When we talk about mental health, the conversation usually centers on the brain. While the majority of mood regulation happens there, there is a less-talked-about part of the body that also plays a vital part in mental health — the gut.
The gut or gastrointestinal tract is the long tube that processes the food that enters your body. The whole GI tract measures about nine meters or 30 feet long. It starts at the mouth and ends at the anus. Its primary function is to digest your food. Containing trillions of microbes, with around 4,000 strains of bacteria, the gut also plays an important role in maintaining your immune health and metabolism.
Read more below to learn more about how gut health affects your mental health.
The Gut-Brain Connection
Have you ever felt “butterflies in your stomach” or had a “gut feeling”? These aren’t just expressions. The gut is sensitive to emotions and it can affect how you are feeling too.
Scientists have discovered that the gut is closely linked to the brain. In fact, it is so interconnected that experts consider the gut to be a “second brain”.
This is also called the enteric nervous system (ENS). It’s a smaller but complex nervous system made up of hundreds of millions of cells and neurons. They are responsible for directing all digestive activities.
The gut sends information to the brain and vice versa. They can talk to each other through the vagus nerve — a cranial nerve that transmits data from the brain to other vital parts of the body.
This is the reason why you can sense hunger, feel satisfied after eating, feel cravings when looking at certain food, and more.
This connection goes both ways. When your gut is feeling distressed, it also sends signals to your brain. These troubling signals from intestinal distress can then influence mood and mental state.
Gut Health and Mental Health
One of the factors that affect gut health is the gut microbiome. The gastrointestinal tract contains trillions of bacteria and other microbes. It is important to keep this ecosystem balanced. An imbalanced gut microbiome can cause chronic inflammation, mood disorders, and even serious illnesses.
There are “good bacteria” and “bad bacteria.” They typically co-exist peacefully when there is a diversity of microbes in the gut. However, when bad bacteria thrive and there is an imbalance in your gut microbes, dysbiosis happens. This can be triggered by several things including infection, chronic illnesses, and medication.
When you have dysbiosis in the gut, you are most likely to experience the conditions below:
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Diabetes
- Central nervous system disorders
- Cardiovascular problems
- abdominal cramping
- diarrhea
- constipation
- food sensitivities
- food intolerances
- fatigue
- brain fog
- chronic bad breath
Another thing that gut health influences is your mood. When there is dysbiosis happening in the gut, it is also often accompanied by inflammation. Chronic inflammation has been linked to anxiety and depression. Keep in mind, though, that depression is not an inflammatory disorder. Not all patients who suffer from depression will show increased inflammatory markers.
However, inflammation can cause changes to your brain’s functions. This is why those who have inflammation in the body tend to be more prone to mood disorders. Inflammation is frequently the common denominator for mental illnesses including schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorders, mania, depression, and more.
The key to improving mental health is to control inflammation. There are several ways to do this. For more serious cases, treatment and medication may be necessary. However, the best way to prevent this from happening is to keep the gut healthy. You can do this by eating foods that reduce inflammation and keep your “good bacteria” thriving.
How to Improve Gut Health
Diet is an effective way to improve the health of your gut. The food you eat is processed in your gastrointestinal tract and its nutrients are absorbed into your body. If you feed yourself junk food, you are more likely to trigger inflammation. However, a diet of nutritious foods will be more beneficial for gut health. The goal is to keep your gut’s bacteria diverse so that it functions optimally.
Here are some diet tips to help you keep your gut healthy:
1. Add probiotics to your diet.
Probiotics are friendly bacteria or yeasts that naturally reside in your body. These beneficial bacteria help fight off bad bacteria to return the balance of your gut’s microbiome. They live mostly in the large intestines but can also be found in the gut, mouth, vagina, urinary tract, skin, and lungs.
There are many types of probiotics but the most popular ones that are considered to be beneficial for gut health are Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Lactococcus. Aside from oral supplements, you can also find these good bacteria in food.
Some of the probiotic-rich foods are:
- yogurt
- kefir
- sauerkraut
- kombucha
- kimchi
- miso
- sour pickles
- sourdough bread
- soft cheese
You can also get probiotics through supplement form. It is ideal to take probiotic supplements on an empty stomach, about 2-3 hours after your last meal. This is so that it can move through your gut as swiftly as possible and avoid too much stomach acids, which can kill probiotics.
2. Consume prebiotics to help your good bacteria.
While they may sound similar, prebiotics are completely different from probiotics. Probiotics serve as nutrients for your body, while prebiotics are food for your good bacteria. They are special plant fibers that help make your digestive system work better.
The best source for prebiotics are fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Below are some examples of prebiotic foods:
- dandelion greens
- garlic
- onion
- leeks
- asparagus
- apples
- bananas
- oats
- flaxseeds
- chicory root
- wheat
- chickpeas
- berries
Prebiotics and probiotics can be taken together. Taking these two together will make probiotics more effective.
When you are in the process of rebalancing your gut flora, it is important to stay consistent and take your supplements at the right time. Missing a dose of your supplement can affect your treatment. So, make sure to remind yourself to take your probiotics and prebiotics supplement at the right time. Use an app like Done to help you build healthy habits. This tracker will remind you to take your meds, track your streaks and even display your progress.
3. Watch your diet.
Taking supplements won’t be enough if you keep eating foods that are unhealthy for your gut. It is also important to watch what you eat. Stay away from foods that can harm the balance of your gut microbiome.
Here are some examples of foods that can cause digestive issues:
- alcohol
- oily foods
- sugary desserts
- gluten
- fast food
- processed meats
- sodas
4. Avoid stress.
As we’ve already discussed, your gut and brain are interconnected. So, when you are always stressed, this can have a profound effect on your gut health.
Stress is, unfortunately, a part of our lives. It is normal to feel stressed or anxious in certain situations. However, prolonged stress can be extremely harmful to your body. This can lead to digestive problems, headaches, insomnia and a weakened immune system, which makes you more vulnerable to getting sick.
There are several things you can do to better manage stress. Exercise, sleep and meditation are three of the best things you can do to combat stress. When you are less stressed, both your physical and mental well-being will improve.
