There is a primitive connection between our brain and gut. When we meet someone for the first time, we often talk about “gut feeling”. We have been told to refer to gut feeling when making a difficult decision or faced with a situation that tests our anger and determination. This mind-gut connection isn’t just metaphorical. For example, when preparing to make a presentation we get butterflies in our stomach, stress-related stomach ulcers, emotional eating, and bowel sensation. So gut feeling is just our brains and guts’ way of talking to each other.
Our brains and guts are connected by a broad network of neurons and chemicals and hormones that provide constant feedback on how hungry we are, whether we are experiencing stress, or whether we have swallowed a disease-causing microbe. This information superhighway is called the brain-gut axis (gut feeling) and provides constant updates on the state of things at your two ends.
Nervous System & The Guts
The brain of the gut, known as the enteric nervous system (ENS) is located in the sheaths of the tissue lining the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine. Considered as one collective organ, it is full of neurons, neurotransmitters, and proteins, such as those between neurons or support cells in the brain. It encompasses a complex circuitry that allows it to act independently, learn, remember and generate “gut feelings”.Beyond the neuron volume, our second brain is even more similar to the brain in our head. Our intestines are lined with about 100 million neurotransmitters, which is as much as the brain has.
If we include nerve cells of the esophagus, stomach, and large intestine, there are more nerve cells in the gut than the rest of the entire peripheral nervous system. Almost every chemical, hormone, and neurotransmitter that controls the brain in the head is detected in the gut. The neural tissue mass in our gut produces more than 30 different neurotransmitters, which are signal molecules typically associated with the brain. This contains an astonishing 95% of the production and storage of serotonin, the neurotransmitter known as the “happy chemical” for its role in regulating mood and well-being.
How do the brain and gut actually talk to each other?
The vagus nerve acts as a two-way information path through which the brain and intestine send messages to each other in milliseconds.The vagus nerve is not the only means of communication between the brain and gut. Our intestines contain trillions of bacteria and microbes that live in the gut and make up the gut microbiota. The gut microbiome is so large that your personal gut contains 100,000 times more microbes than there are humans in the world.
Most of these microbes live in the mucus lining of the intestines and bring them into direct contact with the nerve and immune cells, which are our body’s main information-gathering systems. This position also prepares the microbes to listen as the brain signals stress, worry, and even happiness throughout the vagus nerve. But the microbes in our gut microbiome aren’t just listening. They produce signals, ‘gut feeling’, that send information back to the brain.
This means that the signals produced in the gut can greatly affect the brain. While it is now clear that the gut is more than just a machine used to digest food, there is much to discover about how the gut can affect overall health. Who knows, maybe some day the digestive wellness would be central to psychiatric treatments?
How your digestive health impacts your mood?
The microbial community living in our large and small intestine is the largest microbial population in the human microbiota. Intestinal microbiota, which has the task of shaping the development of the immune system, metabolizing diets and drugs, digesting indigestible polysaccharides, and synthesizing vitamins and biologically active molecules, plays an important role in human health. Microbial diversity changes in humans at different stages of life.
Numerous factors such as your genetic characteristics, mode of birth, lifestyle, medical interventions, and health status significantly affect the intestinal microbiota.In addition, numerous studies have shown that diet is one of the most important factors affecting the formation and composition of the gut microbiota throughout the life span. But new research suggests that gut microbes interact directly with the nervous system without involving the immune system, affecting mood and behavior.
It may be a complex neurochemical transmission system through which microbes (e.g. probiotics) can send messages directly to the brain. It is also known that gut bacteria produce neurochemicals that affect learning, memory, and mood; For instance, the gut is responsible for about 95% of serotonin, which affects mood, appetite, and sleep.
Mood and Nutrition
Environmental, social and psychological factors can change the composition of the food consumed. Similarly, the components of the food consumed also change the microbiota. Recent research focused on microbiomes suggests that gut microbiota is an important factor affecting brain development, behavior, and mood in humans. It has been reported that irregularities in the microbiota in the early stages of life may affect neurodevelopment and lead to the emergence of negative mental health problems years later. Accordingly, it is assumed that dietary errors or disorders caused by antibiotics in the microbiota may cause depressive behavior.
Serotonin
The serotonin theory explains how food affects our mood. Regulation of sleep, appetite, and impulse control are among the serotonin’s functions while increased serotonin levels are associated with good mood. High tryptophan foods such as bananas, pineapple, plums, nuts, milk, turkey, spinach, and eggs promote serotonin production in the brain.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants can be defined as agents that can terminate radical chain reactions. Vitamins, flavonoids, and polyphenols are the most frequently mentioned antioxidants in foods. Some antioxidant foods are found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, as well as cereals and berries, such as cranberries or strawberries. They improve blood circulation, memory and support low cholesterol, thereby improving overall health.
Omega-3
Increasing evidence suggests that omega-3 fatty acids (which are abundant in fatty fish such as sardines, salmon, and mackerel) may play a role in brain functioning, and deficiencies in omega-3 fatty acids are linked to mental health problems. To increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids, consume the following foods: walnuts, flax and chia seeds, canola oil, purslane.
If you’re looking to build new habits and enhance your health, then it’s time to start thinking about what you should be doing differently in your life. The good news is that there are many ways to make changes to your lifestyle that can improve your health and lead to better overall wellness. If you want to learn how to live a healthier lifestyle, download wannawell app for free.
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