The gut and brain are connected through 500 million neurons in your nervous system. Think of all the times you have felt butterflies when looking at your crush or maybe feeling sick to your stomach before a job interview or giving a speech. What about when you were so stressed or anxious you had no appetite? All these things are happening because your brain and gut are talking! Cool huh?
Our gut is a vital organ within our body. Besides digesting and absorbing nutrients, it holds an entire microbiome ecosystem. This microbiome regulates the development and function of the immune, metabolic, and nervous system, along with influencing disease processes within the gut and, you guessed it, the brain! Research shows that the connection between the gut microbiome and the brain may affect mood and behaviors.
So how does this affect your mood? Approximately 90% of serotonin is made in our gut. If our gut health is off, we could have a decrease in these chemicals. When our serotonin decreases, it can affect our immune response, digestion, and mood changes, such as anxiety, depression, aggression, impulsive behaviors, and insomnia to name a few.
Besides serotonin, the gut-brain connection goes further as the microbiota can produce neurotransmitters such as GABA, dopamine, and amino acids, but that’s a discussion for next time.
Are you feeling like this could be something you struggle with? There are many different ways this can be approached. Using the conventional medicine route, SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and SNRI (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors) work by blocking serotonin reabsorption, making more available within your brain.
Using an integrative or functional approach, we look at stress, lifestyle, diet, exercise, and other factors that coul
d dysregulate your gut microbiome. Unfortunately, it’s not an easy fix with just taking a probiotic.
If you have any questions or want to discuss your gut-brain connection, call us at 712-476-2200!
Serotonin: chemical messenger (neurotransmitter) that helps brain and nervous system cells communicate. Its primary function is to stabilize your mood, as well as your feelings of happiness and well-being.
Microbiome: is the collection of all microbes, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and their genes, that naturally live on our bodies and inside us.
Neurons: cells found in your brain and central nervous system that tell your body how to behave.
Gwak, M. G., & Chang, S. Y. (2021). Gut-Brain Connection: Microbiome, Gut Barrier, and Environmental Sensors. Immune network, 21(3), e20. https://doi.org/10.4110/in.2021.21.e20