Prebiotics and Decreasing Your Stress Response?

Well, you can say I have been on a bit of a health kick lately. Really, a lets get healthy with your diet and exercise kick. I know, I know. What does this pregnancy/ pediatric chiropractor in Dallas know about a healthy diet and its connection with the gut?  Well, I am a reformed fat girl.  Food and I have an intimate love hate relationship filled with the highest highs and the lowest lows.  I learned later in life that food is an emotional relationship but also a relationship that is created to make your body THRIVE. You can feed disease or fight it with the decisions you make on the daily. You can give your body life and longevity, or eat your way to the grave. That got really dark, really fast...but you get my point. I am about to lay down some truth bombs on how food can help you emotionally and physically (in more ways  than just fighting cancer).

What is this craze with "prebiotics" and "probiotics"? Prebiotics are what the probiotics (gut bacteria in your body) feed on. Probiotics are the gut bacteria the reside in your gut and aid in a healthy digestive environment. They are both super important.  Probiotics have been linked to modulating anxiety and depression in people which is why your diet and mental health are so integrally connected. Its called the enteric (gut) and the CNS (central nervous system/ brain) connection. Recent studies in rats are showing that prebiotic intake reduces the walking cortisol response and alters emotional bias in healthy specimens. In other words, prebiotics can help you physically and emotionally deal with stress better and has been shown scientifically to do so by decreasing cortisol levels when presented with an emotionally taxing situation. Cortisol is the "stress" hormone that is released when our body and mind undergo situations that we need to "fight or flight" through. Such as, running from a bear! Paying our bills! Dealing with a two year old! Fighting with a friend! Dealing with your husband! Finishing a work assignment on time! What does all this mean to you? It means, what you feed your body/gut can greatly impact your emotional state whether we are dealing with depression or anxiety or wanting to aid your body in dealing with the stressful situations of life. Prebiotics can be purchased at your local grocery store or you can get it from foods like garlic, raw leeks, onions, raw asparagus, baked wheat flour, and bananas. Check out last weeks blog to see what food options have probiotics!

Moral of the story, you are what you eat....emotionally and physically.

Until next time-
Dr. Bree

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4410136/