Is Compromised Digestive Health Causing Your Depression?

The Debilitating Effects of Depression

Depression is a serious psychiatric condition that goes far beyond feeling sad. Symptoms and side effects of depression include feeling tired, hopeless, guilty, and achy. You may have appetite problems, thoughts of suicide, or a loss of self-worth.

No one is immune to depression. An imbalance in brain chemicals plays a role in whether you develop depression, but heredity, environmental conditions, life events, and lifestyle all contribute to your mental health.

We all experience different levels of stress at different times in our lives. Having coping mechanisms to manage the stress helps us deal. Many people turn to comfort food and drink during times of stress, when what would be most beneficial are the right foods, the right kind of exercise, the right kind of mindfulness. Making the healthiest choices for your mind and gut can help ease depression and potentially even eliminate it.

The Gut’s Role in Mental Health

Mental illness can be debilitating. You may be aware that your life is full and wonderful – food to eat, clothes to wear, a job to support you, a home to keep you and your family safe, and so much more – but knowing and appreciating are two different things. Sufferers of depression have a difficult time being grateful for the beauty that is right in front of them, even if they can acknowledge its wonder.

“The gut is the second brain of the body because it is literally connected to every single system in the body,” says Maral Salerno, FDN-P, an Ann Arbor Holistic Health practitioner. “With brain chemicals, we have two things. First, we have beneficial gut microbes (bacteria) that communicate and can produce or influence brain chemicals. These beneficial microbes can also reduce brain inflammation that can be a major contributor of debilitating mental illness. But secondly, the other major connection is the vagus nerves. They start in the brain stem and move further down into the abdomen where they connect with the gut. The vagus nerves transmit signals that are triggered by brain chemicals produced in the gut. The vagus nerves then carry this information as electrical signals up to the brainstem, which influences mood, stress, responses, appetite, and other brain functions.”

“If the gut isn't functioning properly for whatever reasons, then the production of some of the brain chemicals will be imbalanced,” explains Salerno. “For example, 90 to 95% of serotonin is made in the gut. That’s our happy hormone.”

“GABA communicates with certain gut bacteria that we have, specifically lactobacillus and bifidobacterium. Those two gut microbes can produce GABA, which in itself is very calming,” says Salerno. 

“Melatonin supports mood stability and disruptions in melatonin rhythms are linked to depression, anxiety, and cognitive disturbances. The gut actually produces more melatonin than the pineal gland does,” she adds. “Not only does melatonin support our mood, but it also supports our sleep wake cycle and regulates gut motility (movement of contractions in your intestines)."

Holistic digestive health focuses on helping your body – and mind – learn how to heal itself. For that, you must learn how to guide yourself to wellness and be willing to take the steps to get there. A comprehensive holistic approach to facilitating the natural and instinctive healing process of the human body includes:

• Identifying sources of stress and inflammation, like food allergies, medications, antibiotics, infections, and life stress.

• Replacing digestive enzymes to nourish organs and tissues.

• Using probiotics to support the immune system in your GI tract.

• Developing a customized nutrition plan to repair inflammation in the GI system lining.

• Removing the body’s accumulated waste.

Symptoms of Gut Issues

“If someone has mood issues, the mood issues on their own can be a sign that the gut isn’t working right,” Salerno says. “Even if somebody doesn't have obvious gut symptoms... Having major mood instability is a big sign of gut imbalance.”

“But as far as gut symptoms themselves, sky's the limit... bloating all day long or after you eat, burping, belching, poor digestion, food in your stool, diarrhea, constipation, gas,” she explains.

“When we're exposed to all the different kinds of stressors, tight junctions in the intestines can break down and start to separate,” explains Salerno. “That separation of the tight junctions creates a leak in the small intestines that is coined, leaky gut.”

“The small intestine... is supposed to act as a barrier so that anything that shouldn't get through doesn't.” she says. “But if the gut is leaky, toxins, food particles, and infections can get through. When they get through, where do they go? They hit the bloodstream. And the bloodstream is where the immune system lives.”

“The immune system now puts off an inflammatory storm in the body,” she continues. “Inflammation in each person looks different. Inflammation equals symptoms. For example, mood instability is highly triggered by inflammation.”

Holistic Support for Digestive Health and Mood

The only thing stopping your body from finding the path to healing is you. If you’re tired of being depressed or having your mood hijack the good things in your life, dig deep to find the motivation to change your suffering. You can change how you feel. Give yourself the opportunity to find happiness and joy with holistic healing.

Contact Ann Arbor Holistic Health to schedule your consultation and learn more about targeted holistic health support for depression and other kinds of mental illness.