Gut-Brain Connection: The Key to Better Mental and Physical Health

August 22, 2024By Kenneth Mittelstadt

There’s a reason why we use phrases like “trust your gut” and “I had a gut feeling.” These expressions hint at a deeper, intuitive connection between your gut and brain that science is just beginning to unravel.

Recent research has sparked widespread interest in what we’re calling “the gut-brain axis,” revealing how our digestive health can influence mood, cognition, mental health, and overall well-being.

Something I always find fascinating is that many traditional healing systems, such as Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine, have long studied the mind-body connection. These ancient practices place a special focus on the gut and digestion, recognizing their importance in overall health, including mental health.

Better understanding this connection can be crucial for creating and maintaining optimal health. Imbalances in our gut can contribute to common issues like anxiety, depression, and even dementia and other digestive disorders.

By exploring the gut-brain connection, you can unlock new strategies to improve long-term mental and physical health.

The Basics of the Gut-Brain Axis

Think of the gut-brain axis as a two-way street, delivering information and signals to and from each other. This system represents the complex communication pathways that constantly exchange information, influencing everything from your mood to your digestive function.

Your digestive tract houses its own complex nervous system known as the enteric nervous system (ENS). This feature is partly why the gut is sometimes called “the second brain.” The ENS is part of the “rest and digest” nervous system, called your parasympathetic nervous system.

This part of your nervous system is completely involuntary or outside of your conscious control. Unlike flexing your bicep, movement, and stimulation within your digestive tract relies on coordinated signals from these parts of the nervous system.

The Vagus Nerve

You may have heard of this incredible nerve. It deserves a brief call out for this topic.

The vagus nerve is basically the physical manifestation of the highway, that is, the gut-brain axis. It transmits nerve impulses in both directions, overseeing digestion, mood, and even the strength of your immune system response.

The Gut-Brain Axis as a Two-Way Street

To illustrate how this highway is a two-way stress, let’s use stress as an example. Stress (emotional, physical, and other hidden sources of stress) impacts this connection in both directions.

Physical stressors like poor dietary choices, hidden infections, and inflammation in the gut can disrupt balance along the digestive tract and microbiome. These situations relay signals back to using up resources to combat the inflammation that arises in the gut.

Conversely, emotional stress, both acute and chronic, can directly impact the gut and disrupt the balance within the microbiome. This is one of the proposed mechanisms contributing to situations such as leaky gut and decreased immune function in the gut.

Understanding these basics of the gut-brain axis helps you appreciate the profound impact your gut has on mental and physical health. It’s a fascinating area of study that underscores the importance of a healthy gut for a healthy mind and body.

How the Gut Communicates With the Brain and Nervous System

Now, what are the actual vehicles driving on this two-way highway? Through a coordinated system, including neurotransmitters, hormones, the immune system, and the microbiome, the gut-brain connection is constantly communicating.

This is not a comprehensive dive into all of the factors that influence the gut-brain axis by any means, but it should give you a good look inside the major themes!

Neurotransmitters

A neurotransmitter is a substance released by a nerve that affects another target cell. The gut produces several important neurotransmitters that can affect our mood and mental health.

For example, the gut produces between 90-95% of the body’s serotonin, which is important for both mood and digestive function. GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is another important neurotransmitter synthesized in the gut that helps to combat anxiety and stress.

Hormones

Hormones are chemical messengers that play a key role in the gut-brain connection, too. For example, cortisol is known as one of the body’s primary “stress hormones.” Ghrelin is one of the “hunger” hormones responsible for regulating your appetite!

The functions cortisol are quite broad, but chronic stress leads to chronic elevations of cortisol levels. These elevations of cortisol can negatively impact the body. In the gut, these imbalances affect the integrity of the gut lining and decrease immune response strength.

Additionally, chronic or hidden infections and imbalances in the microbiome can also lead to increased cortisol levels. Overall, dysregulation of cortisol can contribute to anxiety, stress, and overall mental-emotional resilience!

Immune System

It is estimated that about 70% of the immune system is located in the gut, specifically in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). Considering this, the gut is a major player in the body’s overall defense. Our digestive tracts are technically continuous with the outside world!

The immune functions of the gut are vital to defending against potential pathogens and maintaining the integrity of the digestive tract lining. This immune system function is coordinated through a combination of the nervous system and chemical messengers.

The Microbiome

Your gut is home to trillions of microbes that play many crucial roles in communicating and maintaining the health of the digestive tract. Some bacteria help produce neurotransmitters.

Maintaining balance in the microbiome is key to a healthy gut-brain axis. The “good” bacteria help crowd out the “bad” bacteria, which can cause many gut-brain imbalances.

Understanding how the gut communicates with the brain and nervous system highlights the importance of maintaining a healthy gut microbiota. By supporting your gut health, you can positively impact your mental and physical health, creating harmony within your body.

Conditions Related to an Imbalanced Gut-Brain Axis

Now that you have a good understanding of the ways the gut is connected to the brain and nervous system, let’s look at what happens when such communications are interrupted. Here are the main categories of disease and dysfunction associated with the gut-brain axis.

Digestive Disorders and DGBIs

Some of the most natural manifestations of disruption of the gut-brain axis reside in the gut. Once termed “functional gastrointestinal disorders” (FGIDs), there is now a classification of digestive disorders called disorders of gut-brain interactions (DGBIs).

Some examples of conditions affecting the digestive tract linked through the gut-brain connection include:

Mental Health and Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety have been linked to gut health. Dysbiosis, or imbalance in the gut microbiome, and related inflammation are often intertwined with impaired brain and nervous system function.

Similarly, cognitive disorders, including age-related dementia and cognitive decline, are associated with imbalances in the gut microbiome and chronic inflammation. A healthy microbiome and gut immune system helps to lower inflammation and maintain the integrity of the gut lining.

Examples of conditions studied for their relationship to the gut-brain axis include:

Trauma and the Gut-Brain Axis

Research also reveals that trauma-related disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and adverse childhood events (ACEs) are closely linked to disruptions of the gut-brain axis. There is growing evidence that supporting gut health can help manage these conditions.

Practical Lifestyle Tips for a Healthy Gut-Brain Axis

Finally, let’s explore some practical tips to support your gut-brain axis.

  1. Focus on stress reduction and resilience – Adopt stress-reduction practices such as mindfulness, meditation, deep breathing, yoga, and adequate sleep to strengthen your vagus nerve tone and gut-brain axis.
  2. Incorporate daily movement – Engage in regular physical activity to improve digestion and support mental well-being.
  3. Eat prebiotic and probiotic foods – Focus on plant fiber and fermented foods like kefir and sauerkraut can help support the “good” bacteria in your gut.
  4. Consume healthy fats – Omega-3’s from foods like fatty fish, walnuts, and ground flaxseeds help to reduce inflammation and support the brain.
  5. Consider quality daily supplements to support nutrition – A quality multivitamin with vitamin D and omega 3’s such as Cielo’s Rise. You can also support overall gut health with probiotics, prebiotics, and digestive enzymes such as those found in Cielo’s Horizon.
  6. Small cumulative steps over big, unsustainable changes – Taking small, cumulative steps to a healthier gut can lead to a happier, healthier you. Start by gradually incorporating these tips into your daily routine.

Conclusion

Understanding the profound connection between your gut and brain is crucial for creating optimal health. By recognizing how imbalances in the gut-brain axis can contribute to conditions like anxiety, depression, and digestive disorders, you can take proactive steps to improve your well-being.

Incorporating powerful lifestyle-based habits that support the gut-brain axis, such as meditation, healing foods, and quality supplements, can lead to improvements in mental, cognitive, and digestive health!

For more tips and inspiration on maintaining a healthy gut and wellness routine, follow Cielo and Dr. Kenny Mittelstadt on Instagram. Remember, small daily habits lead to cumulative shifts in our deepest selves.

About the Author

Dr. Kenny Mittelstadt, DACM, DC, L.Ac., Dipl.OM.

Kenny Mittelstadt is a functional health practitioner and acupuncturist based in San Antonio, Texas. He is trained through the Institute for Functional Medicine and received both of his doctorate degrees with highest honors from Southern California University of Health Sciences. He focuses on empowering patients through wellness education and root-cause healing – transforming health through personalized, lab-based functional medicine programs!

Website: DrKennyMittelstadt.com

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