The gut is now known as the second brain.
“The brain has about 100 billion neurons and the gut has about 500 million neurons. That’s why there is two-way communication between the brain and the gut,” said Dr. Supriya Rao, board-certified in gastroenterology, obesity and lifestyle medicine in the Boston area.
“We see a lot of patients in our practice who, you know, may have heard this kind of catch-all phrase, irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, and in those patients, there’s certainly some impairment of the “Many of these patients suffer from severe pain, a change in their bowel habits and also have issues with anxiety and depression,” Rao said. .
Excluding anything serious is when she prescribes lifestyle changes.
“We see patients who are improving their lifestyle, whether through diet, exercise, better sleep, meditation and stress reduction with friends and family, and it There is a marked improvement in their gastrointestinal symptoms as well as their mental health,” Rao said.
Addressing patients’ mental health and changing their poor eating habits, she said, can go a long way toward better, healthier brain-gut communication.
Eat mindfully too. This is called the full 80% rule. Stop eating before you feel full.
“When we eat really fast, our brain isn’t able to catch up with our stomach or vice versa to basically tell us okay, stop, I’m actually full,” Rao said.
Be careful of too much sugar. This can paralyze your intestine.
“It almost slows things down, you become more constipated, you get nausea, stomach upset, abdominal pain, that’s what happens when you eat too much sugar,” Rao said.
Up to 90% of patients with irritable bowel syndrome have an associated mental health problem, most commonly depression and anxiety.
Rao has been cited in numerous articles on this subject.