Dr. Nandi in his book, “Heal Your Gut, Save Your Brain” speaks about the microbiome. The microbiome refers to the group of up to 1,000 bacterial species living in our bodies. This bacteria helps our digestion, destroys harmful bacteria, and controls our immune system.
Our guts and brains are linked together. One such connection is the vagus nerve. This nerve stretches from the brain down to the intestines, the vagus is the body’s longest cranial nerve in the back of the brain. This connection shares some responsibilities with the gut – this includes digestion and immune system responses.
Why is this important for us to know if we have mental health and substance misuse conditions? Microbes in the gut, produce 90-95 percent of our bodies serotonin, a neurotransmitter responsible for stabilizing mood, sleep patterns, and appetite – all activities controlled by the brain.
Producing serotonin, the microbiome can use the gut-brain nucleus to impact the activities of the brain. If our bodies produce little serotonin we may feel depressed, sleep poorly, and eat too much. The gut functions like a supercomputer.
The gut and the brain are dance partners. When the brain senses danger we feel it in our digestive tract – that sinking feeling in the gut. How about the anxiety we feel before a speech that might settle as butterflies in the stomach -.
I will go into more detail about some helpful diet tips on Monday. Nutrition is essential to balancing our microbiome and producing serotonin, the feel-good hormone.
Superhuman Being
Peace
Larry
email: ljw@superhumanbeing.net
website: https://superhumanbeing.net/