The Relationship Between Gut Health and Mental Health
Written by Jessica Kettell, Board-Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP-BC).
Disclaimer: While I love sharing freely about my experience with my own and my clients’ mental health and health, this content is for information purposes only and should not be used as diagnosis or in place of seeing a licensed mental health or healthcare professional. Before starting new supplements or protocols, you should talk with a professional, especially if you take other medicines or have existing health conditions.
Anxiety is often talked about as separate from our physical health. Maybe we’re dealing with a stressful situation or a chemical imbalance in the brain. But the truth is, anxiety can have SO many causes that originate in our BODY.
And what’s one of the biggest players having an impact on your brain? Your gut and what’s going on in there.
When I was dealing with chronic anxiety and frequent panic attacks, I thought getting medication was the only answer. But fortunately, I found that addressing my gut health made a huge difference in my anxiety symptoms, and ultimately I didn’t need to take medication to feel better! I’m not saying that will be the case for every person with anxiety — just that it’s POSSIBLE.
Keep reading to see if improving your gut health could help with your anxiety!
Understanding the Gut-Mind Connection
So, what's the big deal with gut health and mental health? If you haven't heard it, the gut is often called our second brain. It's crucial to overall mental health because of a connection known as the gut-brain axis.
This is a communication pathway between our central nervous system, which is the brain, and the enteric nervous system, the gut.
This communication system comprises a network of nerves, hormones and signaling pathways.
Here are your key players:
The vagus nerve goes from our brain to the abdomen, facilitating direct communication between the brain and gut.
The gut produces neurotransmitters, including dopamine and serotonin, which regulate mood and emotions. Around 90% of our body's serotonin is made in the gut!
Trillions of bacteria and microorganisms live in our guts, collectively known as the gut microbiota. These microbes help digest food, produce vitamins, and influence the immune system.
When our gut is balanced and healthy, it can positively influence mood and well-being, but an imbalance in the gut can lead to mental health issues (including anxiety and depression).
The gut can have an incredibly powerful effect on the brain:
Inflammation: Poor gut health can lead to persistent inflammation linked to chronic health conditions and several mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety. The gut microbiota helps maintain the gut lining. If the lining is compromised, known as a leaky gut, inflammatory substances can enter the bloodstream and affect the brain.
Neurotransmitter production: An unhealthy gut can disrupt neurotransmitter production, causing imbalances affecting mood and behavior.
Stress response: Your gut and brain constantly communicate about your body's stress levels. Disruptions in your gut microbiota can impair that communication and lead to an overactive stress response.
Gut Lining and Mental Health
When the gut lining is damaged and holes develop, bacteria, toxins and undigested food particles can enter the bloodstream. This is what triggers that inflammation.
Inflammation leads to the release of cytokines which are inflammatory molecules that can affect brain function. (There’s even a theory called the inflammatory cytokine model of depression that posits that the root cause of depression could be due to inflammation in the body suppressing your frontal cortex.)
Things that can damage your gut lining and trigger inflammation include:
Alcohol: Drinking alcohol can irritate the gut lining, increasing inflammation and permeability. Alcohol also disrupts the balance of gut microbiota, further worsening gut health issues.
Medications: Certain medicines, especially nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin, and proton pump inhibitors like Prilosec or Omeprazole can damage the gut lining.
Antibiotics: While these can be essential medicines, they also kill beneficial bacteria and disrupt the gut microbiota, weakening the gut lining.
Poor diet: A diet high in processed foods, sugars, and unhealthy fats can damage the gut lining.
Chronic stress: Persistent stress can affect your gut lining by altering gut microbiota and increasing inflammation. Cortisol, the so-called stress hormone, can compromise your gut barrier integrity.
In sum, an inflamed gut can result in an inflamed brain, causing your mental health to tank. So, what can you do about it?
Boosting Gut Health and Mental Health
While my first recommendation is to work with a functional practitioner to do testing first, there are also some steps you can take NOW to help heal your gut and boost your mental well-being!
Eat a Diverse Array of Vegetables
It may sound obvious to say that eating vegetables is important. But the key is to have a wide VARIETY of vegetables every week to promote microbiome diversity, not just to eat a ton of the same vegetable. Different vegetables provide different types of fiber, which are food for beneficial gut bacteria.
Leafy greens are high in fiber and magnesium. My favorite greens are beet greens and swiss chard.
Root vegetables, including beets and sweet potatoes, provide prebiotic fiber to feed beneficial bacteria.
Cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli and brussels sprouts, have compounds that support detoxification and promote a healthy gut lining.
I typically recommend my clients shoot for as many as 35 different types of veggies per week. I know that sounds like an unattainable amount, but trust me, it’s doable if you load up on homemade, veggie-rich smoothies, soups, and sauces to supplement your regular meals.
Include Low-Sugar Fermented Foods in Your Diet
Fermented foods introduce hugely beneficial probiotics into your digestive system, helping balance your gut microbiota, enhance digestion, and reduce inflammation. Some fermented foods I personally LOVE:
Kimchi, a low-sugar fermented food. It's Korean and high in probiotics and vitamins.
Kombucha, a fermented tea. It has gut-healthy probiotics and antioxidants.
Naturally fermented pickles (typically it’s pickled cucumbers but any pickled veggie will do the trick!)
Sauerkraut
Yogurt (my fav is from The Coconut Cult!)
The best fermented foods are always found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store (or you can make your own of course!).
Incorporate Prebiotic-Rich Foods
Not to be confused with probiotics, PREbiotics are non-digestible fibers that feed beneficial bacteria so they can thrive.
One easy way to get more prebiotics into your diet is to load up on garlic and onions because they contain inulin, a prebiotic fiber that promotes good bacteria growth.
Another easy option is bananas (especially when they're still slightly green) provide a resistant starch that serves as a prebiotic, and asparagus is another food that's rich in prebiotic fibers.
(By the way, make sure you’re eating enough fiber, generally. Anything lower than 35 grams per day has been shown to increase “all-cause mortality,” meaning low-fiber diets make it more likely you’ll die … Woah. No pressure or anything.)
Consume Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids naturally combat inflammation and support gut health and mental health.
Salmon, mackerel, and sardines are healthy sources of omega-3s for omnivores, and for vegetarians you can incorporate flax seeds, walnuts, or an algae based omega 3 supplement into your daily diet. (Here’s a link to my favorites!)
Stay Hydrated
Good hydration is essential for maintaining a healthy gut and promoting good digestion. When you drink enough water, your body can effectively:
Maintain a healthy gut lining
Flush out toxins
Support nutrient transport throughout your digestive system
These processes are FUNDAMENTAL to overall gut health and function.
But plain water may not be enough. I often recommend my clients add molecular hydrogen to their water to reap ALL the benefits it provides:
Acts as a reducer, combating oxidation
Helps mitigate oxidative stress, associated with aging and cellular damage
Lastly, water inside our cells is super important for making energy. In tiny parts of our cells called mitochondria—the cell's powerhouses—a special process turns the food we eat and the oxygen we breathe into energy. This energy is stored in something called ATP, which our bodies use to do everything, like moving, thinking, and digesting food. Without water and this energy-making process, our bodies wouldn't work properly.
Eat Mindfully
Mindful eating involves paying attention to one's eating experience. This can improve digestion and promote a healthier gut!
Chewing food thoroughly (we’re talking to the consistency of applesauce) helps to break it down so it's easier for your digestive system to process. When you eat slowly, it can not only boost your digestion but also help you absorb more of the nutrients you’re consuming.
Finally, don’t eat when you’re stressed if you can help it. When you’re stressed, all your blood is shunted away from your digestive system, so it makes it way harder to absorb nutrients.
If you find you need a little extra help digesting your food properly (like if you’re experiencing bloating), here are my favorite digestive support supplements. Digestive enzymes can help the body break food down into easily absorbable nutrients, reducing gut strain. These are especially important if you take a PPI (Proton Pump Inhibitor) like Prilosec.
Reduce Stress
Chronic stress impacts the balance of bacteria in the gut and its lining. Incorporating practices to reduce stress in healthy ways can improve your gut health.
One way to cope with stress more effectively is to meditate regularly. It has been scientifically proven to lower stress levels and promote a healthy gut-brain connection.
Regular exercise can also lower stress and promote beneficial bacteria growth.
Probiotic and Prebiotic Supplements
It can be hard to get all that your body needs for a healthy gut through food alone. Introducing supplements to support your gut can be a great kick-start to building a strong and active gut flora. Getting a variety of probiotic strains in, like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, can immensely support gut health and digestion.
A supplement with Saccharomyces boulardii (a yeast) can also support the gut microbiome and improve gut barrier function.
Prebiotic supplements, like inulin, derived from chicory root, can help beneficial bacteria grow.
My favorite probiotic and prebiotic supplements can be found here!
Vitamins, Nutrients, & Minerals
Being deficient in various vitamins, nutrients, and minerals can not only throw your gut out of whack but can also impact your mental health. It’s honestly mindblowing how much we’re affected by deficiencies of just one little vitamin or essential nutrient!
Vitamin D is a big one. If you're not getting enough vitamin D naturally, definitely consider supplementing. Vitamin D is a huge supporter of immune function, and having adequate levels of it can reduce inflammation, support immune health, and help you maintain a balanced gut. Even more, some studies have shown a clear association between low Vitamin D levels and symptoms of depression and anxiety. I often recommend the DMinder app to help my clients track how much Vitamin D they’re generating from the sun!
There are a ton of other vitamins, nutrients, and minerals that are crucial for gut and mental health. (One day, I’ll do a whole blog post on just this topic!). But for now, I’ll leave you with one more: Zinc.
Zinc is a mineral that can also have a big effect on your gut. It plays a role in a healthy gut barrier and immune function. Zinc is not stored in your body, so you must consume zinc daily to avoid a deficiency. Try getting in grass-fed beef, oysters, pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, and cashews, which are all good sources of zinc.
Herbal Supplements
Herbs often don’t get as much praise as other means of supporting our health, but the right herbs can have an incredible impact on your gut and be very easy to incorporate into your diet or supplement regimen.
Again, I can’t go into ALL the herbs that are beneficial for gut and mental health here, but I’ll start with some of my favorite gentle plant medicines: Aloe vera and slippery elm. Both of these directly support the gut by offering powerful, immediate soothing effects.
Aloe vera (maybe you’re familiar with this as an old-school sunburn remedy?) is known for reducing gut inflammation and has naturally soothing properties. Slippery elm (often consumed as a powder mixed in hot water to create a tea) forms a protective layer over the gut, reducing inflammation and promoting healing.
Here are my favorite gut health supplements!
Final Thoughts: Nurturing the Gut for a Healthier Mind
The gut health and mental health connection is a STRONG one. A happy gut can lead to:
Less inflammation (goodbye, unnecessary stress on your body!)
Balanced brain chemicals (hello, better moods!)
A body that handles stress better
Which all means: Better Mental Health!
If you're struggling with your mental health, personalized testing can uncover underlying physical causes and guide your treatment. If you want to order your own labs, you can use my link with Rupa Health!
Curious about working with me to improve your mental health and health? We can take clients virtually in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Alaska, Nevada, Hawaii., and Georgia. Get in touch with us here, here!
