The Brain/Gut Connection:

Did you know that the brain and gut are connected in such a way that our brain can impact our immune health and our gut can influence our mood, cognition and as well as our mental health? This is also why gut health can impact how well we sleep, hormone balance and energy levels.

There are so many ways our everyday health is affected by our gut. When our gut is out of balance, it sets our body up for illness and disease. When we feel anxious and get stressed out, our gut health is negatively impacted. The imbalance that stress can cause in our system can aggravate these symptoms even more.

So, what can we do?

Taking the time to care for our gut health can make big differences in how we feel each and every day. Small additions to our diet or minor changes to our daily routine can have major impacts on our gut health, and overall health.

1. A great place to start is adding diversity to your weekly diet. Try something new. Pick a different coloured vegetable to try each week. Choosing by colour may seem minor, but each colour contains different types of nutrients and fibre that our gut thrives on.
2. Speaking of fibre, providing our gut with daily fibre in different forms can also be a great way to stimulate good gut health. Not only does it keep our system moving, it clears away unwanted toxins and feeds the type of bacteria we want in our gut.

Other thoughts:

At this time of the year, many of us are worried about getting the next cold and flu going around, getting your gut in top shape is one of the best ways to get your immune system ready for action. With 70-80 percent of our immune cells being present in our gut, there is no wonder gut health has a huge impact on our overall health.

If you want a gut health plan that is personalized to your particular needs, diet and lifestyle; speak with our Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Tammy today and learn more about the tools and ideas she can provide to optimize your gut health and get you feeling energetic and ready to face the day!

Improving overall gut health takes time, but these improvements will not only impact you today but in the years to come.

References:

Appleton J. The Gut-Brain Axis: Influence of Microbiota on Mood and Mental Health. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2018;17(4):28-32.

Gwak MG, Chang SY. Gut-Brain Connection: Microbiome, Gut Barrier, and Environmental Sensors. Immune Netw. 2021;21(3):e20. Published 2021 Jun 16. doi:10.4110/in.2021.21.e20

Wiertsema SP, van Bergenhenegouwen J, Garssen J, Knippels LMJ. The Interplay between the Gut Microbiome and the Immune System in the Context of Infectious Diseases throughout Life and the Role of Nutrition in Optimizing Treatment Strategies. Nutrients. 2021;13(3):886. Published 2021 Mar 9. doi:10.3390/nu1303088