What information superhighway?
Your Gut-Brain information superhighway.
More appropriately called your Gut-Brain Axis. I changed it slightly for a more catchy email subject 🙂
How does your gut influence your brain health?
In a previous edition of the [TT] newsletter, I shared that your gut has 100 million nerve cells and its own neural network, which is why it’s sometimes called “the second brain”.
The gut and brain have a two-way influence on each other.
Improving this can support better brain health.
How so?
A diverse gut microbiome is part of a healthy gut.
The gut microbiome refers to the ecosystem of microorganisms (e.g. bacteria) in the gut.
Healthy gut microbiome digests the food we consume and produces metabolites.
These metabolites have various effects including anti-inflammatory and brain-protective (neuroprotective) effects.
A higher gut-microbiome diversity is associated with better brain health.
Research studies suggest that lower diversity may be associated with neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s Disease and Migraine.*
How could we explain this link? I can think of three possible explanations:
1. The low gut microbiome diversity put someone at risk of the neurological condition?
2. The condition caused low gut microbiome diversity?
3. Could it be a bystander effect (not directly linked)?
A healthy gut microbiome produces metabolites that can be neuro-protective.
From the above, I suspect that (1) a low gut microbiome diversity can put someone at risk of their neurological condition, and in turn, (2) the condition (and its impact on their gut) may add to this vicious cycle.
So, what can you do to improve your gut-brain health?
Here are three things you can do to improve your gut-brain axis:
1. Variety of Veg:
Eat a variety of vegetables for the different types of fibres, and compounds called polyphenols. These feed a healthy gut microbiome.
Bonus: if you can also include fermented vegetables as part of your variety of veg, e.g. kimchi or sauerkraut.
2. Mindful eating:
Slow down, observe the taste and texture of your food.
This helps with digestion (and enjoyment!)
3. Exhale-focused slow breaths:
Do some exhale-focused breath when you first start your meal.
This activates your parasympathetic nervous system, also called the “rest & digest” part of your autonomic nervous system.
For your body to be ready to…“rest & digest” your meal 😀
What is the one thing you’ll do for your gut-brain health today?
Answers on a post card please 🙂
Wishing you a healthy gut-brain connection,
Dr Sui Wong MD FRCP bit.ly/DrWongBio
PS – I’m both excited and feeling some trepidation about going ‘live’ on instagram at 12:45pm BST today (my first time…). It’s on the invitation of Naked Kimchi Co. I agreed, in my efforts to build an online audience, as part of my mission to share information that empowers people to improve their brain health and wellbeing.
Do join live if you’re interested! See below for my instagram handle
*Research references for those who like it, here are two:
Dr Sui Wong Empowering Your Brain Health 