For several years now, I’ve been working with a psychiatrist micro-dosing several psycho-pharmaceuticals to deal with my depression and anxiety. Every day, I juggle some six medicines — .5 mg of this, 1 mg of this and that, doses so low we shouldn’t have to be using them but somehow when I try to remove the small amount things go sideways. My pdoc has been advocating that I try ketamine for treatment-resistant depression. The ultimate goal here would be for the yearly ketamine treatments to replace the meds. I made an appointment for an intake with the physician group in San Francisco about ketamine treatments. Apparently, you do several visits for a few weeks and then you’re good to go for a while. I get paranoid on marijuana so the thought of taking a ‘psychedelic’ is worrisome to me. Plus you have to have someone to drive you home from each treatment. That would be hard to do as my daughter has a busy job and my best friend is still out drinking.
I’ve found lately that my mood and motivation have improved since I started working with a naturopath several months ago to treat my gut. I’ve noticed in the past month that I am more in the moment, less forgetful and that my mood has remained more upbeat than usual. Could it be the supplements and food choices prescribed by my naturopath?
I came across this study the other day about the gut-brain connection:
The gut-brain axis is a bidirectional communication network that links the enteric and central nervous systems. This network is not only anatomical, but it extends to include endocrine, humoral, metabolic, and immune routes of communication as well. The autonomic nervous system, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and nerves within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, all link the gut and the brain, allowing the brain to influence intestinal activities, including activity of functional immune effector cells; and the gut to influence mood, cognition, and mental health.
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Research continues to elucidate mechanisms of action to explain the effects of microbiota, both directly and indirectly, on emotional and cognitive centres of the brain and has demonstrated that fluctuations of the microbiota are linked to changes within these systems of communication. The Gut-Brain Axis: Influence of Microbiota on Mood and Mental Health.
Sounds a little complicated, I know, but one of the supplements I am taking is called ION Gut Support. Made from ancient soil and purified water, it is described as being a “gut-brain health supplement that goes beyond probiotics, helping to support tight junction integrity and diversify your microbiome the natural way.”
I haven’t done research on the other supplements the nutritionist has prescribed, but ION really intrigued me because the bottle claims to impact:
- Immune Function*
- Digestion*
- Mental Clarity*
- Metabolism*
- Mood*
From the ION blog:
If you take away nothing else today, remember this: your gut is massively important to your overall health and wellbeing. And not just because of its important job in digesting food. No no, your gut is so much more.
Your gut is the bouncer for the rest of your body, the bustling place where your microbiome lives and where over 70% of your immune system resides, not to mention the factory crucial neurotransmitters (like serotonin!) are made. A healthy gut also fosters such a critical connection between the gut and the brain that some have started colloquially calling the gut "the second brain".
Pretty much, your gut is the absolute center of your health universe.
I discovered that the BBC writes that over the past few decades, compelling evidence suggests that it is not only the nutrients from the food we eat that impact emotion and cognition but also microbiota from our guts.
"More and more research is revealing that the gut microbiome can influence the brain and behaviour across a variety of different animals," says Elaine Hsiao, associate professor in integrative biology and physiology, at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
"In medicine, we tend to compartmentalise the body," says [John] Cryan, [ a professor of anatomy and neuroscience at University College Cork]."So, when we talk about issues with the brain, we tend to think about the neck upwards. But we need to frame things evolutionarily. It's important to remember that the microbes were here before humans existed, so we have evolved with these 'friends with benefits'. There has never been a time when the brain existed without the signals coming from the microbes.
"What if these signals are actually really important in determining how we feel, how we behave and how we act? And could we modulate these microbes therapeutically to improve thinking, behaviour and brain health?"
Harvard Medical School opines we should be more aware of the brain-gut connection.
The gut-brain connection is no joke; it can link anxiety to stomach problems and vice versa. Have you ever had a "gut-wrenching" experience? Do certain situations make you "feel nauseous"? Have you ever felt "butterflies" in your stomach? We use these expressions for a reason. The gastrointestinal tract is sensitive to emotion. Anger, anxiety, sadness, elation — all of these feelings (and others) can trigger symptoms in the gut.
The brain has a direct effect on the stomach and intestines. For example, the very thought of eating can release the stomach's juices before food gets there. This connection goes both ways. A troubled intestine can send signals to the brain, just as a troubled brain can send signals to the gut. Therefore, a person's stomach or intestinal distress can be the cause or the product of anxiety, stress, or depression. That's because the brain and the gastrointestinal (GI) system are intimately connected.
I noted on the bottle that I am supposed to be taking 3 tsps of ION a day, one with each meal. I’ve only been taking one. I’m going to try over the next week to up the dose and see if I feel even better!
So why then go the Ketamine route? I think not.
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