What does the Gut Have to do with your Mood?

Your gut, aka “inside your belly”, has been proven to be your bodies literal “second brain”. For years, the medical world has been trying to figure out what causes our moods to change and what causes common problems that most of us face like stress, anxiety, and even depression. These are common problems, and we know they are linked to serotonin among other things.  But did you know that 95% of serotonin isn’t even produced in the brain? Serotonin is actually produced in the gut.

Hence, what we put inside of our bellies is directly related to our emotional health. Our gut consists of bacteria and we need that bacteria to have a healthy balance or the rest of us will not be balanced including our mood. Your gut and your brain work together, so if one is out of balance the other will be also. Have you ever had an upset stomach because your mind was stressed? Well, think about it, if it works one way it works both ways. There have been many scientific studies that have linked mood problems to gut problems and vice versa.

Our gut should be balanced with 85% good bacteria and 15% bad bacteria. That is the recipe for a healthy gut and a healthy mood.  You have about 100 trillion bacteria in your gut.  This is 10 times the number of human cells in our bodies! This bacteria actually has roles in our health.  Some produce vitamins we need, others help break down food we eat, and they can strengthen our immune system.

Some symptoms of an unhealthy gut include gas, bloating, nausea, sugar cravings, and more.  The best way to make sure your body has healthy bacteria for your gut is to feed your gut healthy bacteria with fermented foods, eating real whole foods, and eating your veggies, staying away from sugar and processed foods.  Excellent sources of probiotics include kefir and fermented or cultured foods and beverages.

Keeping a healthy gut in check will help you to digest food properly, absorb vital nutrients, and maintain a healthy state of mind aka your mood.

If you need help navigating your way to a healthy gut, contact me at devi@simplywholebydevi.com!