Your body has eleven organ systems, each performing specific functions that support and maintain your physical and mental health. All these systems are composed of atoms, molecules, cells, and tissues; the building blocks of all your organ systems, working together to carry out or initiate the carrying out of vital physiological and psychological needs. A key player in these essential systems is your digestive system.
Your digestive system, or Gastrointestinal Tract, also called the gut, is a network of organs consisting of your mouth, oesophagus (food pipe), stomach, intestines and anus. Your food moves through these organs, supported by your salivary glands, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, and bile ducts; also called your biliary tract. These accessory organs help by providing vital hormones and other essential chemicals necessary for food digestion.
While the food and liquids you eat and drink travel through your digestive system, they get broken down into nutrients such as fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals and more. These nutrients are then used by the microorganisms living inside your small and large intestines to fuel your body’s biological and physiological processes.
Nutrients are an essential part of staying alive. Your gut health is a combination of the health of your digestive organs and the health of all microorganisms living in your gastrointestinal tract.
Your gut is connected to your brain through your Central Nervous System (CNS), via your Gut-Brain Axis, the speed-dial function that controls your
thoughts, feelings, emotions, breathing, heart rate, body temperature and release of some hormones; the automatic and unconscious brain part of the gut-brain axis. A biochemical communication network stretching from your brain to the end of your spine.
Your Enteric Nervous System (ENS), also called the “second brain”, is a network of neurons embedded in the walls of your gastrointestinal tract. It’s one of three divisions of your Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), an unconscious and automatic nervous system. The other two parts of this system are your Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems, also known as your stress response system.
Your ENS and CNS are inseparable; however, your ENS has some jobs it does independently, including moving food through the gut, regulating bowel movements, waste disposal, blood flow, the secretion of digestive enzymes that break down food, and maintaining gut flora essential for a healthy immune system. And here’s the kicker: your ENS also controls your emotional balance. About 95% of serotonin is produced in the lining of your digestive system, and about 10% is produced in your brain.
Serotonin, a major mood-regulation hormone, is produced in your gut. It plays a major role in controlling mood, sleep, memory, digestion, appetite, wound healing, learning ability, and sexual desire. It keeps you calm, happy, focused, and reduces your stress response.
Along with melatonin and GABA, serotonin is involved in sleep. Melatonin regulates your sleep-wake cycle, and your brain needs serotonin to make melatonin. Melatonin is the hormone that signals your body it’s time to sleep. GABA, one of the main parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) neurotransmitters, blocks the stress hormones keeping you awake and puts you into a state of relaxation, while serotonin and dopamine control how well, how long, and how deeply you sleep. All these hormones and neurotransmitters work together to help you sleep, but without the coach, the Vagus Nerve, switching on your parasympathetic nervous system, releasing GABA and sending out the order to “shut down”, sleep will not come. It’s a team effort, and if one member of this team is not functioning properly, nights can be long and lonely.
When serotonin levels are sufficient, your mood, emotions, and sense of well-being are good; when levels are low, emotional disruption, depression, and anxiety creep in.
The building block of serotonin is Tryptophan, an essential amino acid responsible for the production of serotonin. Just in case you don’t know, ‘an essential amino acid’ means it’s not produced by your body; it has to be taken from the food you eat. Tryptophan builds muscles, keeps nitrogen levels balanced, breaks down food, grows and repairs tissue, maintains skin, hair and nails, and makes serotonin and other neurotransmitters. Low levels of tryptophan will produce low levels of serotonin, that affect your physical and mental health severely. This is why a healthy diet including foods that contain tryptophan is crucial.
The following foods contain tryptophan; if you’re not eating them, maybe you should start. Tofu, soybeans, chicken, pork, turkey, beef, milk, cheese, yoghurt, nuts, seeds, fish, seafood, eggs, apples, prunes, bananas,
oats, white and brown bread, potatoes, string beans, coffee and chocolate. So, if you’re feeling bad and sad, pick some foods you like and start eating, but don’t overeat.
Do you understand how your digestive system, enteric nervous system, and the food you eat influence the quality and quantity of nutrients that support every function of your body and brain, including your thoughts, feelings, emotions, breathing, heart rate, body temperature, and hormone release? Are you grasping how the levels and quality of serotonin in your body and brain affect your mood, sleep, memory, digestion, appetite, wound healing, learning ability, sexual desire, happiness, and stress reduction? Additionally, how your stress response system, specifically the vagus nerve, helps serotonin, melatonin, dopamine, and GABA not only determine whether you sleep but also how well, how long, and how deeply you sleep? This may be a lot to take in, but I hope you now understand, and if you have issues in any of these areas, you can work on fixing them.
Your digestive system is the engine that keeps your physical and mental processes functioning smoothly. It’s also the powerhouse ensuring all other organ systems operate efficiently. Unfortunately, long-term chronic stress prolongs activation of stress hormones that damage these systems and lead to physical and mental health issues.
You maintain your physical health and mental stability by eating a healthy diet that includes enough tryptophan to produce sufficient serotonin, along with other nutrients, hormones, and neurotransmitters to keep your brain, body, and digestive system healthy, and you… happy.
