Have you heard of the gut-brain connection? It has been proven that your gut and your brain are linked. However, the connection between these two organs is a lot stronger than you may think. Recent scientific research is now explaining the importance of this symbiotic relationship.
Maintaining your health as an entrepreneur is essential. Especially if you want to be successful in the long-term. Due to this, you must have a solid understanding of how your gut and your brain affect one another.
In this article, we’re going to give you an insight into the gut-brain connection. We’ll explain why it’s important to your life as an entrepreneur. Plus, what you can do to utilize this connection to your advantage.
The Gut-Brain Connection: Explained
Your gut and your brain are connected by the Vagus Nerve. This nerve connects multiple organs, including your brain, heart, lungs, and digestive tract by sending signals to each organ. The vagus nerve is the reason why we can experience gut issues when we’re under mental stress. It’s also why we can experience psychological stress, anxiety, and even depression when we have gut issues.
The vagus nerve will send signals telling each organ how the others feel. Based on those signals, your body will react accordingly. If you’re in a good place mentally — you’re happy, relaxed, content with your life — then your gut will also be relaxed, and function correctly. Likewise, if you’re unhappy with your life and you’re experiencing high levels of stress, your gut will respond in different ways. You could have indigestion, stomach cramps, bloating, loss of appetite, etc.
Our gut is made up of billions of different types of bacteria and microbes, all of which play a massive role in how we feel physically and mentally. A lack of beneficial bacteria and microorganisms and an abundance of harmful bacteria and microbes can cause a vast range of problems, both physically and mentally. Studies are now showing how certain strains of bacteria are linked to mental health issues, like anxiety.
Researchers are also looking at the connection between gut bacteria and cases of ADHD and autism — with antibiotics being mentioned as prominent causation of low levels of good bacteria in children.
Improve Your Gut-Brain Connection To Improve Your Life
The research shows us that keeping both our mental health and gut health in check is vital if we want to improve our lives. How we feel plays an enormous role in how successful we can become. When you feel down, your drive to succeed isn’t nearly as great as when you feel happy.
There is a huge range of things you can do to improve the connection between your brain and your gut. These include:
CBT: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the practice of rearranging your thought patterns regarding specific situations. By changing how you think or emotionally react to certain situations or memories, you can reduce your mental stress significantly, and therefore improve your gut and overall health.
Probiotics: Probiotics and probiotic-rich foods are essential in rebuilding your levels of beneficial bacteria. There’s a range of different supplements available. They contain different strains of beneficial bacteria — such as lactobacillus acidophilus. There’s also a huge range of different foods that you should incorporate into your diet, including yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, and apple cider vinegar.
Relax: This may seem obvious, but to maintain good gut health, you must try to relax every day. Relaxation will help to calm the nervous system, including the vagus nerve, and reduce symptoms of gut issues and anxiety.
There are many different things we can be doing daily to ensure that we maintain good mental and gut health. Good gut health, as shown by researchers across the globe, has a dramatically positive effect on our mental health and overall health — crucial if you want to be successful in life and as an entrepreneur.
To learn more about how to improve your life as an entrepreneur, check out the latest posts on our blog.
Written by Lewis James