How Gut Health Affects Your Mood

Do you get that nervous, uneasy feeling that makes you doubt yourself? Research has shown that these aren’t just sayings and this blog will explain exactly how gut health affects your mood!

Our guts’ purpose is more than just breaking down our food and expelling waste, it is a unique system that takes nutrients from our food, is home to good bacteria and more than 30 types of neurotransmitters, as well as helping to create them. This area is known as the enteric nervous system, our second nervous system, which has more than 100 million nerve cells and is dubbed the second brain based on how closely our gut communicates with our brain! 

Did you know that your gut creates the majority of our positive neurotransmitters? This means that a well-functioning gut will lead to an improved mood! In terms of good bacteria, these bacterias specifically produce well-known feel-good neurotransmitters such as GABA and dopamine. In order for the good bacteria to be as present and as effective as they can be, they must be surrounded by good nutrients; the type of foods that you eat! 

It is probably no surprise that high-calorie, sugar-filled and fatty foods are not the right types of foods to keep your gut healthy, happy and functioning as well as it could. Therefore, high-fibre and vitamin-filled foods will allow the good bacteria in your gut to thrive. If the good bacteria isn’t being fed, bad bacteria will start to take their place, leading to less feel-good neurotransmitters as there are fewer good bacteria present in your gut to make them. This can lead to a sad mood, so make sure you are eating a fibre and vitamin-rich diet, full of superfoods, along with plenty of water.

One amazing type of superfood is anything that is fermented. Did you know that traditionally, foods that have been fermented have been a staple part of diets around the world? Fermented foods are really good for your health because they are full of probiotics, which help grow and benefit your gut’s good bacteria, leading to an increase in those all-important neurotransmitters.

Are you wondering how to incorporate fermented foods into your diet? Today, fermented protein powder is on the rise. This means that you can make protein shakes, sweet bakes and so much more, pretty much anything you would make with protein powder, but also have the benefits of fermented foods. What fermented foods will you make?
If you would like some more information about your gut health and how to improve it, click here to read more of our blogs.