The Hidden Connection Between Gut Health & Mental Health That Therapy and Drugs Cannot Fix

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Our global mental health crisis is growing at an exponential rate, with over half a billion people suffering from depression and anxiety; it’s time we rethink our understanding of the underlying root causes of mental health challenges.

From treating thousands of patients, I’ve learned that depression is not in your head. It’s in your body. More specifically, your gut. When your gut is unhealthy and inflamed, your brain is unhealthy and inflamed. In Functional Medicine, we know that the gut and the brain are intimately connected and that the health of one directly influences the health of the other. 

In today’s Health Bites episode, we’re diving into the gut-brain connection and sharing Functional Medicine tools to support your gut health and, as a result, your mood and mental health. 

In this episode, I discuss:

• Our global mental health crisis (2:45)
• The gut-brain connection (4:18)
• The story of Marks's broken brain (5:15)
• Features of the gut-brain axis (8:57)
• Gut hormones that send signals to your brain (10:06)
• Role of the gut microbiota in mood and mental health (12:24)
• How stress negatively impacts our gut microbiome (20:14)
• The link between leaky gut and poor mental health (21:41)
• The Functional Medicine approach to fixing the gut (25:56)
• The 5R Program for fixing your gut health (30:09)

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