Depression-Gut connection

10% of the world’s population is suffering from illness with 3.4% of people suffering from depression. In the US alone, 20% of the population suffer from depression. Although feeling sad is a normal emotion which almost everyone encounters at one point in their life, depression or anxiety can be a life threatening disorder & put your own life at risk. Depression can be worrisome for the entire family & loved ones of the sufferer. Economic burden of depression in the US alone is around US $ 200 billion. This covers loss of productivity/income at work, societal cost of depression & cost of medication along with recurring hospital visits & doctor bills.

People who suffer find it literally impossible to do normal tasks & may find their entire energy draining even before their day ends. Despite the large prevalence of mental conditions, the root cause of these mood disorders are still not known. Many neuroscientists have found what is happening in the brain but they have found it difficult to figure why it is happening. However with increasing knowledge & discussions on gut-brain axis, neuroscientists have been able to figure out that gut microbiome & mental health are interlinked. The more we are gathering intelligence about gut microbiome, the more it is transparent that personalised nutrition unique for an individual is the only hack to manage our mental health.

Brain is the most complex & dynamic organ of our body & contains more than 100 billion neurons responsible for sending & receiving chemical messages that control every process. To maintain their cellular health, these neurons should work in tandem with each other. They do this by releasing chemical messengers or neurotransmitters such as dopamine & epinephrine in between neurons. When an imbalance between chemical messengers exists, the message being sent can be faded. This imbalance can have a negative impact on your overall mental health, making you feel depressed or stressed. When our neurons gets less than expected number of neurotransmitters, they begin to degrade thereby resulting in unhealthy brain cells. This situation makes depression worse. This is the reason why we take antidepressants since it increases the number of neurotransmitters. However this gives temporary relief & does nothing to cure this dreaded disorder.

The question arises how this imbalance occurs? Scientists have applied various theories but they have found it difficult to find the real cause & correlation. 

It is important to note here that depression does not just impact our brain. There are many other symptoms associated with depression such as chronic pain, headache, fatigue & above all digestive issues. Patients suffering from depression often experience metabolic changes, gastrointestinal issues & negative changes in gut microbiome. However, upon detailed research & empirical evidence, it was found that gastrointestinal & digestive issues was the most common symptom among people suffering depression, thereby correlating changes in gut with those in the brain. This brings to the most important aspect the gut-brain axis which we have discussed in our earlier blog. 

Our brain controls most of the functions in our body by sending direct messages vis central nervous system. The nervous system is made up of a system of nerves which travel down to the spine & branches through our entire body. However, when we talk of the gut, it has its own brain also referred to as the Enteric nervous system(ENS). Gut is also referred to as our second brain & through ENS communicates with the central nervous system. Many messages sent/received between CNS & ENS consist of emotional messages. This is what we call the gut-brain axis & has close association with the microbial community living in our gut. This microbial community can regulate hormones & alters intestinal permeability & produces both beneficial metabolites & toxins( lipopolysaccharides) that directly impact our immune system. You would be surprised to know that 70% of our immune cells lies along our gut lining. Changes in our gut bacteria composition ( imbalance of gut dysbiosis) can directly swing our mood.

Gut dysbiosis is the primary reason for chronic inflammation since it produces an immune response. This also results in chronic inflammation being flown to different parts of the body. When gut dysbiosis or imbalance occur, it allows beneficial bacteria to be taken over by pathogens or opportunistic bacteria. This does not work well for the whole system & can make harmful bacteria or pathogens run rampant. They can disrupt the  activity of beneficial microbes ( that regulate activity of neurotransmitters such as release of serotonin, 95% of serotonin is released by our gut). In addition, gut dysbiosis produces excessive inflammation which can break & pass boundaries of digestive tract. As inflammation reaches the central nervous system, it can interfere with the signals being  sent to the brain & can cause physiological stress. Reducing the inflammation produced by gut can stabilise the gut ecosystem. This is what leads to depression with people. Their gut microbiome is out of balance & reduces the gut diversity.

There has been focus on different methods to reinstate the gut diversity & maintain gut balance which can treat the mood disorders. Research studying the link between gut microbiome & depression found that prebiotics, probiotics, health diet & even fecal transplantation can be useful to restore the gut. However each of these solutions are standalone & fails to fix the gut. So what is required? A comprehensive solution understanding the gut microbial community- who are they, who are active & what they are doing inside our body to bring a comprehensive solution.

Many popular fad diets are high in processed foods, proteins, sugar or fats that can lead to gut dysbiosis &  increase your risk for depression. However it is important to note here that reducing consumption of these foods are not going to strike a balance in your gut. Sometimes even food supposed to be healthy may lead to inflammation. For instance, food such as Broccoli or even Apple may not be good for your gut right now. With our up the gut solution, you can get detailed insights on how to improve your diversity by including foods in your diet unique for your body rather than going for ill fated fad diets. Want to know more how to fine tune your gut to make it work in favour of you? Sign up for our free discovery call here.

Source: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-brain-gut-connection https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7510518/