Improve Your Gut, Improve Your Mood
When we think of mental health, we think of depression, anxiety, bipolar, brain fog, memory, concentration, and so on. We typically equate this with a chemical imbalance in our brain. Maybe we assume we’ve got the issue because of family genetics. After all, mom, dad, grandma, and aunt all struggle with depression. The typical first line of defense is going to see a doctor and getting a prescription.
Ok, let’s switch gears for just a minute. Let’s look at gut health. When we think gut health we usually think about a stomach ache, bloating, gas, heartburn, belching, IBS, etc. So many things! What if I told you that the first list of symptoms I mentioned, the ones associated with mental health, are also often symptoms of a gut health issue. This might be a new idea to you, it might even sound far fetched, but it’s a fact and it’s backed up by a lot of science!
The gut has it’s own nervous system called the enteric nervous system, sometimes called the “second brain”. The brain communicates with this nervous system through the vagus nerve. The vagus is a long and meandering nerve that begins at the brainstem and connects to almost every organ in your body, including the digestive tract.
The functioning of the vagus nerve contributes to the autonomic nervous system consisting of the parasympathetic and sympathetic parts (more on that in a minute). If your vagus nerve is working well, sending information from your brain to your gut, you’ll have good digestion, regular bowel movements, and your food will be properly broken down. When your brain is not functioning well, often due to inflammation and degeneration, your vagus nerve slows down, directly affecting your digestion. Common side effects are constipation and the inability to tolerate many foods because you simply can’t digest them.
Digestion is a HUGE piece of the puzzle when it comes to good health, and digestion is happening in every single one of us every day, every hour, for our entire life. So we really want it working well! It’s not something most of us think about much because it’s “automatic”, it’s a part of our autonomic nervous system. We typically start to think about our digestion when it starts to give us trouble, especially the uncomfortable and sometimes smelly kind! Can I get an amen?
There are two parts to our autonomic nervous system and that is the parasympathetic (rest and digest) and the sympathetic (fight or flight). We need to be in rest and digest in order to, well, digest. The problem with our current fast paced life is that we spend a great deal of time stuck in the sympathetic mode. This is a huge stressor on our body, and puts a giant burden on our entire digestive system if we’re stuck there when we eat. Back in the time of our ancestors, they’d go into sympathetic mode when in a life threatening situation. They’d run, get away, and the danger would be gone. They’d then go back into a sympathetic state. The problem nowadays is everything we deal with on a day-to-day basis, our body reads as stress. Running late for work, eating a breakfast high in carbs, a stressful commute, the 50 emails waiting for us when we get to the office, the news, a global pandemic, need I go on? I bet you’re getting the picture.
So, if our vagus nerve is not functioning well, and it’s connected to our autonomic nervous system, which is stuck in the sympathetic state, the end result is going to be poor digestion. And because the vagus nerve is the superhighway between our gut and our brain, what is happening in our gut is now directly affecting our brain. And, we can also assume the opposite, if your brain is giving you trouble, you’ve likely got a gut issue. Is this a chicken and egg situation? It sure seems like it!
It is sometimes difficult to determine which comes first, meaning its hard to know where to start to get better. Likely a good way to go, is to make sure you’re taking care of your vagus nerve by taking care of your gut and your brain. Let’s take a look at a few ways you can do this.
WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE?
I’m a nutritionist so of course this is where I’m going to start! If you’re eating a diet that is heavy is sugar and highly processed foods, you’re going to have gut issues. Our conveniences are literally killing us, slowly, but its happening and it starts manifesting with all sorts of symptoms, the obvious being the gut issues we’ve been talking about, the bloating, the gas, the heartburn, etc. It also shows up as brain fog, memory issues, inability to concentrate or comprehend, and depression. So step #1 is going to be to cut out the sugar and highly processed foods. Eat foods without an ingredient list, our food should not have a list. The food itself is the ingredient. Example, broccoli doesn’t have a list. Getting a healthy balance of healthy fat, protein, and carbs is key to a perfect plate. The healthiest carbs come from vegetables and small amounts of fruit, so make that your goal!
REST TO DIGEST!
A good next step is to consciously get yourself into that parasympathetic state we’ve been talking about. Before your begin your meal, take a moment to take some deep breaths, take time to appreciate the food you’re about to eat that will nourish your body and bring you good health. Next, take the time to chew your food thoroughly, not only does this slow you down, but it also helps your body digest your food efficiently. Carve out time for your meals and don’t multi-task. A sure-fire way to get stuck in a sympathetic state is to multitask while eating. Stop working, don’t eat in the car, and don’t eat in front of the TV. Make meal time a time of self-care, time with loved ones, a time to be grateful. Just 15-30 minutes of uninterrupted time for your meal will make a big difference on your bodies ability to digest your food.
SPEED UP THE SUPERHIGHWAY (THE VAGUS NERVE)
This one isn’t as obvious, but is going to make a big difference in brain function! If you have a brain that isn’t functioning well, it’s likely not had enough “exercise” to keep it strong. Think of it like a broken bone in a cast. When you get that cast cut off, you’ve lost muscle tone and need to rebuild it to get it back to proper working order. This is the same with the vagus nerve. In this case it’s weak neurons that you’re working on. Here are 3 exercises that will stimulate your neurons and in-turn improve your vagus nerve.
Gargling: Make it a habit to gargle several times per day, and I don’t mean a gentle little gargle you do with your mouthwash. You’ve got to really get into it. Gargle long and deep to the point your eyes water and its uncomfortable. The vagus nerve is what activates the muscle at the back of your throat that allows you to gargle. When you gargle, you contract these muscles and activate the vagus nerve which then stimulates the GI tract.
Sing Loudly: This is my favorite one! Sing as loudly as you can. I recommend you do this in your car or the privacy of your own home. (I don’t want your coworkers thinking you’re crazy!) Like the gargling, this stimulates those same muscles at the back of the throat activating the vagus nerve.
Gag: Once again, this needs to be done several times per day. This can be done by pressing down on the back of the tongue with a tongue blade, like the doc uses to look at your throat, or with your toothbrush. Push down to activate the gag reflex. Once again, it can’t be gentle, you need to really gag hard enough to make you cough and your eyes water.
Try to do all of these exercises every single day, throughout the day. They work slightly differently, so get variety and don’t stick to just one. Consistency is key here, you will not get the results you want if you do this sporadically, or for a week or two and then stop. Commit to this practice to see real results!
Learn More About the Vagus Nerve With My FREE Guide!
I cannot stress the importance of the vagus nerve enough. It’s so important I wrote an entire ebook on it along with a 4 week step-by-step guide to strengthen and improve its function. If you’d like to dig a little deeper and get really serious about improving its function, sign up below 👇 to download my FREE guide today! Enjoy!!!
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