When we think about looking after our mental health, the last place we’re likely to look to fix it, is our gut. But, science now tells us, it’s the first place we should start. For a start, it’s where we produce a staggering 95% of our serotonin! We take an in-depth look at the mind-gut connection and how we can support it to improve our mood and stress response.
This story is proudly brought to you in partnership with Gutsi
Here at Capsule, we’re very realistic about the idea of ‘new year, new you’, in that… we don’t really believe in it. In fact, it’s usually by this point in the new year that those big, bold, total-health-overhaul New Year’s Resolutions tend to, well, run out of steam.
Maybe you actually don’t need to train for a marathon, or give up sugar FOREVER and ever amen, only to find yourself crying at the sight of a TimTam packet three weeks later. Maybe you can look after the big picture of your health, rather than what body part Instagram has told you to focus on this month.
‘We’re big believers that small, daily changes can make a big overall difference to how you feel’
We’re big believers that small, daily changes can make a big overall difference to how you feel – both in your body, but also in your mind. Because they’re absolutely linked – and in some surprising ways. For instance, your gut – which not only is one of the big powerhouses of your physical body, but is also where 95% of your serotonin is produced.
That’s where qualified naturopath, medical herbalist and yoga teacher Jessica Sanders comes in. Firstly, she’s not going to tell you to avoid TimTams forever – she’s a fan of the 80/20 rule of nutrition versus treats, thank god – but she is going to tell us that being proactive about our gut health can be one of the best ways to look after our mental health.
But… how?
Understanding The Information Superhighway
Depending on your age, the phrase ‘information superhighway’ in terms of your body might make you think of The Magic School Bus, but the reality is even cooler than something that Miss Frizzle could come up with.
It’s a term used to describe the ‘gut-brain axis’, which is a two-way communication line that runs between your emotional and cognitive centres of the brain, down to your intestinal function. “Decades of research have found that the gut microbiome plays an important role in central nervous system function, which is responsible for our stress response, mood, memory,” Jess says. “And this intricate relationship between the gut bacteria and the nervous system has its very own name now – the psychobiome.”
So what does this mean for your emotional health?
“For a start, 95% of serotonin – the hormone that makes us feel happy – is produced in the gut,” says Jessica. So, if our gut is in any way compromised, it limits our ability to produce serotonin, which can obviously have a profoundly negative impact on our mental health.
The Effect Of Chronic Stress On Your Gut
Before she’d been working in clinical practice for close to a decade, Jess had worked in mental health back in the US, studying a degree in psychology. After moving to Christchurch, both of those worlds combined when she – and her clients – went through the devastating 2011 earthquake. Suddenly Jess had a front-row seat in understanding the impact that chronic stress can have on the gut and mind.
“There was always a mental health component to the physiological issues that the clients were presenting with,” she says. “The gut and the brain are intricately connected – all of a sudden I was back working in mental health, but this time with my naturopathic hat on.”
“What I found was that by treating one area – the gut, primarily – it would also have positive impacts on moods,” she says.
Digestive symptoms and bowel movements can be an early indicator that your body is struggling with something. For instance, stress can lead to diarrhoea. Because stress takes the blood flow away from your gut and into your muscles, to prepare for ‘flight or fight’, that impacts your gut’s ability to digest food. This means less nutrient absorption, plus the release of stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline also cause the digestive system to slow down, and all of this increases inflammation, which can then lead to leaky gut.
The Vagus Nerve = Your Calming Superhero
So how can we help take our body out of that ‘flight or fight’ response? Well, the answer lies in a very jazzy sounding nerve. If you’ve ever done a yoga class, you’ll no doubt have heard the term ‘vagus nerve’ used in relation to calming the body down. But… what does it actually mean?
The vagus nerve is actually a collection of nerves, and they’re the main nerves of your sympathetic nervous system. Your sympathetic nervous system is the one that is activated in times of stress – governing your ‘flight or fight’ response.
“In the cave man times, this is the system that if we saw a tiger, it would cause the adrenaline to surge through our body and allow us to hightail it out of there,” Jess says. Then, should you make it out alive, your body would then move back into its more balanced, relaxed state.
But now with modern life, ‘the tiger’ is ever-present as work and responsibilities see us connected 24/7, with stress and busy-ness being such a badge of honour that a lot of people get stuck in that panic mode. Even a short summer break – while great at the time – isn’t really enough to overcome the previous 11.5 months of chaos. This constant stress has a massive impact on your parasympathetic nervous system, which is in charge of ‘rest and digest’, as well as your immune system.
The vagus nerve connects the head to the rest of the body and plays a major role in how our body functions, but particularly in keeping our parasympathetic nervous system regulated. By stimulating that nerve, we can help our body calm, calm, calm, calm down.
Going back to yoga, this is why a big emphasis is placed on connecting movement to breath, as that’s one of the ways to stimulate that nerve, as is being mindful of our overall breathing. If you’ve ever been told to ‘just breathe’ when you’re getting panicked, stressed or overwhelmed, you’ll know that a) that’s annoying advice but it’s also b) absolutely spot on.
Deep breathing, extending your exhale longer than your inhale and making sure you’re breathing into your belly, rather than your upper chest, are fast-track ways to calm your nervous system. And a calm nervous system helps that mind-gut connection – the parasympathetic nervous system switches on, meaning that the gut is able to digest well, which then makes sure it’s producing all of those necessary hormones.
‘Poor gut health can have a really negative effect on not only total body health, but our mental health as well.’
“If that’s not happening – if we are experiencing leaky gut, or we’re not eating very well, not only are we not getting the nutrients we need from food that keep us well-fuelled, strong and well-balanced, but we can also experience an inflammatory response in the body,” Jess says.
“It’s a vicious cycle – we’ll be absorbing less nutrients, we’ll be feeling terrible, we’ll be making worse food choices, and we’ll be producing less serotonin.”
That can make it a very hard cycle to break out of. “Poor gut health can have a really negative effect on not only total body health, but our mental health as well.”
What Can We Do To Look After Our Gut Health
In our previous chat with Jess when it came to protecting our immunity through our gut health, she spoke about the importance of a balanced diet and a priority placed on leafy green vegetables, and getting a lot of good bacteria in your system through prebiotics and probiotics.
Eating healthy fats and ensuring adequate intake of essential fatty acids is also extremely important, because “the human brain is nearly 60 percent fat, so we need to also include foods like eggs, which are a rich source of choline and omega-3 fatty acids to support the brain and mental health,” Jess says.
A probiotic supplement can also help support the system during particularly fraught times. As Technical Manager at Gutsi, Jess says it’s very important to the brand to promote an overall healthy diet for life, where supplements should be a super-helpful top up when needed. As a self-professed ‘probiotic nerd’, Jess says it’s an extremely exciting time for seeing the research into what effect specific strains of probiotics can have on mental health.
Gutsi’s MoodBiotic, for instance, contains one of the most well researched probiotic strains that is clinically proven to reduce stress and mental fatigue as well as support healthy energy levels and theta brain wave activity – these are the dominant frequency in a relaxed, meditative state of mind.
And SporeBiotic includes a spore-based probiotic which produces natural antioxidants and B vitamins, helping to reduce inflammation and heal leaky gut, both of which help support serotonin production and therefore the gut-brain axis.
‘Don’t underestimate the impact that small lifestyle changes can have’
By creating two products specifically formulated to support the mind-gut connection and mental health, Jess says that Gutsi is thrilled to provide people with another tool to help get manage the stress in their lives and start seeing an improvement in their overall mood.
So as you stare down the promise of a bright, shiny 2024, don’t underestimate the impact that prioritising your gut health might have on your mood, stress and emotional health. And, says Jess, don’t underestimate the impact that small lifestyle changes can have – more greens, more good fatty acids, a focus on the breath and paying attention to the messages our bodies are sending us can play a big role in how we see the world, and how we respond to stress. And a little bit of antioxidant-rich dark chocolate is an okay lifestyle choice as well (yusss!)
Want to know more about how Gutsi can support you? For more information, visit the Gutsi website or book a free 15-minute consultation with one of their Naturopaths.
This story has been produced with the support of our partner, Gutsi. Every click, like, share and comment supports Capsule’s work and our commitment to keeping our content free. Thank you for supporting independent, female-owned media!
