Trust your gut

🧠  Trust your gut 🧠

🧠   Our brain works all day and all night. It’s responsible for our thoughts, mood, breathing, movement, memory, and soooo much more.  So, just like the other parts of our body, our brain needs a constant supply of high-quality nutrients in order to do its job well.  So yes, what we eat directly affects our brain and how it functions.

🧠   Eating foods rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants nourish and protect our brain.  Diets high in refined and processed foods have been shown to be harmful to your brain.  For example, there is link between diets high in refined sugars and impaired brain function, including worsening symptoms of mood disorders and depression. 

🧠   Our gut contains so many nerve endings, that it is termed our “second brain”. The gut and brain are intimately connected by nerve pathways. Therefore, what happens in our gut can affect not just our gut. For instance, serotonin is a hormone that regulates, appetite, sleep, mood and pain.  Serotonin is produced mainly in your gut by gut bacteria. Refined, and highly processed foods can cause inflammation and negatively alter gut bacteria, which negatively influences the production of serotonin, affecting our mood, among other things.

🧠   Ways to improve gut health -

Try to eat more whole foods and less processed foods. Eat enough fiber.

Try to reduce sugar intake. Add fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi to your diet. Eat a range of colorful fruits, and vegetables rich in antioxidants. All these foods promote healthy bacteria in your gut.

*While healthy eating promotes a healthy gut and a healthy brain, it is important to seek professional help for mental illness.

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