How Practicing Gratitude This Holiday Season Can Help Your Gut Health

November 25, 2020

The benefits of gratitude range from your physical health, to your mental health, to relational health. Gratitude affects our brains – and our health – more powerfully than other types of positive emotions. 

Did you know? Positive emotions send strong signals to your gut microbiome, allowing the most beneficial bacteria to thrive!

Your second brain is directly connected by the “gut-brain axis” - a special communication system that runs, yes, you guessed it - between the gut and brain. The vagus nerve is essentially the main messaging pathway. And while a lot of recent research has focused on the bottom-up impact (how your gut microbiome affects your brain), the gut-brain axis is a two-way street. All of that makes sense when you think about things like emotional eating, gut feelings, and having those “butterflies”. 

How powerful is the thought that you can think and feel your way to a healthier gut?! Yes, you can change the makeup of your microbiome! For example:

• Social stress can cause intestinal inflammation and affect both your ‘good’ & ‘harmful’ gut bacteria and how they behave. 

• Depression can change the bacteria population and diversity in the gut microbiome. It will trigger your harmful bacteria to take the lead. 

• Positive thinking  has been shown to alter the symptoms of gut-related conditions like IBS.

So, it’s clear that your brain sends messages to your gut. And when you’re feeling happy and content - which comes with practicing gratitude and being grateful - your brain lets your gut know that everything is ok! It sends an “all is well” signal through the vagus nerve to your gut, allowing the beneficial bacteria (a.k.a. probiotics) in your microbiome to thrive, leaving less room for bad (pathogenic) bacteria…all leading to better gut health! 

TAKE IT A STEP FURTHER : 

1. TAKE THE 7 DAY CHALLENGE Help your good bacteria thrive and boost your mood with our 7 Day Challenge pack of Just Add Water ® - full of probiotics, prebiotics, superfoods, power greens, and adaptogens. All the support for your body to function properly and fuel you with positive energy.  
2. Practice Culinary Alchemy™ - putting gratitude and positive emotions into your food.  Learn more HERE. 
3. HOW TO STRENGTHEN YOUR MICROBIOME 
4. The Gut-Brain Connection

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