For years we’ve known that anxiety and depression contribute to gut problems like IBS, but stud-ies show that your gut could also be influencing your mood.

I’m sure you’ve been advised at some point to trust your gut’. This is because you have a ‘hidden’ brain in there.

This gut [brain] has 500 million nerve cells and about a 100 million neurons, responsible for producing many things including enzymes and hormones.

This gut [brain] or more precisely your large intestine contains 100 trillion bacterial cells, which is a staggering 10 x more than human cells. Hard to believe that we are all 97% microbes!

And specifically, this gut [brain] bacteria manufactures about 95 percent of your body's supply of serotonin [the happy hormone].

Also called the gut microbiome, it is dynamic and is constantly affected by your diet, age, geography, antibiotics, prescription medication, exercise levels and stress.

So here are 3 ways you can support both your gut and mood:

1. Eat protein at every meal – all neurotransmitters are made directly from the amino acids contained in dietary protein.

2. Ensure you’re eating plenty of plant foods – the fibre in them is what feeds your 'friendly' gut microbes.

3. Cut down on the inflammatory sugary, refined and processed foods, which feed the ‘unfriendly’ bacteria.

And if you really want to get on first name terms with the community of microbes living in your gut, get in touch with me about doing a stool test.

One client recently discovered that she was missing some key microbes and had low levels of others directly linked to anxiety and depression. Exciting news because it means we are now actively working on getting her feeling better.