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It may surprise you to hear this, but your mental and emotional health are directly connected to the health of your gut. New research shows that mental health and gut health are intimately linked. Within our bodies, we have what researchers refer to as the “gut-brain axis,” which is the bidirectional communication between our gut microbiota and our central nervous system.
The Nervous System
The nervous system is a highly complex part of the human body that coordinates actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of the body. The longest cranial nerve in the body is the vagus nerve, a large nerve that begins in the brainstem and extends down into the body interfacing with the parasympathetic control of the heart, lungs, and digestive tract
The Gut Microbiome
The health of our digestive tract is largely influenced by our gut flora, or gut microbiota, which are the many microorganisms (including bacteria, archaea, and fungi) that live in our digestive tract. Hormones, neurotransmitters, and immunological factors released from the gut send signals to the brain either directly or through autonomic nerves like the vagus nerve.
The health of our gut has a direct influence on the state of our mental and emotional health, just as the state of our mental and emotional health has a direct influence on our gut. When the gut is in a state of dysbiosis (a term used for a microbial imbalance), it directly influences our mental health. Therefore, one of the best ways to improve mental health and well-being is to improve the health and well-being of our gut microbiome.
Improving Gut Health
Many people suffer from poor gut health and don’t even know it. Consequently, they also experience mental health issues like tiredness, brain fog, depression, anxiety, fatigue, and other issues that they don’t realize are connected to their gut health.
Increasing evidence associates the health of our gut microbiota to our mental and emotional health. Dysbiosis and inflammation of the gut have been linked to causing several mental illnesses including anxiety and depression, which are prevalent in society today.
Poor gut health can be caused by numerous factors—such as poor diet, food allergies, environmental toxins, bad eating habits, consuming too much sugar, stress, inflammation, and many others. However, one of the most commonly overlooked factors for poor gut health is intestinal parasites.
Parasites are organisms that feed off of the nutrients of a host. Some of them are visible to the human eye, like roundworms, pinworms, or tapeworms, but most of them are microscopic. While it may not be a comforting thought to entertain, intestinal parasites can wreak havoc on our digestive systems, inhibit our absorption of nutrients, and impair our immune function—and they are much more common than you might think.
Parasites are at the root of many health issues, especially gut health issues, and they are a subject that is somewhat taboo in society as it often makes people feel uncomfortable to discuss. However, parasites are a very real, prevalent, and natural thing for people to become infected with, and no amount of avoiding the discussion will make them go away. Rather, through awareness of intestinal parasites and the damage they cause, one can cleanse their digestive tract of these unwanted creatures and can restore balance to their gut microbiome, and therefore to their mind and mental health.
This can be done by using a natural, gentle and effective Parasite Detox formula (https://www.zumanutrition.com/products/parasite-detox), following a parasite detox cleanse protocol, and repopulating the gut microbiome with probiotics—beneficial bacteria that are known to significantly improve gut health.
If you suffer from anxiety, depression, brain fog, fatigue, or other symptoms of mental and emotional distress, consider taking a holistic approach and addressing the issue both from a psychological perspective, and from a physiological and nutritional perspective.
A great way to reset the gut and restore gut health is to first cleanse the gut of the unwanted organisms that hinder gut health (such as parasites, yeast, and harmful bacteria) and then to repopulate the gut with beneficial bacteria (probiotics), and to maintain gut health with a clean diet and healthy lifestyle.
Many people are unaware of just how connected the mind and body are, but through the increasing rise of research on the gut-brain axis, we are beginning to realize that how we feel and how we think is directly connected to how healthy we are and how well we care for the community of microorganisms that keep our digestive systems in balance.
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5641835/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5859128/
