Listening to Your Gut

Listening to Your Gut – Science is beginning to catch up with the age old wisdom to “listen to your gut.” More and more research is pointing to the vast role that our guts play in our overall health. Now there is evidence that our mental health may be directly linked with our gut health as well. A new study has shown that having the correct balance of probiotics in your stomach and intestines can reverse OCD, depression and other mental illnesses.

Doctors have long known the role that probiotics play in stomach disorders, cancers, IBS, allergies, lowering cholesterol , maintaining a trim waistline and more, but now one psychiatrist is having remarkable results treating OCD and other mental disorders. James Greenblatt, a Boston area physician, has long studied the role of gut health on the brain, and now is seeing amazing results. “The gut is really your second brain,” Greenblatt said. “There are more neurons in the GI tract than anywhere else except the brain.” By this theory, correcting imbalances in one’s microbes may hold the key to curing a variety of ills.

Probiotics can be purchased in a variety of packaged forms, but don’t overlook the natural sources in easy to find food and drinks. Yogurt is an obvious choice, but there’s also keffir, kombucha, miso, sauerkraut, kimchee, and other fermented foods that are filled with live microbes. All of these can be ingested to maintain gut health, or to replace microbes that may have been killed during a sickness or from taking an antibiotic.