7 Things That Prove Healthy Gut Is A Healthy Mind
4 min read
7 Things That Prove Healthy Gut Is A Healthy Mind
Every aspect of our bodies is intricately connected in a way that can be mind-boggling at times. When you think of your body, you immediately think of organs, tissues, and cells, but you rarely consider the fact that inside your gut, you have an entire world of bacteria. The bacteria in your gut is not only harmful to your body, it affects your overall health.
Not only is having a microbiome in your gut crucial for digestion, but it also directly correlates to your mind. If you’re unsure about how these two areas in your body affect each other, the following points will erase any doubts you have.
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Affects Serotonin Levels
Everyone knows that serotonin is one of the happiness chemicals in the body. If you have low serotonin levels, you will feel fatigued, unmotivated, and down. High serotonin levels give you a boost of energy, making you happier overall. Various studies have shown that there are areas in the gut where serotonin is created. About ninety-five percent of the body’s serotonin is manufactured by gut bacteria. This of course has a direct effect on a person’s level of activity and mood so keeping your gut bacteria happy will result in more happiness for you.
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Influences Cravings
Have you ever been in the mood for carbs several days in a row, even though you already stuffed your face with pasta or rice recently? This craving is transmitted to your brain from the bacteria in your digestive system. It’s not that you need to eat carbs as soon as possible, it’s because the bacteria feed off of the carbs and want you to consume more carbs so that they have something to consume as well.
Most if not all of your cravings are your gut’s bacteria telling you what they are in the mood for. While sometimes listening to these cravings can make you happy, it can also affect your health negatively if you eat a ton of junk food. Balancing your food helps keep your gut healthy and keeps your cravings at a minimum.
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Sends Chemical Signals
A person’s nervous system is made up of the brain, spinal cord, neurons, and neurotransmitters that allow communication between the central nervous system to other areas in the body. A gut’s biome acts as a mediator of communication between the CNS, peripheral immune system, and metabolic system through the microbiota-gut-brain axis. An important way to keep your gut healthy is to ensure that you have healthy probiotics that are active in your gut. The best way to do this is to look into probiotic supplements. These supplements are known to help your gut health be at its best, and this is why you should look into which would be the best for you. If you do not have a healthy microbiome then this line of communication will suffer and leave you dealing with the results.
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Reduces Anxiety
If you’ve been struggling with anxiety, then working on improving the health of your gut biome can help you significantly reduce the feelings of stress and anxiety. If you eat food rich in probiotics or for a quicker result take probiotic pills, you will be able to regulate your gut biome and reduce anxiety. Learning about your gut’s bacteria and improving its environment ensures you have decreased chances of having anxiety attacks.
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Better Sleep
As mentioned above serotonin is produced in the gut. When a person is feeling happy and safe, they can sleep much better. Studies have shown that your gut’s biome can affect sleeping patterns. The next time you get insomnia, instead of taking sleeping pills try working on improving the health of your gut. Sleeping is crucial to your body’s overall health and especially your mind since you need to rest it well to ensure it can function properly when you wake up.
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Increases Productivity
Believe it or not, a gut full of bacteria can increase your productivity considerably. Many health studies urge people to stop taking antibiotics because of how they kill off all types of bacteria whether they’re harmful or not. Taking probiotics ensures that your body is functioning properly which will increase your productivity in general.
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Reduces Migraines
Migraines can be quite painful and can last for hours at a time if you do not treat them. Migraines can also render you helpless and unable to work because you cannot function with part of your brain being in seemingly endless pain. Migraines can be caused by unhappy minds. As mentioned previously a happy gut means a happy mind; similarly, poor gut health leads to poor mental health. If you have IBS or IBD then chances are you get more migraines than others. This is because your gut’s microbiome is not healthy which in turn affects your mind’s health and brings on migraines.
These are just seven of the many ways a healthy gut affects how well your mind functions. Taking care of your gut’s bacteria ensures you maintain your overall health and gives you a boost of happiness at the same time. It is a win-win situation. People often freak out when they learn that they have bacteria inside them but if you learn more about the processes these tiny microorganisms help with, you wouldn’t mind having them live within your body.
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