The Gut-Brain Connection
Have you ever had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right? Do you remember the last time you were nervous and had butterflies in your stomach? Or felt sick to your stomach over upsetting news? These physiological responses due to emotional situations are all an example of the gut-brain connection. In fact, the gut and the brain have such a strong connection with each other, that it can be hard to tell which one is actually doing the thinking!
The gut and your brain share a nervous system called the enteric nervous system (ENS). This nervous system serves as a communication pathway between the gut and the brain. It is also responsible for the motor activity of the colon. Both the gut and the brain influence this nervous system, and can affect one another. Many neurotransmitters found in the brain are actually produced in the gut. For example, 95% of serotonin is made in the gut! What many people don’t know, is that poor digestive health can reduce serotonin production, causing anxiety and depression.
This relationship works both ways. Stress and anxiety can negatively affect the gut as well, causing symptoms such as diarrhea or nausea. If you’ve ever struggled to change your diet due to food cravings you’ve also experienced a very powerful gut brain connection. Certain bacteria in your gut can cause you to crave carbs, sugar, and alcohol by sending hunger signals to your brain. At the same time just thinking about food can send a signal to your stomach to increase gastric juices. Understanding this relationship is key to optimizing both your gut health and your mental wellbeing.
The Stress Cycle
When we are looking at gut health, we can’t ignore this gut-brain connection. You can eat perfectly and take all the right supplements, but if you can’t get a handle on your stress you will still experience digestive issues. Stress not only suppresses your immune function, but it affects the motor function of your GI tract, can cause inflammation, and creates an unhealthy gut environment.
On the flip side, if you struggle with depression and anxiety, yet are actively working to improve your moods through therapy, meditation or self growth work…you may still find yourself feeling stuck due to an unhealthy gut. Poor diet, medications, and an overgrowth of fungal and bacterial pathogens will throw off your neurotransmitter production. No matter how many inspirational videos you watch, you may still be struggling with feeling down because of your poor gut environment. This gut-brain loop can keep you running on a negative track until you make a physiological and psychological change.
Healing Your Body and Mind
Creating a healthier gut-brain relationship starts with addressing your emotions, as well as the physical environment of your gut. A great way to do this is by cleansing both your body and mind. From a physical standpoint, doing a gut cleanse is an excellent way to clean up your diet and eliminate unwanted toxins from your digestive tract. Just a simple 2-week cleanout can help lower inflammation in your gut, increase good bacteria, and help balance your neurotransmitter production. At our clinic, a digestive cleanse is always the first step to healing. Whether I was treating depression or acid reflux, we would always start with a detox. It’s the safest, and most effective way I’ve seen to quickly change one’s gut environment. Patients often reported feeling better not only physically, but emotionally as well.
To take this detox process even further I would always recommend that my patients “cleanse” their mind as well. This starts with taking an inventory of your life. What’s working? What’s not working? Where is the source of your stress? What or who triggers you emotionally? Getting honest and evaluating your life can be more difficult than the actual physical detox, but it can be a life changing process for those that are willing to work. Sometimes through our neurochemistry we can be anxious or stuck in a funk for no reason at all. But often there are at least a few obvious triggers when we start to look. It could be a negative friend who brings you down but you continue to spend time with. Or, a past trauma that you haven’t fully acknowledged. Identifying and working towards eliminating unnecessary stressors and upsetting triggers is a great first step.
If there is healing work to be done, making a plan such as therapy or coaching is all part of the cleanup process. Of course there is always going to be stress in our lives, but figuring out how to better manage it is key. This might look like a morning meditation practice, regular yoga sessions, or listening to our favorite music. Other ideas are to explore more fulfilling hobbies, relationships, and practices that enrich your life. This mind detox will help you change your neural pathway, and create new healthy neural networks. Not only will this improve your mindset, but in turn it will improve your gut health as well!
The key takeaway here is understanding that with the gut-brain relationship. You can’t treat your digestive health without also addressing your stress and emotions. And, if you are struggling with emotions such as depression and anxiety, you can’t ignore your gut health. By addressing the entire gut-brain relationship you are maximizing your healing efforts, and creating a very real physiological and psychological change for the better.
To jump start this healing process you can get started with our 2-week digestive cleanse. This safe and effective detox is the perfect way to address the gut-brain relationship. Don’t worry, there is no starving required on this cleanse. Heal your gut while eating nourishing foods. Learn more about our system by clicking below, and look forward to a healthy gut and happy thoughts!
Yes, I’m Ready to Heal My Gut