Your Gut & Brain are Connected — and they Play a Critical Role in Mood and Obesity
The gut/brain axis, more commonly referred to as the gut/brain connection, is a bidirectional communication channel between our gut and our brain. We can think of our gut/brain connection as a two-lane highway that links our brain to our gut; the signals shared along this highway can influence weight, mood, cognitive function, and metabolic processes like hunger and satiety signals. Our gut’s microbiome plays a critical role in mood and weight gain.
Table of Contents:
Microbiome vs Microbiota
GLP-1 and Probiotics
Probiotics and Mood
Hyperpalatable Foods
To understand the gut/brain connection, it’s important to first understand some key terms:
Microbiome vs Microbiota
- Microbiota: Microbiota is a collection of microorganisms living our gut. Microbiotas include bacteria, viruses, fungi, and various other microbes. Microbiotas are important for maintaining health because they ferment food, protect us against pathogens, stimulate our immune response, and are implicated in vitamin production.
- Microbiome: A microbiome is an ecosystem, or a community of organisms, that is unique to us. No two microbiomes are the same. Our microbiome is the environment that hosts the microbes that help keep us healthy.
- Probiotics: Probiotics are living organisms such as bacteria or yeast that confer health advantages. Probiotics are found in fermented foods like yogurt, kombucha, sauerkraut, aged cheese, kvass, and apple cider vinegar. Perhaps the most well-known probiotic is acidophilus. It is found in yogurt and kefir, cottage cheese, and pickle juice. Biocare, a dietary beverage that is specifically designed for people taking a GLP-1 weight loss medication, contains prebiotic fiber and digestively stable probiotics to promote digestive and gut health.
GLP-1 and Probiotics
GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide-1) is a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar, appetite, and digestion. Anti-obesity medications have a synthetic form of GLP-1 as their active ingredient. Probiotics have been shown to moderate the release of GLP-1, so including foods with probiotics while taking a GLP-1 medication can confer an advantage because probiotics can also help with nausea, a side effect of GLP-1 medications.
Probiotics and Mood
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter implicated in mood regulation, and 90 percent of serotonin is found in our gut. Serotonin aids in digestion and in helping your body expel irritating foods. Consuming probiotics can increase serotonin levels in our gut, which, in turn, could boost your mood. Our microbiome and microbiota can also affect our mood. When the bacteria in our gut are balanced, our body’s ability to regulate cortisol is positively affected. Cortisol is the “stress” hormone — so when we are experiencing high levels of stress, or when our gut is out of balance, we have more cortisol in our system.
Hyperpalatable Foods
Hyperpalatable foods are designed to have a high caloric density and have high levels of fat, sugar, salt, and additives. Hyperpalatable foods include cookies, chips, fast food, and soda; these foods offer no nutritional value to our diets, and they trigger a dopamine response. Dopamine is a hormone that makes us feel good, so the more we eat, the more our brain’s reward system is activated, and the better we feel (or so we think). Hyperpalatable foods will lead to an imbalance in microbiome if consumed in large amounts, and this will result in gut issues. Because we turn to hyperpalatable foods when we are feeling hungry, we may come to believe that hunger is an emotion because we have an emotional response (dopamine hit) when eating hyperpalatable food. Hunger is not an emotion; it is a physiological response to our body’s signal that it needs nutrients. Consuming hyperpalatable foods may offer a temporary positive sensation, but long-term consumption is detrimental to our gut health.
Keeping Our Microbiome Healthy
One approach to building and maintaining a healthy gut microbiome is to include probiotics as part of a nutritionally balanced diet. Biocare, a dietary beverage that is specifically designed for GP-1 patients, contains probiotics and prebiotic fiber to promote gut health and to help reduce the occurrence of GI distress. Biocare is also scientifically formulated to help manage GLP-1 side effects, and it contains high-quality whey protein, which helps maintain lean muscle mass and promote satiety. Two servings of Biocare per day offer 100 percent of the recommended daily intake of 26 vitamins and minerals. What’s more, Biocare can help with the transition away from your GLP-1.
Prior to starting any weight loss program, whether it includes anti-obesity medication or not, be sure to consult with your healthcare provider to make sure your desired weight loss strategy is right for you.
