Do you know what the connection is between your gut and when it comes to your mental health?
IT’S HUGE
like REALLY HUGE 💚
There’s a real reason why you may have heard that our gut is home to our 2nd brain 🧠
If you prefer to listen, I have 2 episodes for you on The Wellness Restoration Project
Yep 2
👉🏼Episode 30 breaks down that Gut-Brain Connection, what it is, how it works and why its so important
👉🏼Episode 29 is all about Fish oil and how & why its so helpful for anxiety, depression and so much more.
Both are short and power packed with info that really help whether you’re navigating caring for someone (even you) struggling with mental health challenges
or doing everything in your power to avoid them (or keep things from getting worse)
Otherwise, keep reading, because I’m going to break it down here. 👇🏼
Are you familiar with how connected the gut and the mind are?
This connection is one that has been understood by traditional cultures for thousands of years but our understanding of it in western medicine is relatively new and still evolving.
🌌there are 500 MILLION neurons that are embedded into the lining of the gastrointestinal system. Starting at the esophagus and working all the way down to the anus.
This complex system of neurons is connected to the brain 🧠through the Central Nervous system which consists of the Vagus nerve or parasympathetic nervous system as well as the sympathetic nervous system.
The ENS is often referred to as “the second brain” because even when the communication to the brain from the Vegus nerve is cut off, the enteric nervous system continues to function 👊🏻
Just like the brain, these millions of neurons are in constant communication with the organs and systems of our body and that communication is greatly influenced by our microbiome -all the bacteria in our gut that breaks down the food we eat & creates neurotransmitters.
There is a constant conversation about our nutrient status, our hunger cues, cravings, etc.
The emotions our bodies feel directly affect these neurotransmitters through the same pathways. 😩😭😤😡😱
It’s a 2 way street.
That’s very much the reason that when you get nervous or stressed you can feel nauseated, or “butterflies in your stomach” or your hunger cues can get turned on or off in intense situations.
On top of that, 90% of serotonin is made in your gut.
Seratonin is known as the “happy hormone” although it does a lot more than make us feel good.
it affects mood, anxiety, sleep, appetite, temperature, eating behavior, sexual behavior, movements, and gastrointestinal motility.
Berberine – the Gut Healing Anti-depressant
Berberine is the active ingredient in a category of herbs commonly known as the yellows or bitter herbs.
These are herbs like European barberry, goldenseal, goldthread, greater celandine, Oregon grape, phellodendron, and tree turmeric – this isn’t the turmeric you commonly hear about, its generally seen on labels Indian Barberry or Indian Berberry.
Berberine is known to cross the blood-brain barrier and has a protective effect on central nervous system disorders, such as Alzheimer’s, cerebral ischaemia, mental depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety.
Berberine is also a powerful gut restorative herb and is useful in helping control insulin resistance. It helps modulate and restore the neurtransmitters and in studies as recent as 2019 it has shown to be an effective anti-depressant in animal studies and is currently being studied in humans for the same thing.
Many berberine containing herbs have been used extensively for centuries in all the major herbal traditions to heal, reduce inflammation and balance the gut which is always a key player in mental health disorders.
Effective dosing is usually about 1000-1500mg a day, but its important to work with a qualified herbalist or practitioner as berberine containing herbs actually work best in combination with other herbs that can help balance out its very bitter, drying energetics.
The Mental Health Benefits of Turmeric
Tumeric is another amazing gut restorative herb that is shown also to be an effective antidepressant. Want to hear about a study? 🤓It was an eight week randomized, double blind placebo controlled clinical trial.
The study enrolled 56 patients with major depressive disorder and all patients were randomly and equally allocated to be treated with either curcumin 500 milligrams, twice daily. or placebo
👉🏼 curcumin is the active ingredient in tumeric. 🧡
If they were taking, pharmaceutical antidepressants, the drug and the dosage must have been stable for previous eight weeks and needed to be stable throughout the duration of the study. So that’s good to know that people who are already on antidepressants were included in this study,
if volunteers were receiving psychological therapy, that treatment must’ve commenced at least eight weeks prior too.
They did exclude people who had a psychotic disorder. And they did exclude bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorders and anyone who was at high risk of suicide as well as a few other diseases.
During the first four weeks, the patients who were treated with both the curcumin or the tumeric and the placebo demonstrated significant improvements…
👉🏼however, during the next four weeks, (4-8) curcumin 🧡emerged as SIGNIFICANTLY more potent than placebo in improving several mood related symptoms and showed a significant improvement in anxiety.
They concluded that the anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin may account for its increased effectiveness may provide a safe and effective treatment for individuals suffering with a major psychiatric disorder. 🧡💛🧡💛
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for our brain
ESSENTIAL – yup, means we can’t go without it. For many of us that subscribed to a low fat diet for many years, this is an idea that can be hard to get your head around (pun intended 😉)
We NEED both omega-3 & omega-6s.
Omega-3 are anti-inflammatory and omega-6 are pro-inflammatory. Research is showing that we need twice as many omega-3 fatty acids as we need omega-6 fatty acids.
Unfortunately, most western diets contain 20-30 times more omega-6 than omega-3 😱
So being mindful of what we are eating (and what contains 3’s vs 6’s) is crucial for our health.
What do they do besides protect our brain 🧠?
For women especially they protect our hearts & breasts, improve bone health & keep our moods steady.
In our reproductive years they ease menstrual pain, improve fertility and increase the chances of full-term births.
Both men & women see improvements in depression when levels are optimum, but women exhibit more extreme symptoms of depression when levels are low.
💛Ladies, if you are in peri menopause, are menopausal or even concerned about how to approach that stage in your life with the best chances of staying well …. OMEGA-3’s IN YOUR DIET IS SOMETHING YOU MUST PAY ATTENTION TO.
Women who eat fatty fish 1-2 times a week enter menopause later in life, have fewer symptoms and reduce their risk of Alzheimer’s by up to 70%!!!!
A great fish oil supplement along with eating well-selected fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, lake trout, herring, albacore tuna, anchovies & sardines & their eggs) are our best natural sources.
I love Nutragen’s fish oil, it tastes great for kids & adults & has a bump of turmeric for added support.
The folks at www.nutragen.com have arranged for me to offer you 20% off! use CODE Shelley20
Of course these aren’t the only herbs that help, there are actually many, many herbs & nutrients linked to gut health and mood disorders check out these posts here on seasonal affective disorder, herbs for anxiety, and eating for happiness. If you’d like some help figuring out what is best for you – schedule a free 15 min call with me here and let’s chat!
Until next time 💙
Be well –
Shelley