GUT-BRAIN Connection. Can My Gut Affect My Brain?

I had a teacher see me for memory issues and fatigue. She had a very difficult time:

• focusing
• remembering new information
• making decisions 
• staying on top of her tasks
• experienced brain fog and extreme tiredness. 

Her brain symptoms and difficulty concentrating were so severe that she needed her partner to help her fill out the health history form. She is relatively too young for age related dementia, so what was causing this?

Photo Credit Taylor Maley

Well it turns out this patient also has some digestive problems that new research shows can contribute to the brain symptoms. John Hopkins Center for Neurogastroenterology conducts research about how the Enteric Nervous System is key to the Gut and Brain relationship. This connection was important to my patient’s recovery. So what is the enteric nervous system? 

The brain is controlled by two nervous systems, one is controlled by your brain (CNS Central Nervous System), the other is the Enteric Nervous System (ENS) which works separate from the brain. Think of it as a thin 100 million nerve cell network that coats your entire GI tract and sends “walkie-talkie” messages, commanding the GI tract to secrete enzymes, digest food, interact with microbes in the gut etc. What happens in the gut is then reported to the CNS (brain). So both the ENS (gut-brain) and CNS (brain-brain) talk to each other. 

I’ve observed patients with GI problems often have more issues with mood, such as anxiety, stress and depression. I’ve also seen patient’s who often report that stress or emotions will worsen their GI problems.

So is it the chicken or the egg? BOTH.

The good news is that research is backing up the gut-brain relationship. Signals from a patients gut with GI issues are more inflammatory than those who are healthy. This explains how inflammatory chemicals can alter their brain chemistry. 

A Harvard Medical School article links stress with increased perception of pain. On the flip side, the article also links patients with GI disorders with increased perception of pain. So perhaps both these issues alter the ENS (gut-brain) and CNS (brain-brain) causing disregulation in pain perception both emotionally as well as physically.

There are two things that you can do at home that can calm down your ENS (Enteric Nervous System): 

• Deep Belly Breathing (tells mechanoreceptors in diaphragm to communicate with vagus nerve to calm your stomach and stress down)
• Applying gentle heat to the belly (tells temperature receptors to relax muscles in the gut, if you feel like it is all tensed up in a knott).  

In my practice, I use advanced techniques that help to put the nervous system back in balance, like adjusting the dials on the stereo to the correct volume. These work deeply to release an old body memory stored out of compensation from a previous stressor (physical or emotional) and are specific to re-wiring your nervous system set points. You'll know you need re-setting especially if you've felt, "I was feeling fine until...".

My patient stopped her marathon 2 hr naps, was able to prepare her lessons as a teacher and said she had a much clearer mind after working together on healing her gut. If you are suffering from GI symptoms or Brain issues, please contact me and I would be happy to help you, or point you in the right direction. Stay tuned for Part II of the Gut-Brain connection in a few weeks. 

I Feel Bloated Even After Drinking a Sip of Water

Why do I bloat within minutes of drinking water?

Why do I bloat after eating a bite of food, before the food even reaches the gut?

These are questions some of my patients have asked. So what triggers the bloating? It turns out when mechanoreceptors (pressure receptors) in the gut are triggered; the nervous system sends a message to the intestines via the Vagus nerve. The message can change the peristalsis (contraction) of the colon creating bloating or a full feeling. Photo Credit Robert McDonald

Secondly, a problematic communication in the nervous system can mess up the water exchange in the colon, resulting in a fluid bloat. Lastly, the nervous system talks back and forth with the bacteria in our colon. A stressed nervous system induces the bacteria in your gut to produce methane, giving off gas (gas bloat/flatulence). 

If the receptors (sensors) are too sensitive, even a small amount of pressure from water can trigger the mechanoreceptors. There are other receptors also, that can detect food sensitivities. When an allergic food touches the mouth, a signal is triggered before the food ever reaches the intestines. This is why there is a reaction before the water or food ever reaches the gut. 

So what causes receptors to be too sensitive? When the nervous system is too sensitive, it generally indicates a favoring of the sympathetic (STRESS) nervous system over the parasympathetic (RELAX) nervous system, which is not helpful to the situation. The body can be locked into a permanent fight and flight response (STRESS). Some people are aware of being in a prolonged fight and flight response, some do not know any different because it’s been dysfunctional for so long. 

Stressors increase the machinery in the body that makes you feel bloated. What exactly is a stressor? Some stressors can be PHYSICAL; such as infection, poor diet, lack of rest, overwork, and chronic illness. Some stressors can be EMOTIONAL, such as worry, overthinking, being in a rush, strained relationships, financial stress, not feeling safe, and negative thoughts. 

If you’ve already tried different diets for you GI symptoms and still feel bloated, a solution that is often overlooked are treatments that are geared towards balancing the set point of the nervous system. The nervous system controls many functions of the GI tract via the enteric nerves and the vagus nerve. Depending on your specific situation, I may use chinese herbs, supplements, IL-10 modulating products, homeopathic remedies that balance the nervous system in addition to NET (neuro emotional technique). Addressing the nervous system has helped many of my patients who have felt stuck and frustrated with their gut, and allowed them to stop feeling bloated even after drinking a small amount of water and relieved IBS or other GI problems.