Day: March 5, 2021

Week 1 – Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, & Better Solutions for Anxiety & Depression

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  • Module 1: Heal Your Gut to Overcome Anxiety and Depression
  • Common gut problems can cause and perpetuate mood disorders.
  • By healing the gut, we can support mental balance and relieve the symptoms of anxiety and depression.
  • When you affect the gut, you will affect the brain. When you affect the brain, you will affect the gut. You cannot separate the two.
  • The way we start to get brain health is actually by taking care of our gut and optimizing that.
  • The gut and the brain are connected through a multitude of ways. The first one is through the neurological system, and that neurological system is directly connected to the brain to the Vagus nerve.
  • The second way is through the immunological system.
  • There is also a lymphatic system that is present in your brain that was actually recently discovered.
  • The third way is through your normal circulatory system.
  • 90% to 95% of serotonin is not produced in the brain. It is produced in the gut. 50% of dopamine is produced in the gut.
  • Some of the consequences that we’ve seen that are associated with dysbiosis, or a leaky gut, are anxiety, depression, PTSD, autism, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, just to name a few.
  • We need a healthy gut to have a healthy brain – and we can’t have a healthy gut without a healthy microbiome.
  • The microbiome is the collection of micro-organisms, bacteria, fungi, archaea, viruses, even potentially parasites.
  • The common gut problems that lead to chronic disease, emotional imbalance, and cognitive dysfunction are loss of microbial diversity, loss of keystone strains, and leaky gut.
  • Dysbiosis (leaky gut) means that there is a loss of balance within the gut microbes.
  • The 5 R’s to heal a leaky gut:
  • Remove – remove toxic food from your diet – processed food, chemicals, gluten, dairy, alcohol, and certain other foods that tend to be inflammatory – do an elimination diet.
  • Repair – give nutrients like glutamine or coating agents like aloe or marshmallow root to help calm and soothe and nourish the gut lining cells.
  • Replace – via digestive enzymes, or even a little stomach acid to help heal the leaky gut.
  • Repopulate – via probiotics.
  • Restore the spirit – via mood, emotions and stress control.
  • Increase the diversity in your microbiome.
  • Three foundational things that can lead to chronic illness and especially emotional and cognitive dysfunctions: loss of diversity within the microbiome, the the loss of keystone strains (critical microorganisms essential for health) and increased permeability in the guy (leaky gut/dysbiosis).
  • Healing leaky gut requires a multipronged approach that includes treating the root cause(s) of dysfunction, restoring the microbiome, and repairing the gut lining.
  • Treating the root cause(s): food sensitivities (gluten and gliadin from wheat, genetically modified (GMO) foods, unsprouted grains, caffeine, dairy, sugar, alcohol), toxins (environmental), stress, medications, hormonal imbalances, vitamin D deficiency.
  • Gut-healing diet and supplements:
  • Foods:
  • greens, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains & beans
  • organic foods
  • fermented foods
  • omega 3 fatty acids, e.g. chia seeds, walnuts, flaxseeds, and algae oil
  • well-cooked, easy-to-digest vegetables, e.g. pumpkin, carrots, sweet potatoes, and spinach
  • foods that contain mucilage (repairs the mucous membranes of the body), e.g. okra, flaxseeds, chia seeds, seaweed, and plantain.
  • bitter foods, e.g. kale, dandelion greens, arugula, radishes, and endive.
  • Supplements:
  • aloe vera, deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL), marshmallow root, slippery elm bark, L-Glutamine (the most popular supplement for healing leaky gut), butyric acid, quercetin,
  • Boost immunity:
  • prioritize sleep, exercise regularly, reduce stress, enjoy healthy exposure to the sun
  • Immune-boosting foods: citrus fruits, blueberries, kiwi, garlic, spinach, broccoli, green leafy vegetables, mushrooms, almonds, sunflower seeds, miso, sauerkraut, ginger, tumeric, cinnamon, and green tea.
  • Key supplements for immune health: Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Selenium, Zinc, Elderberry, Echinacea, Medicinal mushrooms
  • Microbiome Restoration:
  • restore diversity and abundance to the microbiome in the digestive tract.
  • spend time in nature
  • Most experts agree that prebiotic fiber is the single most important nutrient for a healthy gut.
  • Foods rich in prebiotics: cabbage, garlic, chickpeas, nectarines, grapefruit, cashews, and pistachio nuts.
  • Prebiotic fiber supplements: partially hydrolysed guar gum (PHGG), D-mannose, acacia fiber, glucomannan, inulin.

7 Chair Yoga Poses

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Chair Yoga – Yoga poses done either on a chair or with the assistance of a chair. It helps to improve your flexibility in a gentle, yet effective, manner. You will strengthen your muscles and, over time, improve your balance as well. It also helps to support mental health.

  1. Upward Salute – Hold for a count of three. Repeat 5 times.
  2. Forward Fold
  3. Chair Twists – Breathe deeply for a few breaths.
  4. Pigeon Pose – An excellent way to stretch the hips.
  5. Warrior Pose
  6. Cat-Cow Pose – Repeat 10 times, breathing in as you look up, and breathing out as your contract.
  7. Goddess Pose – This pose will provide you with a great stretch, not only through the hips and groin areas but also through your chest, shoulders, arms, and sides.

Source(s): https://blog.biotrust.com/5-chair-yoga-benefits-poses/