Is Your Gut Immobility Impacting your Brain?
The movement of food through your gut is bidirectional, meaning motility happens because of messages happening in your brain to gut and your gut to brain, as these two organs are always communicating. Bad bacteria in our gut can produce toxic messages to the brain which in turn can send messages from the brain, back to the gut to slow down motility, also known as peristalsis. Emerging research now shows that anxiety, depression, and brain fog can start in the gut. Also 90% of our serotonin is made in the gut. If we have an abundance of good bacteria in our gut, this stimulates a healthy gut barrier which produces immune signaling which sends neuropeptides to the brain to stimulate the vagus nerve which is the mechanism which relaxes us and supports our immune system. Therefore, by addressing your gut concerns, you can often improve your neurological concerns.
Signs of poor gut motility:
Not feeling empty after a bowel movement
Having a bout of food poisoning
Having a concussion
Difficulty swallowing food or pills
Difficultly gargling
Stomach never growls
How to improve our gut motility:
Gargling your ABC’s twice or humming Happy Birthday song twice prior to eating – this stimulates your vagus nerve to help you get out of fight or flight mode.
Conscious breathing or yoga – retraining the brain by doing mental exercises and somatic techniques can help the gut heal. www.vital-side.com offers an amazing training course on this.
Keep your blood sugar stable by eating a balance of fat, protein, carbohydrates, and fiber.
Decrease inflammation – eating adequate fiber produces anti-inflammatory components to the gut; also eating fatty fish, such as salmon or tuna, which have helpful Omega’s in them; cooking with turmeric; and eating a variety of fruits and vegetables all can decrease inflammation.
Sleep – getting good sleep, 8-9 hours/night.
Drink ginger tea to increase gut motility.
Practice lower intensity exercise – over exercising can increase stress on the body leading to increased cortisol and a fight or flight response thus slowing down gut motility.
Consistent meal spacing – grazing throughout the day leads to our body’s inability to sweep and clean itself out.
Address low stomach acid as determined by a healthcare provider.
If you do not feel like you’re having complete bowel movements or you’re having constipation and/or diarrhea, you may be having gut motility issues. This can impact your brain function and overall feeling of well-being. Please reach out to your healthcare provider or to us as we’d be happy to help.
Comments