Mind the gut

Less than one generation ago, the body was looked at as a complicated machine whose parts could be “fixed” individually. Today, we are learning to see that the whole body is intimately connected. The brain, gut and trillions of microorganisms living in it are constantly communicating with one another. We now know that these brain-gut communications are integral to all aspects of our health.

The second brain

Your gut has capabilities that can outshine all your other organs and even contend with your brain’s capabilities. It has its own nervous system, known as the enteric nervous system, and is made up of 50-100 million nerve cells, as many as are contained in your spinal cord. The lining of your gut contains many endocrine cells, specialized cells that contain up to twenty different types of hormones that can be released into the bloodstream.

Communication pathways

The gut and brain communicate through the vagus nerve, hormones, and inflammatory molecules. The vagus nerve travels from either side of the brain stem, through your chest cavity, innervating your heart, digestive system, and spleen, and branching out just below your sternum. This nerve is a bi-directional super highway linking the gut to the brain. Interestingly, the vast majority of signals conveyed run from the gut to the brain, while only 10% run North to South. This tells us that the gut can handle most of its activities without any interference from the brain, while the brain relies greatly on information from the gut and microbes within it.

Gut sensations/gut feelings/gut reactions

Gut signals reaching the brain generate a wide range of gut sensations, such as anxiety, fullness, nausea and even feelings of well-being, satiety and safety. These gut feelings or sensations are stored in vast databases in the brain, which can later be accessed when making decisions. The brain responds to gut sensations by signaling back to the gut to adjust its function. This is known as a gut reaction. A simple way to think of this is that when your emotions change, your brain sends out a pattern of signals to your digestive system, just as it does to your facial muscles. With the help of microbiota, this interaction plays a critical role in generation of both emotions and optimal gut function; the two are intricately linked.

Serotonin storehouse

The gut is also the largest producer and storage facility for serotonin in the body. 95% of the body’s serotonin is stored in gut warehouses. This signaling molecule that plays a crucial role within the gut-brain axis: not only essential for normal intestinal functions, it also affects appetite, pain sensitivity, happiness and overall well-being. The cells storing serotonin in the gut are influenced by food we eat, chemicals released by our gut microbes, and brain signals.

Toning your vagus nerve

Toning and strengthening your vagus nerve is integral to stress management, as it helps one to switch into the parasympathetic nervous system state, also known as “rest and digest.” It is in this state that we digest and heal. Nourishing this nerve also improves mind/gut communication. Not surprisingly, many stress-reducing activities tone the vagus nerve. These include yoga, meditation, and breath work. Cat/cow yoga pose is particularly helpful, and the vagus nerve is stimulated by breath when we reduce our breathing down to some 5-7 long, slow breaths per minute. Other ways to tone the vagus nerve include chanting, singing, humming, laughing, cold exposure (see Wim Hoff method) and even gargling.

Mind the microbe

Microbes are an integral part of brain/ gut communication. Keep your microbes happy by eliminating refined sugars and processed foods, and eating a wide variety of organic vegetables. Known as prebiotics, many vegetables contain complex carbohydrates with long-chain sugars that reach the colon intact, where they become food for our “good” bacteria. Other ways to nurture your microbiome include eating fermented foods, spending time playing outside in the dirt and optimizing digestive function.