The Gut-Brain Axis
Did you know that there is a trend in psychology that includes fecal transplants to address a variety of mental-health issues? Yes, fecal transplants. Taking feces with good bacteria and putting it into the colon of a patient who experiences mental health issues, such as anxiety or bi-polar episodes, can have a positive effect on their psychology. 1
What does poop have to do with our thought patterns? Well, we know that the gut and the brain are connected. We often feel butterflies in our stomach when we are nervous. We also know that under stress, people usually either under-eat or over-eat. The digestive system starts sending the wrong signals. This is attributed to the gut-brain axis.
What is the gut-brain axis?
The gut-brain axis is a complex communication network that links your gastrointestinal tract with your brain. It involves a bidirectional flow of chemical signals between the gut and the central nervous system, meaning that the state of your mind affects the state of your “gut” and vice versa.
What does this mean?
This axis allows the gut microbiota to have a significant impact on brain function and emotional health, influencing everything from stress responses to memory function. It’s also why your gut health can affect your mental state, leading to the concept of the gut as the "second brain".
But it also goes the other direction! When you are stressed or in an imbalanced mental state, the digestive system fails to function properly, which leads to many ailments which, including a weakend immune system and improper tissue formation. So your mental state, also effects the state of your gut health, which effects the health of your entire body.
This is why Yoga-Therapy and Ayurveda are so effective at treating disease; it works from both ends! We eliminate stress, which enables the gut to function optimally, and we work to improve gut health, which in turn nourishes the brain and it’s chemical function. When our brain and our gut are balanced, health is inevitable. The brain is highly involved in the chemical functioning of the body, such as hormone production and stimulus response. The gut is responsible for processing everything we take in and turning it into our physical matter. When they are in harmony, we are functioning properly. When either gets disrupted, such as by eating improper foods or having a hard day, we can normally restore balance easily. When there is chronic stress or poor nutrition, that is when we start to see a disruption to health.
Want to know more about how this can help you?
Source:
Archer, D. (24 September, 2013) Gut Bacteria Transplant: A New Treatment For Anxiety? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201309/gut-bacteria-transplant-new-treatment-anxiety