Is you stomach your second brain?

Have you ever wondered why many emotions can be felt in your stomach? A knot of fear when faced with a frightening situation or an uncomfortable tightness when stress levels rise are both ways we can “feel” emotions in our guts. This doesn’t happen anywhere else in the body. You’ve probably never heard anyone say that their arms hurt because they’re worried about a test. Given this connection between the nervous and digestive system, is your stomach your second brain?

There is a complex highway of neurons and hormones that run between the gut and the brain. And, research suggests that it is a two-way street, with messages constantly being sent in both directions between your brain and your digestive tract. Therefore, the connections between gut health and brain health are many.

Some theories suggest that it is

Research into the enteric nervous system, the part of the nervous system that controls the gastrointestinal system, has revealed a vast web of hundreds of millions of neurons that monitor and control the entire digestive tract. The fact that it is capable of operating independently of the central nervous system has lead to the second brain theory. And, conditions within the digestive system are involved in both the way your stomach feels and other functions once thought to be controlled only by the brain such as mood.

The biology of the gut is a delicate balance of microbiota that can be affected by factors such as diet, medications, and stress level. When the microbes get out of balance, it can have an effect on the serotonin level which is connected to psychological conditions such as depression.

Treat your second brain well

As you can see, taking good care of your second brain goes a long way toward both physical and mental health. The fact that there is such a strong stomach-brain connection demonstrates the need to pay special attention to your digestive system. One of the best ways to do this is to work toward a healthy balance of microbes or bacteria in the gut through the use of both probiotics and digestive enzymes.

When comparing the benefits of probiotics vs.digestive enzymes, you need to understand the role they each play in the biology of the gut. Probiotics help by introducing a dose of healthy bacteria into the digestive tract, and digestive enzymes work by aiding your body in the proper breakdown and absorption of the food you eat.

Read more about the benefits of adding digestive enzymes to your daily routine on the GHT website, and how they can help improve the conditions of the second most powerful nervous system in your body.