Since the advent of COVID, researchers & scientists have been studying the long term impact of COVID-19 on our mental well being. How our body deals with external stress says a lot about our ability to tackle challenging issues & adversity. The question arises: can we improve our body response to depression & stress? Can a personalised nutrition approach help us tide over mental health issues?
Let us discuss this in detail today
Around a decade ago, doctors & physicians did not view depression, anxiety & post traumatic stress disorder as illnesses. However given the current lifestyle & pressure to perform, these conditions are now considered to be as harmful as physical ailments. Infact impact of these conditions is not limited to the brain. These conditions has physiological impacts across the body & can be tracked through periodic medical investigation
We have earlier discussed in detail about the gut-brain axis that facilitates communication between gut & brain through vagus nerve that transmit signals from gut to brain & vice versa. It also acts as a path for microbes to travel that have broken the gut lining & reached different parts of the body. This is the starting point of mental health conditions
Microbes are not supposed to take this path & rent out real estate at different parts of our body. They are required to stay at fixed earmarked areas. Our microbial community starts from outside of skin & connects through our nasal & oval cavities & then travelling down to the digestive tract. Some of the parts of the body connected to the outside world will have its own gut microbiome- like lungs & vaginal cavity. Therefore microbes do not float around the body but when they do it is not great for our overall health. This movement of bacteria causes the immune system to activate immune cells & causes inflammation to places where microbes are found/identified. This is because many of these bacteria are commensal & beneficial when they are living inside our gut but when outside their borders or fixed spaces they have occupied inside of the gut, they are harmful. For instance the waste products they release can be toxic for surrounding cells & tissues. When your body is suddenly flooded with incoming bacteria to places to which they do not belong, it can make it difficult for the immune system to maintain its stability & can lead to serious chronic inflammation problems.
Chronic inflammation takes place when our immune system is overactive which can damage our body & cells( though originally our immune system was built to protect us from foreign invaders & pathogens). This happens when we eat something which does not feed beneficial bacteria in our gut.
Let us discuss what happens inside our gut.
When microbes break down the intestinal lining( due to constant inflammation & holes in our gut lining), they make their way up into the gut-brain axis. At this moment our immune system comes into action. It is the leaky gut which plays spoilsport.
What is a leaky gut?
When our gut is not balanced, We do not work towards maintaining the health of our gut. This is because commensal bacteria in our gut helps release butyrate that feeds & supports our intestinal cells. These beneficial bacteria also keeps out harmful bacteria that can hurt our intestinal cells. When our gut microbiome equilibrium goes out of balance, our intestinal lining does not receive the support & the cell surrounding it starts to decay. This results in gaps or holes in the gut lining through which microbes can cross the borders & finds space in other parts of the body. This is what is called a leaky gut & impacts the communication between brain & gut, making us feel stressed & depressed. This directly impacts our digestive system & hence creates a vicious circle of stress-gut dysbiosis- digestive issues-stress.
If you are suffering from depression, anxiety or stress on a prolonged basis it can lead to chronic health conditions such as digestive issues, weight gain & even IBS. This happens because it brings imbalance in your gut bacteria due to slow food motility & stalled or slow digestive activity.
This is where Genefitletics comes to rescue! our UP THE GUT solution translates complex biological data we gather from your gut microbiome testing to actionable personalized dietary recommendations unique for your body to fend off mental health conditions & bring your gut microbiome in an equilibrium state
You are just one step away from decoding your gut microbial community & unmasking the root cause of your mental health issues. Sign up for our free assessment & discovery call here to learn more.
