Your Emotional Gut

From the Show: HER
Summary: Your nervous system and gut are intimately connected.
Air Date: 7/21/16
Duration: 10
Host: Michelle King Robson and Pam Peeke, MD
Guest Bio: Emeran Mayer, MD, PhD
Dr. Emeran MayerDr. Emeran Mayer received is MD/PhD degree from the Ludwig Maximilian'’s University in Munich, Germany, did his residency at the Vancouver General Hospital in Vancouver, Canada, and his GI fellowship training at the UCLA/VA Wadsworth Training Program.

Dr. Mayer has a career long interest in clinical and research aspects of brain body interactions, with a longstanding focus on brain gut interactions in health and disease. Besides being a widely recognized expert for functional GI disorders, he is also recognized as one of the leading investigators in the world of chronic visceral pain and of the brain gut axis. He has published 210 original manuscripts in the leading GI and Neuroscience journals, 95 book chapters and reviews, and has co-edited three books.

He is the director of the Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer Family Center for Neurobiology of Stress, and has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1989. He is currently PI of a NIH Center grant on sex differences in functional GI disorders, on a consortium grant of brain bladder interactions, and a RO1 grant on brain imaging in IBS. Dr. Mayer is a regular member of the NIDDK CIMG study section, has been president of the Functional Brain Gut group, and Associate Editor of Gastroenterology.
Your Emotional Gut
Your emotional state is tied directly to gut health.

The neurotransmitters in our brains and our guts originally came from the microbes through evolution.

The gut microbiome contains 100 trillion microorganisms living inside our digestive system. The microbes take advantage of the close communication system with the nervous system. They communicate with the areas of the brain that are crucial for emotions and a sense of well-being.

Your emotions involve your brain, gut and the microbes. If you’re upset, it affects the other parts of the system.

Disturbances can come from many angles to shift the system out of balance. In fact 98% of the body’s serotonin is packaged and influenced by the gut. Serotonin changes the behavior of the microbes.

Garbage food upsets the gut and messes with your emotions. Comfort foods change the microbes, leading to inflammation and influencing mood.

It’s all connected. Look at what you're eating and how it's affecting your mood.

Listen in as Dr. Emeran Mayer discusses the relationship between your gut and emotions.