Have you ever felt that feeling in your gut when things don’t seem quite right? Or that feeling of butterflies when you’re a little nervous. This isn’t just a “feeling” it is your “second brain” sending you a signal. Your “second brain” resides in the walls of your digestive system and is changing the understanding between the link your digestive system has with your mood and even the way you think.
Technically known as the enteric nervous system (ENS), the second brain consists of two thin layers of more than 100 million nerve cells that line your gastrointestinal tract. During fetal development the enteric nervous system progresses from the same tissues as your central nervous system making its structures and chemical responses very similar …show more content…
With studies showing that by replacing the gut bacteria of anxious mice with the bacteria from more fearless mice an increase in their sociability and decrease in their anxious behavior was observed (this also worked in reverse). Also through changing the diet of the anxious or aggressive mice and introducing a probiotic strain, these mice became a lot calmer.(3)
Another contributing fact is that 90-95% of the body’s serotonin levels are stored in the gut with only 5-10% stored in the brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that plays a major role in controlling your mood. The right amount of serotonin will have you feeling relaxed and positive but imbalances in serotonin attribute to feelings associated with depression and can also impact your appetite, sleep, memory and social behavior. Skewed levels of serotonin can also cause constipation or diarrhea.
The following foods are fantastic in supporting gut health and supporting serotonin production. Plus a few of our favorite mood boosting recipes!
• Eggs – The protein in eggs can significantly boost your blood plasma levels of tryptophan, the amino acid that serotonin is biochemically derived
Technically known as the enteric nervous system (ENS), the second brain consists of two thin layers of more than 100 million nerve cells that line your gastrointestinal tract. During fetal development the enteric nervous system progresses from the same tissues as your central nervous system making its structures and chemical responses very similar …show more content…
With studies showing that by replacing the gut bacteria of anxious mice with the bacteria from more fearless mice an increase in their sociability and decrease in their anxious behavior was observed (this also worked in reverse). Also through changing the diet of the anxious or aggressive mice and introducing a probiotic strain, these mice became a lot calmer.(3)
Another contributing fact is that 90-95% of the body’s serotonin levels are stored in the gut with only 5-10% stored in the brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that plays a major role in controlling your mood. The right amount of serotonin will have you feeling relaxed and positive but imbalances in serotonin attribute to feelings associated with depression and can also impact your appetite, sleep, memory and social behavior. Skewed levels of serotonin can also cause constipation or diarrhea.
The following foods are fantastic in supporting gut health and supporting serotonin production. Plus a few of our favorite mood boosting recipes!
• Eggs – The protein in eggs can significantly boost your blood plasma levels of tryptophan, the amino acid that serotonin is biochemically derived