Is Our Gut Responsible For Our Mood? The Gut-Brain Connection.
The gut is often referred to as the “second brain” and is lined with 100 million nerve cells. Ninety per cent of the body’s chemical messengers responsible for modulating mood are produced in the belly!
Your gut is not only responsible for digesting the food you eat, but also the emotions and experiences you process every day. No doubt you’ve heard the common expressions such as, “gut feeling” or “gut instinct”; making a “gut-wrenching” decision; or having “butterflies” in your stomach when you’re nervous? These are more than just a figure of speech.
The gut and brain are constantly in communication with one another - connected via the two-way superhighway of the vagus nerve, also known as the gut-brain axis. Along this pathway, messages are relayed from the depths of your digestive tract up to the highest regions of your brain. The vagus nerve is part of your body’s parasympathetic nervous system, associated with “rest and digest” - as opposed to the sympathetic nervous system responsible for the body’s “fight or flight” response.
If you’re experiencing digestive disorders, it’s not unusual to experience disruption to your mood and mental cognition too. Stress and mental health can affect your gut, and vice versa - the health of your gut can affect your state of mind.
Some signs and symptoms of your gut being unhappy:
Digestive upset or alternating bowel motions - diarrhoea, constipation (not going to the toilet daily)
Bloating
Undigested food in your stoolExcessive gas or burping
Reflux / heartburn
Sugar cravings
Unintentional weight gain / loss
Food sensitivities or intolerances
Skin irritations such as eczema, acne or rosacea
Sleep disturbances or constant fatigue
Nutrient deficiencies e.g low B12 or Iron
Anxiety and depression
Serotonin, one of the main chemicals found in your brain that contributes to feelings of happiness and wellbeing, is actually primarily produced in your gut. The important chemical is believed to influence a variety of physical and psychological functions, including mood, social behaviour, appetite and digestion, sleep, memory and sexual desire and function.
Studies have shown that altered gut microbes have a direct influence on the levels of this chemical which can subsequently alter mood and behaviour. Furthermore, a damaged gut leads to inflammation which can have systemic, far reaching effects for your body, including your brain:
Brain fog
Anxiety and depression
Mood swings and irritability
Poor memory and concentrations
Cognitive dysfunction
Physical, mental and emotional stress can directly affect your gut. Your body perceives stress as a potential threat - whether it’s real or imagined doesn’t matter - and it responds by activating your sympathetic nervous system's “fight or flight” response.
In doing so, it switches off the parasympathetic nervous system that is required for normal gut function - including blood flow, motility and gastric secretions. Digesting your food is not considered a priority for your body at this time. The main concern is conserving and redirecting energy to those functions required to deal with the stress at hand. Think faster breathing, heart rate and heightened sense of awareness and muscle tension.
When you experience stress - including low-grade chronic stress - your body also produces and releases hormones from your adrenal glands. The two main stress hormones, cortisol and adrenaline, make the body alert and prepared to face the threat. When they’re being constantly pumped around your body, they can also negatively impact the composition of your gut bacteria.
If you are experiencing any of the above signs or symptoms or you have a “gut feeling” something isn’t right - don’t ignore it, I am here to help! Comprehensive stool testing can be performed to determine what is happening within your gut and how it can be treated using dietary, lifestyle and supplements if required.
Want to know more? Book a FREE 15 Minute Discovery Call Now to determine if this is the right thing for you.
