Have you ever wondered why we feel butterflies in the stomach when anxious or excited? Well, our gut is connected to the brain and sends signals to our brain. Your gut is the only organ that has the largest number of nerve cells in your entire body. Your gut is also referred to as your second brain.
You might be wondering, What Exactly is your ‘second brain’?
We have an entire nervous system in our gut, with neurotransmitters that are similar to the ones in our brain. Our gut’s nervous system (Enteric Nervous System) controls gut function and motility and also talks to our first brain. Regular brain? Brain-brain.
The conversation around your poop is not isolated to the toilet. As of today, we’ve only scratched the surface of how our gut health interacts with the rest of our body- in the years to come I’m sure we’ll find out a ton more.
So here we’re talking about gut and mood.
How Gut Health Connected to Mental Well-being?
First, it’s important to understand that our brain and gut relationship is a two-way street, or what we call bidirectional communication. That means that your mind can impact your gut function, and your gut can impact your mental health.
Let’s take an example: We feel diarrhea when nervous or we experience butterflies when excited. Well, it’s all because of the gut-brain connection.
The conversation between our gut and brain is not all about food and diarrhea, it’s way more than that. Our gut influences our decision-making, mood, and emotions. We’ll talk more about the latter today.
IBS and Anxiety: Are They Connected
IBS (Irritable Bowel Symptoms) comes without warning, which makes you anxious about going out or to places away from washrooms. Anxiety doesn’t cause IBS but can worsen the symptoms.
In general, the data shows that those with IBS-type symptoms have higher rates of both anxiety and depression compared to a non-IBS population. Part of this can be explained by the actual symptoms and how they can deeply impact the quality of life (especially if you’ve tried everything and nothing seems to help), but the actual physiology of the gut imbalance and the nervous system is a factor as well.
Can an Imbalanced Gut Cause Anxiety and Depression?
An off-balance gut microbiome has been linked to both depression and anxiety. The imbalanced gut microbiome (Dysbiosis) sends signals to your brain and it affects your overall mood. Let’s talk about how gut bacteria, probiotics depression, and mental well-being are all linked.
Recently, a specific strain of probiotics has been shown to reduce symptoms of PPD.
Intestinal permeability dysfunction (sometimes called “leaky gut”) is related to both anxiety and depression.
A certain strain of bifidobacterium (a “good” gut bacteria) can produce GABA, a calming neurotransmitter that can chill out anxiety and is needed for sleep.
Your gut manufactures about 95% of your body’s serotonin. I KNOW RIGHT?! This is the primary “feel good” neurotransmitter and a target of SSRI drugs.
Gut inflammation is more common than you would think! It triggers the immune system cells, which then triggers a cortisol response. Gut inflammation is typically related to a microbiome imbalance (those little bugs are so important!), and gut infections like SIBO and h. pylori. Or even bacteria or parasites. Yum.
If your gut health is not optimal, you are not properly absorbing your macro or micronutrients, particularly your minerals. This sets the stage for continued motherhood depletion and more mood drama.
So as you can see, gut health matters! If you have a rocky gut and are struggling with your mental health or mood, this is an area to focus on. Even if you do not have a ton of GI symptoms this can be still relevant.
How to Keep Your Gut Healthy to Benefit Your Mental Health?
Like many things, there’s a personalized approach but also some general recommendations.
Vary your diet as much as possible. Your microbiome needs diversity, particularly from plants. If your gut is so mad at you that you can only eat a few different foods – we’ve got to find out what’s going on to help you digest better.
Probiotics for Gut Health
Take a probiotic with lactobacillus and bifidobacterium strains. This is not the only thing that your microbiome needs but it’s a decent start.
Chew More for Better Digestion
Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly. I know – eating on the go is very on-brand for motherhood. But we gotta slow it down.
Drink your Water Mindfully for Gut Health
Drink less water with meals. Water dilutes your digestive juices. Save the majority of your water for between meals.
Have you Considered Taking a Gut Test?
This is where the magic happens. Depending on symptoms, a SIBO test, stool testing (functional and conventional), and imaging may be appropriate. Nutrient testing is also important here
to see what we’re working with in terms of malabsorption.
Tell me – How’s your Gut? Have you done anything to work on your gut health?
OH I ALMOST FORGOT:
My IBS rant. IBS is not a real diagnosis but just a description of “there are gut symptoms that are impacting your quality of life and mental health, but nothing visibly wrong that can be diagnosed or treated So you’re sent home with a bill for a colonoscopy and minimal help. In my experience, IBS happens when there is gut inflammation and infections like SIBO or h. pylori, microbiome imbalance, poor stomach acid, and digestive insufficiency. It’s treatable once we figure out the cause; comprehensive stool testing is helpful here.
If you are taking steps towards a healthy lifestyle but still feel stuck at some point. Don’t worry, I got your back. Share your thoughts and how you feel about your gut health in the comment section.