Love Your Microbiome
Recent medical research suggests a powerful two-way relationship between your gut health, brain health, and overall body-health. In the last decade or so, we’ve learned that the gut microbiota plays a critical role in not only digesting food, but also regulating emotions, responding to stress, and contributing to the immune response. By creating a nourishing environment for your gut bacteria, they can give back in remarkable ways.
Imagine life through the lens of the beneficial microbes in the inside of your gut. When you eat food that you don’t fully digest, it’s food for these little allies, allowing them to thrive and offer back their gratitude. This offering comes in multiple forms. A staggering 95% of serotonin, which has been called the “happiness neurotransmitter” and is critical for emotional regulation, is produced by the gut microbiota, supporting your mental health (Gershon). The fermentation products of the bacteria’s digestive process have other key roles throughout your body too, including regulating microglia (cells that maintain brain health and development), fighting inflammation directly by reducing its molecular mediators (cytokines), and supporting your immune system (Rothhammer et al.; Plaza-Diaz et al.). Healthy bacterial colonies themselves also reinforce the cell wall of your gut, which is critically important, since impaired gut walls have been linked to a host of different diseases from Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s (Doenyas et al.). And as more research is completed every year, it seems that we have only scratched the surface of what they do for us.
It’s fascinating to consider that we are the host to hundreds of trillions of tiny living beings who depend on us, and in exchange for a safe home, give back so much. And it’s not far-fetched to ponder that perhaps by appreciating the service they provide us, being conscious of providing them the right environment (fibrous and fermented foods are their favorite), and taking care of our body so they can feel safe, we can develop an even stronger relationship that nurtures us both.
