Happy March everyone!
Your digestion may be a key component of your mental status
I spend a lot of time educating in the office about our immune system and how impactful the gastrointestinal tract has a significant impact upon immunity. The highlighted article below identifies a subject near and dear to my heart – psychoneuroimmunology – where the immune system, nervous system and our psychological states (related to our hormone systems) meet and combine, and in this instance in the digestive tract.
Did you know?
- Patients afflicted with mental health disorders such as ADHD and autism report changes in cognition (thinking) and their ability to connect with the world when they are exposed to sugar, wheat, dairy, soy, or synthetic chemicals
- Many individuals with generalized anxiety disorder are astutely aware of changes in the bowels with activities or days where they have more anxiety
- Receptors for serotonin, the “happy” molecule in our brain, are found primarily in the gastrointestinal tract
Not only does this make you think about foods or items that you cannot digest… and how they prevent healthy body chemistry, but that the terrain in our digestive tract is so key to our overall health.
Check out the original article at A Gut Check for Many Ailments – WSJ.com.