How Gut Health Affects Anxiety And Depression

Lately, we are seeing more and more studies connecting gut health to mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, low mood, concentration issues and stress.

We have known for some time that our gut biome has a major impact on our mental health; however, there is much more to our gut health.

A big part of sorting out our mental health issues, such as anxiety, stress, low mood and depression, is making sure our gut is happy and that the rest of the body is getting the right nutrients along with a healthy lifestyle.

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Good Mental Health Hormones.

If the gut is happy and healthy, it produces 2 hormones, Serotonin & Melatonin.
I like to think of these as anti-anxiety hormones that keep us happy and promote good sleep.

Production of serotonin & melatonin is essential for good mental health, and just one or two problems with the gut can drastically reduce their production.
Here are just a few of them.

Poor Gut Biome.
Our good bacteria are made up of many different strains, and they need a wide variety of foods daily to thrive.
Our gut biome can be affected by eating a poor diet, high candida levels, antibiotics in meat and dairy products, and antibiotics as medication.

Candida.
Candida lives in the gut alongside our good bacteria. If our candida levels become too high, due to poor diet and too much sugar, it can reduce our good bacteria.

Food Intolerances.
We can become intolerant to both unhealthy and healthy foods. As a result, the body then struggles with these foods, often resulting in inflammation of the gut and brain.
Inflammation of the gut and brain is known to cause mental health issues.

A Poor Digestive System.
If our digestive system is weak, it often is unable to digest the foods we eat, resulting in vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Vitamin And Mineral Deficiencies.
Our bodies and brains need essential vitamins and minerals to function properly.
Deficiencies can result in mental health issues and physical issues.
Issues like candida, food intolerances and a poor digestive system can easily cause the deficiencies even when vitamin and mineral supplements are taken.
Metal Toxicity.
Heavy metals can be stored in the soft tissues of the body and brain.
Sadly, our environments, water and food are often polluted with heavy metals, and these are known to cause some mental health issues.
The body can slowly detox these heavy metals, and by improving the diet, this process can happen faster.

Hormone Imbalances.
Mental health issues, such as anxiety and stress, can affect our body's ability to produce hormones.
In turn, this can affect our mental health and physical issues.
Looking after our gut health and improving our diet can help hormones rebalance naturally.

All of the above problems can affect our serotonin and melatonin production and often contribute to poor mental health.

Improving Gut Health To Improve Mental Health.

When we start working with a new client to improve their mental health, we have found that undertaking the optimal health test speeds up the time it takes to eliminate anxiety problems.

The test simply tells us if any of the above are an issue and allows us to put things right by coaching the client to make improvements quickly and easily.


The Results Of Improving Gut Health On Mental Health.

Results do vary with each individual, and most people see a dramatic improvement when we combine modern therapy with health testing and nutritional coaching.

The key for most people is to make sure the gut has the right good bacteria, to reduce candida levels, to ensure the right nutrition is being absorbed by the digestive system and to consume enough fibre.


Examples Of Improving Gut Health On Mental Health.


Example 1. Mum was “brought” to us by her family out of desperation.
This active, fun-loving mum previously walked daily, spent time with family and friends, loved socialising, the gym and nights out.

When mum was brought into the clinic, severe depression and anxiety had been an issue for 5 months. Now, she was scared to go out of the house, lacked confidence, wasn’t seeing her friends, had no interest in food, with very low energy and had poor sleep.

Previous treatment included blood tests by the GP to find nothing wrong at all.
Medication had made things worse, resulting in panic attacks being added to the list of symptoms.

Her health test showed that 4 strains of good bacteria were low, along with poor iron levels and 7 vitamins.
On asking about the poor biome, she remembered an incident of food poisoning a few weeks before these issues began, and her GP advised her to give it a little time to recover naturally.

On the third session, “Mum was back”, exclaimed her daughter. She was now visiting friends, eating well and had visited the gym for a short session to build up her confidence again.

Her treatment included the usual mental health therapy with specific vitamins, iron and a specific probiotic to improve the low strains of good bacteria.

After 5 weeks, “She was back to her normal self and enjoying life again”.

Example 2. A lady in her early 40s had experienced several years of low moods, mild anxiety, including bouts of mind fog in the afternoon. IBS and bloating had recently become a problem.
Over the last year, things had become worse, and the client had taken considerable time off work as unable to focus on her job.

Her health test indicated poor gut biome, several food intolerances, high candida levels, with some vitamins and minerals not being absorbed despite taking a multivitamin and a daily probiotic drink.

The mental health therapy saw good improvements in a week, although she was upset when her health test results came back, as a few of her favourite foods were big intolerances.
Her current multivitamin and probiotic were not working.

We explored where to source alternatives to these foods with some relief. We recommended probiotics to take care of the poor gut biome and how to improve vitamin and mineral absorption while reducing candida levels.

During session 4, she informed me that the low mood and mind fog lifted away one evening and had not returned. As a result, she had planned her return to work.
The anxiety issues had reduced dramatically, and she felt she was sleeping better.

Her final follow-up revealed that anxiety and low mood were no longer a problem for her, and she was looking forward to the future. As a side effect, she had lost 10lbs in weight without trying, and the IBS and bloating were no longer present.

Example 3. A man in his late 40s was concerned as he was visiting the toilet for a pee every 20 minutes while at work, but not at other times.
During his assessment, his wife stated that he was quite an anxious, fidgety person, although he was unsure whether this was true.

During the first session, it was easy to see that anxiety was an issue here, and 2 visits to the bathroom happened before we started the therapy.
Hypnosis really relaxed the client down and gave him tools to quickly become comfortable at work, stopping the need for bathroom breaks.
However, during the session, we noticed there was severe eczema on his hands, arms and legs.
This had been an issue for years and couldn’t be resolved by the GP.

His health test indicated very high levels of candida, poor gut biome levels, with a big intolerance to dairy products, yeast and processed sugars.

Along with the mental health therapy, specific probiotics were recommended with major improvements to the diet and removing dairy products completely.

The final follow-up found the skin problems were so much better and healing nicely.
The anxiety and bathroom trips were now normal.


The Challenge.
It is interesting as most people's idea of a healthy diet to promote gut health comes from food or supplement companies, trying to sell their products.

The majority of GPs don’t study or understand nutrition, and many nutritional therapists haven’t kept up with the recent research other than their basic training.

As you can see with these examples, each individual needed personalised help.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to healing gut health for anxiety and depression, as we all have a different history.

Getting Started - Your Healthy Gut Cheat Sheet Includes:

• How To Avoid Wasting Money On Unhelpful Supplements?

• Learn Which Foods Feed Your Gust Biome?

• How To Avoid The Wrong Probiotics?

• Why Is Fibre So Important?

• Why Processed Foods Are A Problem?

• Simple Tips To Keep You On Track.