What’s Gut Health Got to do with Mental Health?

Lots!

Did you know that over 90% of all the serotonin in your body is produced in your gut? Now you do. It’s no secret that food can be used to heal our bodies, but it seems that many people just don’t realize the power of food. It also seems to me that we’ve forgotten the adage, “you are what you eat.” More accurately, “You are what you absorb.”

I THINK OF FOOD AS WORKING IN 3 POSSIBLE WAYS IN THE BODY:

1) AS FUEL 

2) AS MEDICINE 

3) AS POISON

Figuring out which foods are most helpful in your own body can be challenging but in my experience, well worth the effort. We might say that a banana is a “healthy food”, but in my body it acts like poison. Why banana? I have no idea. It might act like fuel or even medicine in your body, but for some of us it is poison. It’s an amazing puzzle in human digestion. What I feel certain in saying is that nutrition plays a vital role in our overall well-being.

I have always been interested in nutrition. This is probably because I love food. The problem was that food never loved me back. I have struggled with food allergies and intolerances my whole life. I had horrible eczema as a child and went to numerous doctors for help. As a teenager, I developed migraines and digestive issues. Finally in young adulthood I started working with alternative healing modalities to attempt to feel better. I looked healthy, I exercised regularly and ate pretty well, but I did not feel well. I saw MD’s, chiropractors, nutritionists, acupuncturists, personal trainers, homeopaths, energy healers, therapists of all kinds, psychologists and even once spent a week on a healing journey with a Shaman out in the middle of nowhere, Utah. Through a great deal of curiosity & persistence, I am figuring out what works for me. I have had to heal my own gut. Amazingly, that ended up being a whole foods animal-based, high-fat way of eating for me. When I first started researching gut health, I believed veggies were king. I never dreamed that some of us would need to drop all plants in order to heal. Relax - some people do not need to drop all plants. However, I can say that the keto/carnivore lifestyle has improved my health in ways I never could have expected and it has opened my eyes to the fact that there is no one diet for everyone. Even among those of us using an animal-based way of eating to heal our gut, we find bio-individual needs. What works for one, may or may not work for another. I encourage you to get curious and do your own experimenting with nutrition and lifestyle changes that resonate with you. 

Along your journey of exploration, it can be helpful to ponder your overall intention. This is kind of a big-picture intention with your goals to follow. I think of intention as setting you up for success. Allowing you to visualize your larger intention and bring you clarity on the journey. I think of goals separately - still perhaps important, but different from intention. It would be like Obi-Wan saying to Luke, “Luke, what are your smart goals?” when he’s learning to use the Force. Maybe helpful on some level but not really the point when you are learning to use the Force. Ignore that metaphor if I lost you. After you have thought about your intention, you then might ponder the “why”. Why do you want to heal? Maybe you want more energy to enjoy your hobbies, kids or grandkids. Maybe you are tired of feeling sick and tired. Maybe your overall intention is greater longevity and health and your why is to honor a lost loved one. Watching others suffer can be a motivator for us to heal. 

I became particularly interested in gut health after my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I read research on gut health, digestion, and healing cancer. As a qualitative researcher, I was most interested in stories of people who were not only living but living well after such a diagnosis. I found that the people who were thriving (or had reported a good quality of life before dying) had all utilized both conventional treatments along with alternative therapies. Most had changed their diets and took digestive health more seriously than before the diagnosis. I could not convince my father to change but I could take my own nutrition and digestive health to a new level, and so I did. I started everything I wanted him to try (can you say control freak). I added gut healing bone broth and fermented foods to my nutritional world. I also eliminated the gut health detractors such as alcohol, dairy, and gluten from my diet. My physical health improved, I felt better mentally, and lost a few pounds to boot. My father battled in his own way and lived almost three years after his diagnosis. I kept studying gut health after his death because it made sense to me that disease begins with inflammation and inflammation begins in the gut. What’s exciting is that a great deal of healing inflammation in our bodies is influenced by our lifestyle & nutritional choices.

I have become fascinated with gut health as it relates to mental health.  A mind-body/brain-gut approach makes sense to me in healing. First, reduce the inflammation. Take out the major gut detractors (sugar, grains, dairy, alcohol, caffeine, etc.) and then you can experiment with adding gut healers (bone broth, PKD, etc.).  HEAL-THY-GUT.