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.
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.
