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Poor gut health has been linked with various mental health concerns, especially depression and and anxiety.
The gut and brain talk to each other, and when the gut talks, the brain listens. The intestine has about 39 trillion microorganisms. This collection of organisms, the microbiome, consists mostly of bacteria but also contains viruses and fungi. Collectively, it weighs about three pounds, which is the same as rhw brain. We feed these organisms, and they produce the chemicals we need. They send messages to the brain through the vagus nerve.
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The vagus nerve is cranial nerve number ten that originates from the brain stem, and travels down the neck and alongside the carotid arteries, It then flows into the chest and branches out, sending out feelers to control the internal organs in theabdomen and chest, including the intestines.
How Poor Gut Health Can Cause Depression and Anxiety
It's known that people who are depressed and anxious have very different microbiomes than people who are not.
With depression, you have a higher number of 'bad' bacteria that produce inflammatory chemicals. They send these chemicals back to the brain and get distributed in the body.
The connection between having poor microbiome health and depression is so strong that research has shown that transplanting faeces-containing bacteria from a non-depressed individual to a depressed individual can treat depression.
When anxiety hits, the body is flooded with neurotransmitters; this is a natural defense mechanism that has served humans well for millennia. That may result in bodily symptoms like diarrhea, nausea, or abdominal pain, which are frequently linked with anxiety.
This is a convincing illustration of how the brain affects gut health. What about the reverse, though? The brain can be impacted by poor gut health or bacterial imbalance in the gut microbiome. The normal production of hormones and neurotransmitters that affect mood and state of mind can be impacted by an imbalance in the gut microbiome.
Over time, imbalances may cause chronic inflammation, which has been associated with diseases like Alzheimer's. The generation of neurotransmitters may be adversely affected by gut abnormalities, potentially contributing to depression.
How to Manage Gut Health?
By maintaining a happy gut, you may not be able to cure depression or anxiety, but you can manage their symptoms and feel better. The following are some everyday changes you can make to manage gut health:
1) Clean Up your Gut
The first thing to do is to clean up your diet by eliminating or reducing processed foods, sugar and red meat.
The Mediterranean diet is a good choice for this kind of diet. You can also incorporate prebiotics, which are fibers that feed the bacteria and keep them in circulation. These are foods that are high in insulin, fruit, sugar, polyphenols, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Some examples of prebiotics include onions, garlic, bananas, walnuts, wine, oily fish, and oats.
Probiotics contain the actual bacteria you ingest to increase the good population of bacteria. You can get them from your diet or take capsules. It's always best to get important nutrients from food rather than supplements.
Some examples of dietary probiotics are yogurt, sauerkraut, pickles, and kombucha, as these foods contain live bacteria. However, you should check with your doctor before consuming them to avoid any adverse effects.
2) Increase Your Aerobic Exercise
Research by the Department of Health and Human Services recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week. That could be 30 minutes of brisk walking or swimming five days a week.
Running is a vigorous exercising, so you only need 75 minutes a week. Exercise can help release happy hormones that can help regulate gut bacteria and reduce anxiety.
3) Focus on Digestion
When it comes to gut health, good digestion is a critical element of the puzzle. We must be in a parasympathetic, or 'rest and digest' state to digest.
Without this level of relaxation, we are unable to produce the stomach juices necessary for effective meal absorption. That indicates that we aren't receiving the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients required to maintain a healthy body and brain.
Consider practicing some deep breathing for a few minutes before eating to enhance gut health. Some yoga poses have also been shown to aid digestion.
Takeaway
According to research, stress can alter the gut microbiota. The development and functioning of a person's adaptive stress response is also influenced by the bacteria in their gut.
Regulating gut flora by adding probiotics to diet can aid in reducing the symptoms of stress and anxiety. Maintaining a nutritious diet can help sustain a balanced composition of the gut microbiota and lower the risk of developing depression. A healthcare provider can advise on treatment alternatives if you're exhibiting signs of anxiety or depression.
Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.
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