Gut health and mood

What if we could eradicate depression and anxiety, or at least ease symptoms, by making lifestyle changes?

When it comes to depression and anxiety- or most mental health disorders actually, a visit to a doctor followed by a prescription for medication is the norm. However, is well accepted that a large number of people with depression fail to respond to pharmacological treatments. There is also a strong link in the current research between what we eat and how we feel. What if we could eradicate depression and anxiety, or at least ease symptoms, by making lifestyle changes?

A diet that is high in vegetables, fruit, lean farm raised meats, fish, healthy fats and fermented foods, and low in refined sugar and processed foods has been shown to improve mood. Fermented foods are important as they supply beneficial probiotics. A recent study in Brain, Behavior and Immunity investigated whether changing the array of bacteria in the gut, through the ingestion of a probiotic supplement, has a positive effect on mood.  The study provided the probiotic to 20 healthy individuals, none of whom had a mood disorder, over a four week period. A similar group of 20 individuals received a placebo over the same period. At the conclusion of the study, both groups were tested to determine their reactivity, in terms of cognitive function, to sad mood. This is a standard research tool that will assess depression. It was concluded that there was a significant reduction in the degree change, in terms of cognitive reactivity, to sad mood in the group receiving the probiotic when compared to placebo. And several other studies have reported that when people take probiotics their anxiety levels, perception of stress, and mental outlook improve, compared with those who don't take a probiotic.

So, how does our gut influence our brain? We have a Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) –which is primarily responsible for fight-or-flight reactions. The SNS is imperative to survival and switches on when needed. However, in today’s modern times, the SNS is often switched on, and this may be due to juggling kids, deadlines, traffic, stress at work, etc. On the other hand our Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) influences repair systems throughout the body. The PNS is associated with safety, and rest and digest. It is switched on in moments of connection, love, and friendship and balances out the stress of SNS activity.

And, now we know we have the enteric nervous system (ENS), what scientists call our “second brain”. The ENS is made up of millions of neurons, ( more than our spinal cord). And we have an entire ecosystem of bacteria communicating through and with the ENS, which is crazy! Although our second brain doesn’t reason, create or help us solve a maths equation, it does affect our mood state. And it is controlled by our gut microbiome.  The ENS receives signals from both sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. This is important because your ENS should be receiving and giving signals from both the sympathetic and parasympathetic evenly – symmetrical signals keep you feeling 'even and balanced'. When one dominates, the sympathetic for example, you can be constantly stuck in “fight-or-flight”, and the chronic stress takes a toll and may manifest in the form of depression, anxiety, mania or similar.

What is interesting is that the ENS may trigger huge mood shifts experienced by people suffering with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or other ailments such as constipation, diarrhoea, bloating and pain. Although it has been believed for decades that anxiety and depression contribute to gastrointestinal issues, it seems it may be the other way around. Inflammation and irritation in the gut may send signals to the CNS, which promote mood imbalance, anxiety and depression. This is important as we all experience gut issues at some stage- especially with our processed food supply- and the prevalence of mood disorders is growing.

To take care of your second brain we need to nourish the gut microbiome with good quality and fermented foods, keep stress levels down, get carbohydrates from vegetables, and remove sugar and processed foods from the diet. Your diet is the most important factor to influence gut microbiome, which in turn is in the driver’s seat when it comes to the ENS and mood states. Meditation and exercise have also been shown to be beneficial. Why not try everything you can before filling that prescription? However, if you feel like you are spiralling out of control then please seek medical advice