You’ve surely heard the expression, “Trust your gut.” However, there’s more to it than just an idiom that means to have faith in your initial reaction or instincts. Your gut actually has an effect on your decision-making power. Ultimately, poor gut health equals poor mental clarity. A bit confused? Let us explain the main gist of what leadership speakers will explain to you.
Your Gut Has a Complex Network of Neurons
You may already know that your body has two different nervous systems — one that controls your arms and legs and another that includes your brain and spinal cord and is the command station for your body.
However, your body has an intricate network of neurons located in the walls of the GI tract, known as the enteric nervous system (ENS). You may hear this part of your body referred to as your “second brain.” This part of the body consists of over 100 million neurons. That’s actually more than your spinal cord has!
Interestingly, though, the ENS can function on its own, unlike your peripheral nervous system. So you know: the ENS does communicate with your brain through the vagus nerve. The ENS does all the following:
- Regulates secretion of digestive hormones and enzymes, such as pepsin and gastrin
- Controls gastrointestinal motility throughout the GI tract
- Senses nutrients, gut microbes, and toxins in the GI tract
- Transmits signals to the CNS to regulate satiety, hunger, and mood
- Communicates with immune cells to assist in infection prevention
Your ENS manages your digestion, but it also has an influence on your cognitive processing and brain function. You have what’s called a gut-brain axis — a bi-directional communication network that connects your brain and digestive tract. It links your ENS to your CNS through nerves, chemical messengers, and hormones.
You should know that your ENS produces serotonin, GABA, and dopamine that play a role in motivation, focus, and mood. While serotonin is often thought of as a neurotransmitter released by the brain, around 90 percent of all you produce is made in your gut. And the amount of these chemicals that your body produces affects your mood and can impact your decisions.
When your gut sends signals to your CNS, it’s helping to manage your emotional balance and stress response. Ultimately, whenever your nervous system is calmer, you can think more clearly and have better judgment.
If your gut microbiome is well-balanced, it reduces inflammation while supporting better brain function. On the other hand, if you have poor gut health, you may have trouble problem-solving, making decisions, or processing information. You might also struggle with brain fog.
What Science Has to Say
While there’s a clear link between your brain and gut, let’s take that one step further. Are there any studies that show a connection between your digestive health, mental clarity, and decisiveness?
Studies indicate people who have diverse gut microbiomes aren’t as guided by their impulse. They also tend to be more goal/future oriented.
How to Better Support Your Mind-Gut Connection
There are plenty of steps you can take to better your gut health and, in return, your mental clarity and decision making.
Eat the Right Foods
If you’re looking to better support your gut health to improve your mental health and better regulate your emotions, you need to eat to fuel your body well and limit certain ingredients that can disrupt your good-to-bad gut bacteria.
For instance, start eating a diet rich in fermented foods and fiber. The fiber acts as a prebiotic, feeding the positive gut bacteria. On the other hand, fermented foods help produce neurotransmitters. They also support microbes in your gut to help maintain your cognitive clarity and emotional balance.
Inflammation is less whenever you eat fermented foods regularly. As a result, you’ll have less brain fog and anxiety. You’ll also improve your focus, cortisol levels, stress response, learning, and memory.
Remove Foods That are Harmful to Your Gut
Besides the beneficial flora in your gut, you also have negative ones. And when the bad ones outnumber the good ones, you’ll experience digestive issues, focus issues, problems with decision making, and increased inflammation. Whenever you eat too much processed food that’s high in refined carbs, unhealthy fats, and sugar, you’re feeding those negative bacteria.
The emulsifiers, preservatives, and additives in processed food will irritate your gut lining and promote inflammation. Some processed foods will damage the protective layer in the intestines. Your gut then will be more porous and will let toxins into your system that’ll enter your bloodstream and affect how your brain functions.
Reduce Your Stress
As you’re considering the relationship between your brain and gut, you can’t forget to consider stress. Think about any time you’ve felt stressed. How did your stomach feel? Were you nauseated or maybe a little constipated? Some people will wind up with diarrhea. All of this happens because stress triggers the release of adrenaline and cortisol. It can impact your gut motility and increase inflammation. In the long run, it also disrupts the balance of gut bacteria.
Stay Hydrated
Your gut requires you to drink plenty of water to keep stool flowing through properly. Whenever the food passes normally, you get more of the nutrients your body needs from it. Not to mention, the fluid will maintain your gut lining while helping good bacteria in your gut to flourish.
Your brain and gut have a relationship. And it’s not a very complicated one, but it is one you need to nurture to keep your mind clear, mood in check, and enhance your decision-making abilities.
Leave a Comment