Gut health and improved wellbeing, benefitting blood sugars!
Learn ways that food enhances your mind and gastrointestinal health. Find strategies to maximize your gut bacteria so your body can reap the benefits!
Gut healthy foods will improve your microbiome (friendly bacteria) necessary for overall health and optimal immunity.
Learn how the gut (stomach), and brain are interconnected and can affect one another. Making changes to your eating can enhance your moods and energy levels too!
Imagine if eating differently could elevate your moods or improve your brain and mental health. Or if reducing stress can also reduce gut system challenges.
Gastrointestinal issues can cause pain, bloating, and other discomfort. They impact over 35 % of people at some point in life, affecting women more than men.
Our brains control some of our digestive processes. Even thinking about eating can cause the stomach to release juices getting itself ready for food. Your gut is sensitive to emotions. Think back to a time when you felt anxious and nauseous or felt "knots", or "butterflies" in your stomach.
Your gut is your "second brain"..
In addition to your "main" nervous system, your gut or GI tract has it's own nervous system called the enteric nervous system. This system spans your whole digestive tract from your esophagus, along your stomach, intestines, and colon. It has 100 million nerve cells (called neurons) that communicate with each other using biochemicals called neurotransmitters.
Things like fear, sadness, anger, feeling anxious, or depressed are often felt in the gut. This is why stress and strong emotions can contribute to or worsen a number of gut issues like crohns disease, colitis, irritable bowl syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux disease, food allergies, and sensitivities.
Changes to the gut's microbiome can affect other parts of the body too, like depression, heart disease, and blood sugars.
How to eat and de-stress for better gut and brain health...
Your gut health improves when you eat a high fiber, more plant based diet. That's because it provides your friendly gut microbes with preferred foods so they can grow and thrive.
Probiotic foods that include health promoting bacteria are also recommended.
Reducing the amount of sugar and meat can also help. These can lead to a healthier microbiome by promoting a diverse community of many species of microbes to maximize your health.
For better gut and brain/mental health, eat more:
Fruits and vegetables
Nuts and seeds
Whole grains
Yogurt
Pickled vegetables
Eat less:
Added sugars
Red meat
Some stress reducing techniques:
Guided meditation
Deep breathing
Mindfulness
Relaxation
Yoga
Your gut, brain, and mood will thank you!
If you want a plan to help you eat and enjoy more of the foods that benefit your gut, brain, and moods feel free to reach out.
You can contact me here: janet@mynutopia.com.
Connecting with a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist is the best way to get back on track with your food and wellness goals!
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