It seems like every day, more and more research is emerging about how what we put into our bodies affects our mental health more than anything else. A recent study published in the British Medical Journal has found an intriguing connection between gut health and meditation.
Let’s take a look at the research article and explore how gut health can influence your mental well-being!
Healthy Gut = Healthy Brain
Your gut is filled with millions of bacteria called microbes. These microbes help your body digest food, absorb nutrients, and fight off infections.
Studies show that these microbes also affect your emotional state by releasing hormones into the bloodstream. One type of hormone released by gut microbes is serotonin, which helps regulate mood and stress levels.
This means that if you have an unhealthy gut, it can lead to mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
The Meditation and Gut Health Connection
Meditation has been proven to help reduce stress levels and improve overall wellbeing.
The aforementioned study from the British Medical Journal found that Tibetan monks had “substantially different” gut microbes, with a significant possible cause determined to be regularly scheduled deep meditation.
Other researchers have found that meditation can also be beneficial for digestive problems like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Another recently published study showed that people who meditated regularly reported fewer symptoms of IBS than those who did not meditate.
How Can I Improve My Gut Health?
Regular meditation is definitely something to consider adding to your day-to-day routine, and there are also other actions you can take to improve your gut health. These include eating a balanced diet rich in fiber and probiotics as well as taking supplements such as Truehope GreenBAC, which contains BILLIONS of beneficial bacteria as well as botanicals, algaes, enzymes and other nutrient-rich ingredients.
It’s clear now more than ever before that our mental health is closely linked to our physical well-being – especially when it comes to our guts!
The research article we discussed today showed us how practicing regular meditation could have positive effects on our digestion and even reduce painful symptoms associated with IBS.
But it doesn’t end there.
Supplementing with products like Truehope GreenBAC alongside mindful activities like yoga or tai chi can further support a healthy microbiome within the gut for long lasting positive effects on our minds, too!