or other pathogen is going around, it’s virtually impossible to avoid all contact with it. But you can avoid getting sick. For that outcome, you ne