Today I’m back with another gut health guide. One thing I get asked about a lot is the gut-brain connection. In other words, is it possible that if your gut health isn’t up to par then your mental health will be affected? Of course, the answer is yes, but for a myriad of different reasons.
It’s to do with serotonin isn’t it?
A quote that is doing the rounds at the moment is that a huge percentage of serotonin is made in our gut, which is why if you have gut issues you will also suffer from mental health issues. It’s a quote I’ve used myself in the past, but once I’d read more into it, it’s not actually quite so straightforward…
Serotonin is a chemical (often known as the ‘happy hormone’) that is made in our gut and our brain, but for separate functions. The serotonin in our gut helps with regulating our bowel movements but it doesn’t actually travel to our brain to control functions there. Therefore, whilst the lack of serotonin in the gut can absolutely cause bowel issues, it’s separate from the serotonin in the brain and the issues that came with a lack of it (such as depression or anxiety).
But I thought the gut is the second brain?
Yes, there’s truth in this and it’s all to do with our Enteric Nervous System (ENS) which lives in the lining of our digestive system. The ENS communicates all the time with the central nervous system (CNS) in our brain via neurotransmitters; these are a chemical that passes messages around our body. The easiest example of their communication is when you’re nervous and your stomach is doing backflips! We know this contact can be heightened in patients with IBS; for example, whose nerves have been found to be hypersensitive.
So how else are the gut and brain connected?
The rest of this post contains a paid advertisement for gut bacteria testing kit Atlas Biomed, who I’ve teamed up with on this post and to offer you an exciting giveaway at the end of the post. All words are my own.
A lot of it is to do with our microbiome. If you’ve read about the microbiome and thought it was just to do with how often you go to the toilet you’d be wrong. The microbiome is a really fascinating area of research and it’s something we’re learning more about every single day. And, it’s becoming apparent that a thriving gut microbiome can almost have a protective quality against developing mental health conditions. For example, animal studies have showed Bifidobacterium can help with depression. Whilst a review of studies showed working on your gut micobiome might improve anxiety.
There’s many reasons why this can be. For one, if you’re depressed or struggling with your mental health your diet might suffer. And by diet, I don’t mean a weight loss one; I mean you might be less likely to vary your food intake. Varied food intake is one of the best ways to improve your gut bacteria.
How can I improve the gut-brain connection?
One of the good things about our microbiome is that we can influence it (unlike our neurotransmitters!) so it’s the first place to start! I am often asked what probiotic I recommend but the best thing you can do is eat a varied diet and also consider getting your gut bacteria tested. Because your gut probably looks nothing like my gut (which, believe me, is a blessing) and a strain that helps me might not help you. What’s more, you need to understand what’s actually happening in your gut before you just throw billions of strains at it; which may do more harm than good!
I’ve tested my gut bacteria previously but there’s no surprise that having Crohn’s does reduce your good gut bacteria and it obviously skews the results somewhat if you’re taking antibiotics or in a flare. For this article, I wanted to see if someone without Crohn’s would find the test beneficial (since many of my readers have gut issues without IBD) and whether it would help them learn about their own gut bacteria balance. I recruited Sarah, who has IBS and anxiety and blogs about this over on her blog The Wee Foddie.
“I have suffered with IBS for 13 years. It’s hard to say how long I’ve suffered from anxiety, but I definitely think these both go hand in hand with each other so I was interested to get an insight into my gut health as I’ve become increasingly aware of the link between your gut health and mental health. I’ve suffered a lot with my mental health in the past few years and I really think this is mainly due to the fact my gut doesn’t function as it should,” Sarah explained to me before taking the test.
I could really relate to Sarah’s struggles-I too find my mental heath massively linked to an IBD flare too.
How to do the Atlas microbiome test
It’s really simple to quickly and accurately test your gut bacteria Atlas Biomed send you a kit out in the post and then you go online to register your kit. The kit includes everything you need to take your stool sample , which is actually very simple to do. You pop the tube in the specimen bag, seal it and then seal the box with your sample inside and pop in in the postbox – the box has a pre-paid postage label. Around four weeks later you receive your results; which not only give you an insight into how diverse your microbiome is (remember, the more diverse the better here) BUT also lets you know how your unique gut bacteria could protect you against certain condition (such as Crohn’s Disease and Type 2 Diabetes) which is incredibly useful.
Does anxiety lead to a low microbiome?
Well, in Sarah’s case, it did. She was relieved to that her microbiome meant she was at low risk for Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis but her Microbiome diversity came back as low too. Sarah is on a modified version of the low-fodmap diet; which as I’ve blogged about before can reduce your gut microbiome when on it long term. So if you’re on the low FODMAP diet, it is definitely worth doing a test like this to see if it’s impacting you. The test also found Sarah wasn’t synthesis vitamin B3 and B9 as well as she could-interestingly, the B Vitamins are also linked to anxiety. The test also gives you incredibly useful suggestions on improving your microbiome: such as foods to incorporate into your diet.
WIN a testing kit of your own!
Fancy learning more about your microbiome? Then you’re in luck! I’m excited to be giving away one of Atlas Biomed’s microbiome testing kits. Just follow the rafflecopter widget below to enter (please note, if entering via the ‘leave a comment option’, please make sure you leave a comment in this blog post itself to be entered)
