The Gut-Brain Connection: Why Is Gut Health Critical To Our Well Being?
The Gut-Brain Connection: Why Is Gut Health Critical To Our Well Being?
According to many leading scientists, nearly everything about our physical and emotional health can hinge on the state of our gut microbiome. What takes place in our gut affects our mood, our libido, our attitude, the clarity of our thoughts and our overall well-being. An unhealthy gut microbiome can be the root cause of headaches, anxiety, depression, brain fog, chronic fatigue, allergies, asthma, ADHD, cancer, type 2 diabetes, dementia, and other chronic health conditions.
Sometimes we’ll hear people talk about a “gut feeling”, “gut check”, or they’ll say “my gut tells me…”. The neurons in our gut are so innumerable that many scientists are now calling them the “second brain”. This second brain not only regulates muscle function, immune cells, and hormones, but also manufactures an estimated 80 to 90 percent of serotonin (the “feel-good” neurotransmitter).
This means the gut’s brain makes more serotonin (the master happiness molecule), than the brain in our head. Many neurologists and psychiatrists are now realizing that this may be one reason antidepressants are often less effective in treating depression than supporting microbiome health through proper dietary changes coupled with nutritionals.
So what’s the connection between our brain and our gut? Our brain and gut are connected by a superhighway called the gut-brain axis. Broadly defined, the gut-brain axis includes the central nervous system, neuroendocrine and neuroimmune systems, including the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA axis), the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic, parasympathetic, and enteric arms; including the vagus nerve and the gut microbiota).
This vast network of neurons, blood-borne chemicals and hormones regulate neurotransmitters such a serotonin, dopamine and GABA that strongly affect our mood and other brain functions. The vagus nerve is the longest of 12 cranial nerves, and it’s the primary channel between millions of nerve cells in our intestinal nervous system (enteric) and our central nervous system (brain & spinal cord). The bacteria in the gut directly affects the function of the cells along the vagus nerve because some of the gut’s nerve cells and microbes release neurotransmitters that speak to the brain in its own language.
In summary, if our gut microbiome is not healthy, our physical & emotional health are compromised! So how do we create a healthy gut microbiome? We have a GI Wellness program that’s designed to both cleanse our microbiome of pathogens and restore it with healthy microorganisms. With 9 formulas integrated in two steps we can achieve a healthy gut microbiome. Step 1 is the pathogen purge and dysbiosis improvement phase. Step 2 detoxifies and prepares the terrain to accept healthy microorganisms while delivering scientifically proven ingredients for improving intestinal integrity. And finally it delivers high doses of prebiotics and probiotics (some not found in any other program) to support an ongoing healthy gut microbiome.
Please contact us if you would like to learn more about our GI Wellness program!
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