Your gut and brain are directly connected to each other and can influence how the other operates.
The vagus nerve primarily connects the human gut and brain, allowing bidirectional communication between your brain and gut. This connection means the brain can control your gut's digestion, inflammatory responses, etc. Meanwhile, your gut can influence your brain by responding to gastrointestinal stress with depression, mood swings, anxiety, etc.
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The gut affects our brain. This is clear now. However, the reasoning behind it is a combination of factors. The ability of our gut to affect anxiety, depression, and general mood swings is because 90% of the body's serotonin receptors are located within the gut. In addition to this, things like our diet can cause problems. A diet without all the proper nutrients the gut needs to maintain stability will cause problems for your gut health and therefore cause issues with your mood regulation.
The Chronic Problem
While it is evident that there is a multitude of benefits to maintaining a healthy gut, recent studies suggest taking care of your gut health can also help reduce the likeliness of certain chronic diseases, such as:
Parkinson's Disease
Alzheimer's Disease
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Here's a great video, "Caltech Researchers Link Parkinson’s Disease to Gut Bacteria." See the link between our gut's health and chronic disease such as Parkinson's.
While gut health isn't the only factor into preventing these chronic diseases, it's definitely a strong one with more and more science being worked on to figure out the extent of the affects our gut has.
So how should you maintain a healthy gut?
You can do many things to maintain a healthy gut, but some of the best ways include exercising, drinking plenty of water, meditation, and having a healthy diet.
The term 'healthy' diet can be subjective depending on the goal or the specific health afflictions aimed at improving; however, the following foods are great additions to your diet to improve your gut health.
Eating high-fiber foods, such as fruits and vegetables, is critical to keep your digestive tract in check.
Fermented Foods are also great for your gut health as they can help reduce inflammation and improve your intestinal health.
Whole grains are also helpful as they add a bit of fiber to your diet and help out many microbes in your gut.
Personally
I eat a high-fiber, mostly plant-based 🌱 diet, no red meat, drink 4 liters of water a day, exercise, and am focused on keeping nutrition simple. I am sharing what works for me and what I routinely recommend to my patients.
"Balance. Portion control. Keep nutrition simple. Eat Smart. Eat Healthy. 🌱 🌾 🌿"
Gut Health ➕ Patient Advocacy with Navigation ➕ Life Balance
If you were looking for information about Private Healthcare Navigation and Patient Advocacy from Executive Health NavigationClick here for Executive Health Navigation✴ Connect with Dr. Dooreck on LinkedIn, where he focuses his sharing on Health, Diet, Nutrition, Exercise, Lifestyle, and Balance.
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