The Surprising Connection Between Joint Pain and Gut Health

Injuries. Intense workouts. Aging. 

You probably already know these common causes of joint pain. But what if there’s another culprit, hiding in plain sight? 

If you’ve been dealing with stiff, aching joints that just won’t seem to improve, it might be time to shift your focus to someplace rather surprising: your gut.

Believe it or not, your gut health could be playing a bigger role than you think. And the connection between your gut and your joints is stronger than you might expect.

Let’s take a closer look at how your gut health could be causing your joint pain and—more importantly—the steps you can take to improve both, starting today. 

What Is Gut Health?

Before we get into how your gut health can affect your joints, let’s discuss what makes a healthy gut—and what doesn’t.

If you’ve been tuned into the wellness industry, you’ve probably heard a lot about gut health. But what is it exactly?  

It all comes down to one word: bacteria. 

Your body is home to trillions of bacteria, living on and in you. They can be found on your skin, in your nasal passages, in your mouth, and—most importantly of all—in your gut. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing; some of these bacteria are actually necessary for good health. 

There are two types of bacteria living in your gut microbiome—the part of your gut that houses these microbes. Beneficial, or “good” bacteria can support digestion, immune function, mental well-being, and your overall health. But pathogenic, or “bad” bacteria can have a negative impact on your physical, emotional, and mental health—causing disorders and even chronic medical issues. 

Both types of bacteria inhabit your gut microbiome, where, due to the limited space, they find themselves fighting one another to survive. So when one type of bacteria flourishes, it naturally crowds out the other. 

How Your Gut Impacts the Rest of Your Body

In an ideal world, your beneficial bacteria would reign supreme, dominating your microbiome and leaving little to no room for pathogenic bacterial colonies. And your body would show it; you’d feel strong and healthy, inside and out. 

Unfortunately, the opposite is much more likely to be true. Most people have thriving colonies of bad bacteria in their gut, leaving little space and resources for those good bacteria to survive. 

This condition, known as dysbiosis, can lead to a host of side effects. It can negatively impact your digestion, mood, and immune response. In fact, almost every aspect of your health can suffer from the effects of dysbiosis, even your joints. 

That’s right—those tiny microbes living in your gut could be the reason why your joints are aching! Let’s explore the surprising link between your joints and your gut. 

How Gut Health Affects Your Joints

We mentioned how your gut microbiome can influence almost every aspect of your health. And that includes inflammation, which directly affects your joints. 

Let’s look at some of the most common ways your gut—and inflammation—might be causing your joint pain.

Inflammation

Your gut isn’t just home to bacteria, it also houses about 70–80% of your immune system. So when you’re experiencing dysbiosis, it can activate a strong immune response—which can then trigger chronic inflammation. 

And that inflammation doesn’t just stay in your gut. It can spread throughout your body, eventually reaching your joints, where it can lead to stiffness, swelling, discomfort, and pain. 

By keeping your gut and immune system healthy, you can avoid this inflammation—and the joint pain it causes. 

Autoimmune Disorders

Many autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis, originate in the same place: your gut. 

The same dysbiosis that triggers inflammation can also throw your immune system into overdrive. Instead of protecting you from toxins, viruses, or bacteria, your body mistakenly attacks itself—leading to an autoimmune disorder.

In the case of rheumatoid arthritis, your body attacks your joints—leading to joint pain, swelling, and even long-term damage. 

Improving your gut health can help reduce the overactive immune response that causes autoimmune disorders and prevent the painful, swollen joints that can come with them.

Obesity

Your gut doesn’t just control your digestive system, it can play an active role in weight management, too. Dysbiosis can slow your metabolism, create insulin resistance, and slow or even stop the production of hormones that regulate your appetite—all leading to weight gain. 

So an imbalanced microbiome can make it harder for you to maintain a healthy weight, putting extra stress on your joints—especially your knees, hips, and lower back. Plus, obesity itself is linked to higher levels of inflammation, making joint pain even worse. 

With a healthier gut, you’ll be able to manage your weight more easily, giving your joints some much-needed relief. 

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Leaky Gut

Your gut lining is a tightly knit net. When it’s healthy, the holes in the mesh are tiny, and unwanted toxins—including undigested food, and pathogenic bacteria—are kept safely in your digestive system. 

But when you have leaky gut, those holes get bigger, and those harmful substances can make their way into your bloodstream. Your immune system will often respond by triggering inflammation, which—once again—makes its way to your joints. 

Strengthening your gut lining can help patch things up and reduce those aches.

Certain probiotics, specifically, spore probiotics, have been shown to help reduce gut permeability and dietary endotoxemia. A 2017 ground-breaking study demonstrated that “30 days of spore-based probiotic supplementation … reduced symptoms indicative of “leaky gut syndrome”.”

Food Sensitivities or Allergies

Could your dinner plate hold the key to your joint pain? Absolutely! 

Dysbiosis can lead to food allergies or sensitivities, such as gluten or dairy intolerance—and you might not even realize it. But your body does, and the resulting immune response can lead to inflammation that affects more than just your stomach. 

Identifying and avoiding your trigger foods while supporting your gut health can help ease joint pain. 

How to Support Your Gut—and Your Joints

The strong, clear connection between your gut health and joint pain leaves only one question. How can you improve your gut health? 

Here are some simple ways you can support a healthy gut microbiome, ease joint pain, and promote your overall health and well-being. 

Eat a Probiotic-Friendly Diet

Probiotics are live bacteria that are similar—or even identical—to the beneficial bacteria already living in your gut. 

When you consume them through food, drinks, or supplements, they make their way to your gut microbiome, eventually joining forces with the existing colonies of beneficial bacteria, providing digestive and gut health benefits. 

In food and drinks, probiotics are typically formed through fermentation. During this process, the beneficial bacteria naturally present in these products break down sugar and other carbohydrates, producing compounds that preserve the food while creating probiotics as a by-product. This is how foods like yogurt, kimchi, and sauerkraut become rich in the healthy probiotics that support your gut health.

Here are some probiotic foods and drinks to consider. 

• Cheese (only certain soft cheeses)
• Kefir
• Kimchi
• Kombucha
• Miso
• Pickles
• Sauerkraut
• Sourdough bread
• Tempeh
• Yogurt 

By adding these probiotic-friendly foods to your regular diet, you can promote a healthy microbiome. 

Add Prebiotics

Want to get even more out of your probiotic? Add a prebiotic! 

Prebiotics work hand-in-hand with probiotics to re-establish—and then maintain—your gut health. Your body can’t break these substances down, but bacteria can, and does. When prebiotics reach your gut, beneficial bacteria digest them, using them as fuel to grow and multiply. 

Prebiotics are generally found in high-fiber foods, such as fruit and vegetables containing complex carbohydrates. 

Here are some prebiotics to consider. 

• Asparagus
• Bananas
• Garlic
• Jerusalem artichokes
• Onions
• Soybeans
• Wheat and whole-grain products 

Adding these to a probiotic-rich diet can help support both your microbiome and your joint health.

Take the Right Supplements 

Probiotic-friendly foods and drinks will only take you so far. For one, it’s nearly impossible to know exactly how much of the healthy bacteria is in each portion, or even more importantly, how many survive digestion and make it to your gut. 

And for some people, these foods may not fit into their dietary needs or preferences. Plus, fermented foods and drinks have a unique taste and odor that doesn’t appeal to everyone. 

So to make sure you’re getting enough gut-supporting prebiotics and probiotics to help ease your joint pain, we recommend taking them as supplements, specifically, spore probiotics and specially formulated prebiotics that only feed the good bacteria (yes, some feed BOTH!). 

Probiotic supplements deliver a healthy dose of good bacteria straight to your gut. Just like when you consume them in food or drinks, they lend strength and numbers to the existing colonies of beneficial bacteria and help rebalance your gut. 

Our favorite supplement for gut health is the Just Thrive Probiotic and PREbiotic bundle. 

• Just Thrive Probiotic: This spore-based probiotic is protected by an endospore “armor” that keeps it safe on its journey to your gut, so it arrives 100% alive and ready to work, every time.
  • Just Thrive Probiotic contains four unique strains of probiotic bacteria, designed to work together for maximum gut support. Plus, this easy-to-take capsule is odorless and tasteless, so you can swallow the capsule whole or sprinkle it into your favorite recipes. 
• Prebiotic: Each gut-supporting capsule contains three unique “smart” fibers that feed your beneficial bacteria—and only your beneficial bacteria.

Taken together, studies show that Just Thrive Probiotic and PREbiotic can more than double the colonies of beneficial bacteria in your gut!

Reduce Stress

Your gut and your brain are closely connected by the aptly named gut-brain axis. This serves as a 2-way highway for communication, sending messages back and forth between the two. 

When one of them is healthy, it sends positive signals that improve the health of the other. But the opposite is also true; if either your gut or brain is unhealthy, it can have a negative impact on the other. 

You’ve likely seen, or felt, this connection in action. For example, you might feel sick to your stomach before a big presentation or get anxious—or even depressed—if you’re having chronic digestive issues.

Reducing your stress is an incredibly effective way to help your brain send positive messages to your gut. Try yoga, meditation, nature walks, journaling, mindfulness, or other stress reduction techniques. 

Exercise

Believe it or not, moving your body is just as good for your gut as it is for your muscles. 

Studies show that exercising regularly can increase the diversity of your gut bacteria, one of the keys to a healthy, balanced microbiome. Exercise is also a great way to relieve stress, which, thanks to the gut-brain axis, can also help improve your gut health. 

You don’t have to overdo it, either. Just 30 minutes of moderate exercise, 3-5 times per week, can be beneficial—for both your gut and your joints!

Final Thoughts

You don’t have to “soldier through” joint pain in the hopes that it will eventually go away on its own! 

By supporting your gut with the right foods, supplements, and other strategies, you can help reduce inflammation and improve your joint health.

Take care of your gut, and it will take care of you—including your joints!

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