Gut Health

“It takes guts to be happy”

If you find yourself suffering from some of these symptoms and haven’t figured out where they come from, or resigned yourself to genetics…read on, it may be due to something you might never have considered… 

 

 PHYSICAL

  • Leaky gut
  • Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
  • Allergies
  • Food intolerances

BEHAVIOURAL

  • Social withdrawal
  • Grinding
  • Incr. in food or alcohol intake
  • Incessant contemplation

EMOTIONAL

 

  • More crying than usual
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Higher need for social withdrawal

*More symptoms on the Harvard Health website    Stay with me, I am about to take you on a bit of a science and biology tour, but trust me, it’ll be worth it…

Did you know our genes are not the only factors deciding our destiny when it comes to health and wellbeing? It is in fact our brain that is the bigger deciding factor on our health (physical and emotional). Epigenetics proved a long time ago that, just as important to our state of sickness or health, are our emotions, stressors and beliefs (repeated thoughts). What usually comes to mind when we hear “brain” is the one in our head, when actually it is “both” our brains who equally contribute.

Dun, dun, dun.

In utero two nervous systems are developed out of the same materials, one becomes the Central Nervous System (brain and spinal cord), and the other our Enteric nervous system (gastrointestinal tract), which are connected via the Vagus nerve. This system creates a nerve superhighway running information back and forth between our gut and our brain. In fact, the brain sends way less information down to the gut (“oh look food, start your juices”), than what the gut sends up to the brain (“life is good, we are well, happy, content, nothing to fear…you may release the calming hormones”). And you experience a sense of peace and wellbeing

Our gut bacteria (gut microbiome) don’t just work to break down our food but greatly impact our behaviour and how we manage our life stressors. Therefore, the gut has a direct effect on the brain and vice versa. Not hard to imagine when you notice how your tummy responds at the thought of an unwanted bill, presentation or final exam. The gut reacts to these stress hormones triggered by your thoughts. Likewise, when your gut is stressed or imbalanced it releases stress hormones which your brain interprets as worrisome or stressful thoughts.

In laymen’s terms, a stressed mind causes a stressed gut which leads to unwanted gut symptoms (leaky gut, IBS, allergies, food intolerances etc.) but importantly a gut out-of-whack can create unwanted thoughts which result in negative emotions which get stored in the body and become a habit-of-being. 

​Life stressors can be anything you respond negatively to like traffic, time, partners, jobs, money. An imbalanced gut has been linked to everything from food intolerances, breakouts, fatigue and even exacerbated emotional imbalances like depression, anxiety, pain, repeated illnesses or any other side effect from a low immune system.

SOLUTIONS :

(For the mind check out my page titled Mind – Meditation and Mindfulness) but for the gut I highly recommend getting yourself some fermented food and drinks like Kefir and Kimchi (fermented veg). Kombucha is great but has half the number of lactic acids and good bacteria, therefore considered more of a digestive (see my blog Health benefits vs taste). For the optimum probiotic affects you want to go for Kefir. Or do both and mix them as I do because Kombucha tastes way better. Foods, and especially fermented foods and drinks, bring the good bacteria back into the gut along with the healing energy codes our body needs to rebalance itself.

Diet is you natural source of probiotics and prebiotics so a rich source of all colours will ensure your body is teeming with good bacteria. But the quickest way to deplete these sources is sugar and processed foods. Following those are a stressful lifestyle which is why I suggest this backup method. The jury is out as to whether probiotic tablets are effective, but if you opt for those, do the research as each strain as remarkably different functions. Simply saying a tablet has billions may do nothing for the area of your body you are trying to treat.

HOW TO GET THEM:

Kefir grains or Kombucha SCOBY’s are available in most places around the world or can be shipped. I am running online Kombucha and Kefir classes in Perth so you can attend in the comfort of your own kitchen anywhere in the world at a time that is suitable to you. If you are based in Perth I will give you the grains and SCOBY whether you take the class or not.

In some of the below articles you will also find other highly recommended solutions but I’ve personally chosen fermented veg, Kefir and Kombucha as they are the cheapest and easiest to maintain. Plus, being able to make your own is always a winner in my books!

SOURCES:

The gut-brain connection – Harvard Health

Inflammation and depression – Society of Natural Therapists and Researchers

The molecules of emotion – Heather Dane

Microbes strongly influence emotional behaviours – IFL 

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