Related Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STuHyg9ItyE
You have likely heard of gut health and the bacteria or flora that live and thrive in our gut — our intestines. The microbiota in our gut play some pretty important roles in our overall health and well-being. As more and more research unfolds, we are realizing how incredibly important these microbiota are in our overall health–mental health, immune health, and our physical well-being as a whole.
According to a 2015 article published in the annals of gastroenterology, the gut-brain axis consists of “bidirectional communication between the central and the enteric nervous system, linking emotional and cognitive centers of the brain with peripheral intestinal functions.” The central nervous system being the brain and spinal cord, whereas the enteric nervous system includes nerves within the esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, pancreas, gallbladder and biliary tree… If you’ve ever found yourself visiting the toilet often for sudden bowel movements or to throw up when you are incredibly nervous or anxious–this is why. The enteric system can be stimulated by the central nervous system through moments of flight or fight responses.
Much like how the central nervous system can influence the enteric nervous system, the enteric system can also influence the nervous system. Not only through stimulation, but did you know that the bacteria within our gut actually produces around 95% of our serotonin? Serotonin plays many roles in our body from behaviour and mood to somatic functions, such as the perception of the world around us, our attention, mood, sex drive, appetite, sleep, aggressive tendencies, and motor functions. Yep, serotonin can increase the contractility of muscles by increasing the rate at which the motor neurons are able to fire.
To put this into greater perspective in terms of mental and physical health, disrupted serotonin levels or altered sensitivity to it can cause major depressive disorder, schizoaffective disorders, or even parkinson’s disease. Knowing this, it is easy to visualize how much of an impact our gut health can have on our overall well-being.
A 2017 systematic review published in the Annals of General Psychiatry looked at multiple clinical studies. The studies showed the use of probiotics and its effect on depression; each study showed positive results. By taking probiotics for an average of 8 weeks, people were able to increase their overall mood and decrease their feelings of depression.
Our gut can influence the development of other neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia or autism, as well as anxiety disorders and major depressive disorders.
Mental health is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to our gut biome. There are various studies linking our gut health to things such as ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes, parkinson’s disease, other metabolic disorders.
Things that affect our microbiota include genetics, diet –short-term and long-term; how we are born, what we eat in the first years of life, our stress levels, medications (special shout out to antibiotics for really messing things up), and infections.
If you were born by cesarean or c-section, your lowered levels of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria can increase your risk of developing allergies. Infants who are happy and fed with formula may experience greater sensitization to food allergens as infants, much like their cesarean counter-parts.
I Love My Guts; How to Love Yours
This is an interesting question that is not yet definitively answered for a number of reasons. Although the science in literature conclusively links diet with the composition of the gut microbiota; ultimately, further research is required before clinical recommendations can be made. Studies are compromised due to the fact that long-term studies are difficult to maintain as it would require diet to be altered for an extended period of time — years — and there are many variants that might interfere with this in a clinical study.
Current studies can, however, use existing knowledge and apply that to certain diet suggestions using educated guesses. It is suggested that we increase our consumption of probiotics, omega-3 fatty acids, and other polyphenol-rich foods. Some studies suggest that a high fat diet can lead to low-grade inflammation in the gut. Chronic inflammation at any grade can contribute to poor health outcomes, so that is something to be mindful.
Have you tried improving your gut health? How did it go? Let me know in the comments; I’d love to hear your experience.
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Key Words: Depression motivation, help with depression, gut health, gut health depression, dysbiosis, microbiome, microbiota, gut-brain axis, psychiatric conditions,