That gut-wrenching feeling in the pit of your stomach is all too real – your gut is sensitive to emotions like anger, anxiety, sadness, and joy – and your brain can react to signals from your stomach. All the more reason to eat a balanced and nutritious diet – so that your gut and your brain can be healthy.

What is the gut?

The gut includes every organ involved in digesting food and processing it into waste. The lining of your gut is often called “the second brain.”

It includes:

Esophagus & Stomach
Small & Large Intestines
Gallbladder
Liver
Pancreas

How is the gut connected to the brain

The gut or “second brain” can operate on its own and communicates back and forth with your actual brain.

They are connected in two main ways:

PHYSICALLY - The vagus nerve, which controls messages to the gut as well as the heart, lungs, and other vital organs is the gut’s direct connection to the brain.

Note: Chiropractic is about making sure your nervous system is running at its best by removing subluxation, just back pain.

CHEMICALLY - The gut also connects with the brain through chemicals like hormones and neurotransmitters that send messages.

The chemical messages that pass between the gut and the brain can be affected by the bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live in the gut called the “gut microbiome.”

The bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live in the gut may be beneficial, harmless, or harmful.

How is the gut microbiome related to mental health

There is a strong relationship between having mental health problems and having gastrointestinal symptoms like heartburn, indigestion, acid reflux, bloating, pain, constipation, and/or diarrhea.

Having anxiety and depression can cause changes in the gut microbiome because of what happens in the body when it has a stress response.

Research in animals has shown that changes in the gut microbiome and inflammation in the gut can affect the brain and cause symptoms that look like Parkinson’s disease, autism, anxiety, and depression.

Tips for taking care of your gut

Eat a diet full of organic whole foods. Don’t base your diet on sugary, fried, or processed foods and soft drinks.
Feed the good bacteria with prebiotics - Prebiotic foods are high in fiber and work when they are raw. Try:
- bananas, garlic, onions, jicama, tomatoes, apples, berries., and mangos
You can also eat bacteria. Probiotics are live bacteria that exist in food. The types and amounts of bacteria in probiotics vary, and when foods are heated, the bacteria often die. Examples of probiotic foods are yogurt (the label should say live or active cultures), unpasteurized sauerkraut and kimchi, miso soup, kefir, kombucha, and apple cider vinegar.

Other things to consider

Avoid taking antibiotics unless your doctor says they are absolutely necessary. Antibiotics kill bad bacteria, but also kill the good bacteria that keep your gut working properly.