Gut Health and Anxiety

Hello lovely people!

I want to talk about Gut Health and Anxiety. First and foremost I want to state that I am NOT a doctor, and this is NOT meant to treat, cure or prevent any diseases. If you have any conditions it is important to talk to a physician and get the proper medical care.

I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog. We’ve had a lot of life happen! We’ve moved, had a baby after trying for 7 years, lost our 11 year old nephew unexpectedly, amongst various other life events.

With the lockdowns going on 5 months now my anxiety was at an all time high. I was barely functioning because I felt so on edge and high strung. Everything has seemed so doom and gloom and I just was not doing well.

I realized that I needed to do more for my kids, I needed to be a better mom and get this anxiety under control so they didn’t remember this time as a time of depression, but “the year we stayed home and did lots of crafts and had lots of fun with mom.”

But when I discussed anxiety medication options with my doctor, I was left feeling less than pleased. My husband works on the road, so he’s gone a lot so it’s just me and the kids. During these rundowns of possible side effects the doctor told me, “Can you stay with anyone for a while? You know, just in case some of these things happen.” one of the main side effects was suicide or attempted suicide. How crazy is that?

I really didn’t feel comfortable taking it at all, so I opted to do some research and see if there were other options available.

I started researching the body, researching anxiety and depression and trying to figure out which chemical imbalance I might have because for me anxiety was never an issue until 2015 when I sadly had a miscarriage. I had never suffered from anxiety before that point so I knew there had to be something hormonally off in my body.

According to John Hopkins (https://www.google.com/…/the-brain-gut-connection%3famp=true)

And Harvard (https://www.health.harvard.edu/dis…/the-gut-brain-connection)

The gut and the brain are connected. Your intestines send signals to your brain and this can cause a myriad of disorders; immune system, mood, mental health, autoimmune diseases, endocrine disorders, skin conditions, and cancer to name a few.

They said that this connection is why anti anxiety medication works well for people with IBS.

That was when I realized; my gut health is vital to my mental health.

So I looked up How can I make my gut healthy?

✳️ Eating more fruits and vegetables, and high fiber foods specifically;

🔸Apples
🔸Blueberries
🔸Raspberries
🔸Artichokes
🔸Green peas
🔸Broccoli
🔸Chickpeas
🔸Lentils
🔸Beans (kidney, pinto and white)
🔸Whole grains

✳️ Eating fermented foods

🔹Yogurt (live culture)
🔹Kimchi
🔹Sauerkraut
🔹Kefir
🔹Kombucha
🔹Tempeh

✳️ Eating prebiotic foods

♦️ Garlic
♦️ Onions
♦️ Leeks
♦️Asparagus
♦️ Dandelion Greens
♦️ Chicory
♦️ Jerusalem Artichoke
♦️ Cocoa Bean (yay chocolate)
♦️ Oats
♦️ Cabbage

✳️ Taking a supplemental probiotic

Now when it comes to probiotics there are various kinds on the market, but there are some ingredients that are actually histamine producers. So if you are sensitive to histamines then it can make your allergies much worse. So when doing my research on them and trying to find one that worked for me I made sure it did NOT contain the following ingredients:

Histamine producers:

Lactobacillus bulgaricus
Lactobacillus Casei
Lactobacillus reuteri
Staphylococcus
S. Thermophilus

However I DID want one with histamine degraders
(ones that help reduce your response to histamines / allergies)

B. Infantis
B. Longum
L. Gasseri
L. Rhamnosus
L. Plantarum
L. Salivarius

I also knew that there were certain strains that help anxiety specifically and I wanted those as well;

Lactobacillus Rhamnosus (L. rhamnosus)
lactobacillus Helveticus
Bifidobacterium longum

So when you are researching probiotics to get you can take a look at that list.

I have not found a single probiotic that contains ALL of them. However Plexus VitalBiome is amazing and contains;

L. Helveticus
B. Coagulans
B. Lactis
B. Longum
S. Boulardii
L. Plantarum
L. Acidophilus

If you actually got through all of this; congratulations  you’ve learned more about gut health! Haha.

As always consult your healthcare practitioner before starting any probiotics or supplements, I asked two of my doctors before I started taking Plexus products just to be sure they were safe for my body (I am without a gallbladder).

 

Cherise ❤

 

*This blog does contain affiliate links that give me a small commission on products purchased through them, but you are by no means obligated to purchase the recommended items or through my links. Though it is appreciated!