We have all had this experience: we are in the middle of trying to make a decision, and we feel stuck. However, for some reason, we experience an instinct, a desire to pursue one course of action over another, even if we cannot explain why at the time.
Interestingly, the colloquial term “gut feeling” actually has a basis in recent scientific discoveries. Particularly in the past decade, researchers have begun studying the role that the gut, more specifically, the gut microbiome, plays in our health and wellness.
What is the Gut Microbiome
The term “gut microbiome” refers to the microbes within the digestive tract, which include organisms such as bacteria, fungi, yeast, and viruses. Each person’s microbiome is unique, the precise makeup varying depending on diet, environment, and even genetics.
While many think of the gut microbiome strictly in terms of food and digestion, the health of the gut microbiome affects many of the body’s functions, including the immune system and even mental health. This influence is achieved through a complex web of communication between the gut and the nervous system. Additionally, the gut microbiome can communicate directly to the brain through the vagus nerve, which runs from the brainstem to the large intestine. These connections provide the gut microbiome with a complex and far-reaching impact on an individual’s physical and mental health.
The Gut and Physical Health
The gut microbiome plays a wide range of roles in maintaining the body’s physical health, perhaps the most obvious being a healthy microbiome leading to improved digestion, thus allowing the body to absorb essential nutrients and vitamins more effectively.
In addition to the specific health benefits, a healthy gut microbiome promotes wellness through reducing or eliminating digestive discomfort, promoting mental clarity, regularizing weight management, and increasing energy levels.
However, it also plays an essential role in the body’s immune system, housing approximately 70%-80% of the body’s immune cells. A healthy gut microbiome leads to a strengthened immune system and promotes general wellness.
Additionally, researchers have discovered that a healthy gut microbiome is the most effective preventative against chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, Crohn’s disease, and type 2 diabetes. Research is currently being conducted to study the role of the gut microbiome in Alzheimer’s and dementia, and how a healthy microbiome could relieve the symptoms of these and similar diseases.
The Gut and Mental Health
In addition to physical well-being, the health of the gut microbiome is shown to play a significant role in mental health. Communicating with the brain through the vagus nerve, the gut also produces and responds to neurotransmitters that regulate mood, such as serotonin and dopamine.
Researchers have dubbed this connection the “microbiome-gut-brain axis,” noting how a healthy gut microbiome provides benefits with regard to mental health issues. When examining anxiety, depression, and even bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, researchers have noticed an association between these issues and a gut microbiome with low diversity or a high concentration of harmful organisms and low amounts of helpful organisms.
Additionally, researchers have noticed how “leaky gut syndrome,” an unhealthy permeability of the intestinal wall leading to systemic inflammation, can be a factor in the development of depression.
Because of this data, researchers are now investigating how different diets, such as the Mediterranean diet or diets rich in prebiotics and probiotics, could help reduce the risks and symptoms of mental illness.
Tips For Maintaining a Healthy Gut
Incorporating an anti-inflammatory diet, exercise, and stress reduction into your lifestyle can promote a healthy gut microbiome.
Researchers have discovered that Mediterranean or other diets rich in fiber, prebiotic foods like whole grains, cruciferous vegetables, and greens, and probiotic food like fermented foods and cottage cheese, while also avoiding the regular consumption of ultra-processed foods, can support a variety of beneficial gut microbes while diminishing the negative impact of harmful organisms.
Regular exercise creates an environment where helpful bacteria in the gut can flourish, promoting the diverse microbiomes crucial for healthy living. It can also enhance food’s digestion, allowing the microbiome to operate most efficiently and reducing rates of inflammation.
Finally, finding ways to reduce stress can lead to healthier microbiomes. Stress can negatively impact the gut microbiome by altering and diminishing its diversity and population. Practices that help reduce stress, in addition to a healthy diet and regular exercise, include attention to restorative sleep, prayer and/or meditation, and active involvement in the community. All of these can help mitigate stress and lead to a flourishing microbiome.
Final Thoughts
Science is only beginning to scratch the surface of the complexities of the gut microbiome and its role in our health and wellness. However, from what we do know, the gut plays a vital role in almost every factor of our health and wellness, physical and mental. The available evidence indicates that a gut supported by a healthy diet, regular exercise, and minimal stress leads to healthier bodies, clearer minds, and an overall higher quality of life.
Though imprecise, the idea of “gut feelings” is grounded in the psychological and physical realities of our bodies. Perhaps this means that when our gut tells us something, we should start listening.