My Gut Is Talking to My Brain, Say What?


Young girl thinking with glowing brain illustration on grungy background

Have you ever thought that there might be a connection between your gut and your brain? Well, think about it. You are preparing for a big presentation at work and you are nervous. How does your gut feel? Upset? Butterflies? Nauseous? I know that when I am anticipating presenting whether to a small group or workshop, I have a upset tummy and a rumbly gut.

Conventional medicine would say there is no connection.  In  fact, conventional medicine often sees the mind as independent from the rest of the body.  Just take a look at their approach to mood imbalances — conventional medicine assumes that treating one’s mental health issues will have no affect on his/her body.  Wrong!

Harvard Medical School supports that the brain directly influences the gastrointestinal tract. [1] The gastrointestinal tract includes the mouth, the esophagus, the stomach, the small intestines and the colon. Basically, the body organs that transform food into nutrients that are needed for you to thrive and live. Just think about food and what starts happening? You begin to produce saliva in your mouth and your body begins to prepare to digest what you are anticipating.

Tweetable: What you eat influences more than your tastebuds. Tweet!

Your gastrointestinal tract is highly sensitive to emotion and stress. Both emotion and stress may be considered non-physical influences that product physical and bodily responses. Dr. Alan Christianson, author of The Adrenal Reset Diet, sums up the influential triggers as the 3Ps: processed foods (dietary stress), pollutants (physical and environmental stress) and pressures of life (mental stress). [2] Basically, stress is anything that triggers a survival response in your body.

In survival mode, your body demands sugar, salt and fat. Maybe not all at the same time, but depending on the imbalance or trigger one or all of these will be calling your name. Interestingly, food manufacturers have picked up on these and use them to sell their processed foods, which create dietary stress and silent inflammation in your body. You may find Michael Moss’s book, Salt Sugar Fat, an interesting read. Check out my book review of this book HERE.

What you eat does effect and affect your body, brain and gut. An upset intestinal tract can trigger a response in the brain and a brain response can trigger an upset or troubled gastrointestinal tract. Subsequently, you should view the gut and the brain as one system. You will begin to see more information becoming available as mainstream medical research investigates the connection. Many ask how do these two system communicate? According to Dr. Sarkis Mazmanian, a Louis and Nelly Soux Professor of Microbiology at California Institute of Technology, suggests that the gut microbiome talks to the brain through molecules released into the bloodstream by the gut. [3] The human body has trillions of microbes that are collectively referred to as the micobiome. Most of these microbes are found in your gut and intestines. [Check out Gutbliss by Dr Robynne Chutkan]

The nutritionally related triggers I want to explore over the next couple of blog posts include hypoglycemia, gluten intolerance and neurotransmitter imbalances. The final blog post in the series will provide you with some nutritionally supportive ideas and supplements. Stay tuned for next week’s post on blood sugar and its influence on mood and cravings.

Remember what you eat does influence your gut, your brain and ultimately your mood.

If you found this post interesting or it created questions for you, share your comment or question in the comments below.  I enjoy interacting with my online friends.


Resources

[1]  Harvard Health Publications, March 27, 2012, http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/the-gut-brain-connection.
[2]  Alan Christianson, NMD, The Adrenal Reset Diet, New York: Harmony Books, 2014.
[3]  Traci Pederson, “Mounting Research Shows Gut Brain Connection,”  PsychCentral, January 12, 2015, http://psychcentral.com/news/2015/01/12/mounting-research-shows-gut-brain-connection/79804.html  

Robynne Chutkan, MD, Gutbliss, New York: Avery Group, 2013.

 


About Brenda

Brenda loves learning and sharing what she's learning with you. She is a certified keto/carnivore coach with Keto-Adapted (Maria and Craig Emmerich, a certified holistic nutritional consultant (CHNC), and a natural nutrition clinical practitioner (NNCP).