Have you ever experienced that unsettling sensation of ‘butterflies’ in your stomach when you are nervous? Where do these feelings come from, and why do we feel them in our gut?
How about feeling unusually down in the dumps after suffering a tummy bug, or when you’ve returned from a rather overindulgent holiday?
Whilst these things may seem unrelated at first, they are a great indicator of how your brain and digestive system are linked (I’m serious) via a connection known as the ‘gut-brain axis’.
As rates of mood disorders like depression and anxiety soar (and as I'm sure you are aware, these have become even more prevalent since the pandemic), research around how our gut influences other areas of our health has exploded over the past decade. A concept that was initially ridiculed, has now become firmly established as a driver of many chronic conditions that have perplexed modern medicine. Mental health has been a particularly challenging area, and as such there has been a very interesting change of focus into other potential drivers of mental health conditions - such as the food we eat (‘nutritional psychiatry’) and the health of our digestive tract.
The Brain Of The Gut
Your gut really is a place where a lot goes on. You’ve probably heard that the health of the gut can influence all sorts of seemingly unrelated areas of the body, and play a central role in conditions such as eczema, autoimmune diseases, allergies & food sensitivities…even your appetite!
But, it actually goes a lot further than that. In fact, in addition to practically being the ‘magician’ of your whole body, your gut also has it’s own brain of sorts, known as the enteric nervous system (ENS). This system is located in your digestive tract so that it can control the muscular contractions that keep your food progressing through your body (in order for you to absorb the nutrients and energy you need) and squeeze out the juices that keep everything humming along. But wait, there’s more! It also keeps a line of communication open to your immune system – 70% of which is located right there in your gut. And finally (and the point of this whole article) it connects your gut to the cognitive (‘thinking’) and emotional parts of the brain. Who knew?
What Happens in Vagus…
Another crucial part of your nervous system that is affected by what goes on in the gut is the vagus nerve. Vagus means ‘wanderer’ in Latin and this nerve is unique in that it is the longest and most extensive nerve in the body, wandering away to all sorts of parts….extending from your brain down through the neck, chest and into the abdomen, where it communicates with your heart, lungs and digestive tract. And this is not all! The vagus nerve is also a bit of an independent cowboy because, unlike the other cranial nerves, it is made up of predominantly sensory neurons (cells that collect information and bodily signals to feed to the brain). In other words, it is continually monitoring the activity in your digestive tract, and keeping a good eye on what is going on – how hungry you get, how fast the food you eat is moving through the digestive tract, and even your secretion of digestive enzymes. Your brain then interprets this valuable information and can then tweak anything that needs tweaking (for instance, switching on the signal to tell your body to stop eating when you are full).
The reason why this is important is that the vagus nerve is effectively in the driver’s seat when it comes to your ‘rest and digest’ capabilities. In other words, it is very much tuned into what is going on with your body’s stress response, and is capable of both sensing stress...and influencing how you deal with it. And where the connection to gut health is relevant here is that metabolites produced in the gut (such as serotonin and other neurotransmitters) travel along the vagus nerve to the brain, where they can influence your moods.
The other quite amazing thing about the vagus nerve is that, when it is in good shape (this is known as having ‘good vagal tone’), it is capable of dialling down inflammation within the body - particularly within the gut. With low-grade inflammation being a contributing factor in many health conditions that are common today, this means that we really do want our vagus nerve to be a happy fellow.
Don’t Forget Your Little Friends
The gut microbiome (your unique gut flora) plays a key role here as well – not only do the beneficial bacterial populations within your gut help to produce those metabolites I just mentioned, they also influence your absorption and utilisation of nutrients that are crucial for mental health. And they are actually capable of producing certain vitamins, like folate. Basically, you are making your own supplements.
Certain types of unhealthy bacteria – (which are more likely to be present when you are eating a lot of junk food, drinking alcohol, chronically stressed or taking medications that disrupt the microbial balance) can drive inflammation within the body.
In other words, the ENS, the vagus nerve and the microbiome all work together in tandem – and if they are balanced, so much the better for your mental health.
That’s Great…Now What?
Ok so we’ve covered how the gut connects to mental health (and why it's absolutely essential to support this area if you suffer from depression or anxiety). But how do we actually turn this into something practical that you can do to give your body and mind some TLC?
Well I’m glad you asked. Here are a few simple tips for both gut health AND moods.
- Take a proactive approach to stress. I know, I know – we can’t always get away from stress. But, we can be mindful about how we deal with it. Stress ‘dials down’ the beneficial actions of the vagus nerve, plus it negatively affects the health of the gut microbiome. Therefore, it makes sense to do what you can to make sure both of these areas are as healthy as possible! If you can, schedule regular ‘time out’ for yourself to do something that relaxes you - listen to music, take a walk in a park, play with a dog, or a hobby you enjoy. These all have a positive effect on your gut health, as well as providing an immediate mood-lift and opportunity to forget your worries for a little while.
- Eat well. It really amazes me that nutrition is overlooked so often when it comes to mental health. The food that we eat literally becomes our body – our muscles, bones, organs, hormones and neurotransmitters – so it makes sense that we need to give it the best building blocks possible. A nutrient-dense Mediterranean-style diet (such as our popular Metabolic Balance program) has been shown to be good for gut health, as well as providing key nutrients for the nervous system such as omega-3 fats, magnesium and zinc.
- Reduce inflammation. Stress and inflammation form a vicious cycle – inflammation is an established driver of poor mental health, and stress worsens gut health…which in turn drives inflammation. The two points I’ve mentioned above (stress management and good nutrition) are both helpful for reducing inflammation, plus there are some great herbal medicines available if you need additional support.
- Targeted gut repair. When I’m working with clients to help them restore their health, more often than not we start with building good gut health. After all, if you are building a house, you need to build a good solid foundation first – otherwise anything you build on top will just fall over. And because it’s always best to kill two birds with the one stone, it pays to consider key support that addresses both the gut and moods. Probiotics (beneficial bacteria for the gut), prebiotics (fertilizer for your beneficial bacteria), zinc, the amino acid glutamine and vitamin D may all be useful here.
Linda