Dr. Nicole Cain argues the gut might actually be the first brain, not the second, because of its genetic and microbial complexity. Anxiety and depression can trigger dysbiosis, which then worsens mood in a feedback loop. She recommends eating more fiber and considering psychobiotics to support beneficial bacteria and neurotransmitter balance.
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Psychobiotic Revolution by John Kryon, Ted Dinan and Scott Anderson
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The gut. They call it the second brain, but really it should be caused, it should be called the first brain. We have more genetic material in our gut microbiome than we have in our whole body. And so they outnumber us. And the gut makes 95% of your mood regulating serotonin. The gut communicates via the gut brain access, which is a bi directional highway, so meaning the communication comes up from the gut to the brain, the brain responds, sends information back down to the gut. So they're the dream team and they're collaborating and research shows that the gut is actually doing much more talking than the brain. And there's another book that I really like which was a real inspiration for me, and it's called the Psychobiotic Revolution. And so this is written by John Kryon, Ted Dinan and Scott Anderson. And they write in this book, despair, anxiety and depression can lead to negative changes in your microbiota called dysbiosis. And that disruption can channel anxiety and depression right back into your brain. And it creates what most life at its best tries to avoid, a feedback loop or a vicious cycle. And so while our experiences can change our gut and our gut can change our brain, we can then take that information and we can look at how can we actually leverage that. We can actually change the gut. And by changing the gut, we can change the brain and we can change the gut very quickly. In fact, your gut microbiome, it can turn over in an hour or less, versus it takes generations of descendants to actually change our epigenetic expression. So a couple of gut hacks that I'd love to leave you with is one is that your gut loves fiber. And so if you can add fiber to your diet, it's going to feed the bacteria that are going to balance your cortisol, which is your stress hormone, it's going to balance your serotonin, it's going to bring down inflammation. So when in doubt, don't overcomplicate it, just add fiber. And then the second thing is considering a psychobiotic, which is a probiotic that has been specifically formulated with bacteria that have been studied to be used to regulate dopamine and to regulate serotonin or to regulate cortisol. And we have beautiful charts in the book. You can check it out. It's so fun.
