The Gut Brain Relationship
This subject really gets my nerdy gut brain excited. I know for many the subject of the Gut-Brain Axis may be foreign, but for the health and wellness field, it has been a hot research topic for some time now. The research and development of the discoveries are just so fascinating. I only wish more individuals were as passionately interested on this topic as those in the health field…it is the newly discovered “frontier” so to speak, and the findings are getting us closer to understanding the massive impact of preventative and holistic care. Those that have come before us knew exactly what they were doing; we just took a very long time to listen.
The Gut-Brain Axis
The Gut-Brain Axis (I’ll call it GBA for short), is a bidirectional communication between the gut and the brain. It is somewhat like a highway that allows all kinds of cells, hormones, neurotransmitters, and everything else to travel between the gut and the brain. The “highway” is the Vagus Nerve that spans from your brain all the way to your colon. This nerve connects every organ through little nerve endings throughout your entire body. (I will discuss the Vagus Nerve more in depth in its own Blog…it has such an amazing impact on our bodies.) While the Vagus Nerve connects the brain and gut physically, Neurotransmitters (tiny vehicles for anything and everything that travels throughout our bodies) keep the health of the relationship between the gut and the brain alive by communicating chemicals, like hormones, between the two, as well as other destinations in the body as needed. Hopefully, you’re still following along.
Basically, as we emotional react to an outside situation, or consume certain nutrition, our gut breaks that down into hormones, vitamins, and other chemicals (good or bad), and the little neurotransmitters load those up, and “drive” them up and along the Axis to be dispersed throughout the body; with the help of the brains directive. Does that make sense? This is why keeping that Axis, or “highway”, clear and healthy is so important. Think of it this way…Ever been driving to a destination, for say a vacation; and then bam, massive congestion on the freeway completely backs up all your plans? Your late for your hotel reservations; you can’t go to the outing you had planned; dinner is going to be much much later than you thought. Yeah, that’s what happens to your GBA when we are in a constant state of Chronic Stress (which I discussed in my previous Blog “The Stress Factor”), or when we consume foods that are not digestible for our bodies. But instead of just showing up late, our hormones and other chemicals get blocked, or completely confused at to what they are supposed to do, leading to a very long list of chronic illnesses, cancers, heart complications, and possibly even death.
Now this is just the cliffs notes version of what actually takes place in the GBA, but even in this sliver of explanation you can see why practicing self care and eating healthy nutrition are so impactful. Your Brain, your Gut, and your entire body rely on your lifestyle and nutrition choices. Understanding the relationship of YOUR own GBA is your responsibility. I’m here to help you figure it out.
Brain Health
It is my belief, that all health begins in the Gut, but the Brain has been looked at as the main hub for ALL that occurs in the body for pretty good reasons (not good enough to switch my beliefs, but hey, that’s just my opinion). Keeping this massive organ healthy will enable hormones, chemicals, and all other cells functioning as they should in your body. Your brain produces quite a bit of hormones that conduct your overall mental well being. How do we keep these hormones in balance? There are multiple ways that one could test to see if one particular practice will work for them. These practices are to bring down heightened hormones, or to bring up lowered hormones. They also keep hormones in harmony when practiced regularly. When hormones are in balance we are more likely to make healthier choices that enhance our overall lifestyle, rather than deteriorate.
Meditation: finding silence for 30 minutes. Accepting distractions, but then releasing them allows you to master releasing exterior stressors.
Practicing Gratitude: keeping a journal, or just mentally appreciating all the good in life for 10 minutes a day allows you to master empathy and compassion.
Physical Activity: moving your body for 30 minutes (at least) everyday allows your body to “wake up” cells, hormones, and metabolism to heighten energy and mental cognition.
Including self care practices into our daily routines will guide our bodies to a more stable and happier sense of well being.
Gut Health
This is a difficult subject for most. We live in a marketers dream society. ALL unhealthy food is over marketed in America. Even in the political arena it has massive power. Heck, our first food pyramid included 9-11 servings of grain daily, along with a section for dairy! Neither of these are even necessary for human function or survival!!!! I’ll admit, the Food Plate is a little better, but there is definitely some work our government needs to do to remove highly inflammatory foods off of the “approved nutrition” list! We are the only country that excludes water off our our food plate! Say whaaaa?! That’s kind of an important part of human health…hydration! As you can tell by my rant, our S.A.D. nutrition plan is definitely not assisting anyone with their health. In fact the S.A.D. (that’s Standard American Diet, for those that don’t know) actually contributes to most chronic illness, cancer, heart disease, and autoimmune disorder diagnoses. Growing up in America is tough on our bodies when it comes to food. Starting your kids young (like pre-birth) on eliminating high inflammatory foods will have a major impact on their future health. With a little guidance, self control, and will power, anyone can live a healthier life.
Fuel your body with Whole Foods: foods that do not require a label to tell you what it is. Vegetables, Fruit, Humanely and Naturally raised Animal Protein, Nuts, Whole Grains, Seeds, and even Cacao 🥰
Get Labs yearly: be proactive of your own health. Have you done GI map testing ever or recently? Have you had your Thyroid Labs done this year? How are your Hormones doing-blood labs? These will help you see your health at a deeper level, so you know how to adjust nutrition and lifestyle choices.
Food Diary: do you track what you eat and how you body reacts? This food diary can assist you in discovering certain foods that have a negative impact on your body.
Bristol Stool Chart: you would be amazed at what your poop says about you. Seems crazy, but if you are having digestive complications it is definitely worth it to keep a log of bowel movements for 2 weeks to discuss with your doctor.
Like I said before, I believe the Gut is the main brain of the operations, but just my opinion. It just seems that what we consume has the most profound impact on our health. In consuming foods that our body was not built to digest on a daily basis, our body seems to “shut down”. We live in a society where the underlying culprit of so many unnecessary deaths is caused by what we consume. The epidemic of obesity is not a joke, nor is the health community pinning the blame on that individual. It needs to be addressed and attacked through our food and the big food industry…plain and simple. If certain industries refuse to accept responsibility for the destruction of human health, then there is only one thing we can do about it…take the responsibility on ourself.
I am a huge advocate for preventative and self powered care! Doctor’s are there as our guide’s in our health journey…not the controlling aspect. Yes, we absolutely need our doctor’s to help us read our results, help us understand our options, and to mend things that are broken, displaced, or need to be removed for overall health. But, the ultimate condition of our health is truly up to each of us. We are responsible for our overall health, our kids health, and our family’s health, not pharmaceutical companies, or big food companies. Their marketing will challenge us, mislead us, and manipulate us into thinking we “need” their product. However, you are the ultimate executer of your health. You have options, and you have those of us out there willing to go against the flow in order to enhance your health for the long haul, not just mask the underlying problem. Self Health Maintenance of your relationship between your Gut and your Brain is a great start to regaining the control you deserve as a human!
