Episode 24: The Gut-Brain Connection with guest Doug Cook, RDN
About Doug Cook
Doug Cook is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) and the Gut Brain Guy! Doug has 20 years of experience and believes that health is the greatest wealth.
Through his experience working in medical detox, he really started to understand the impact of drugs and medications on the gut. He quickly learned how inextricably linked gut health is to the brain and mental health.
What is the gut-brain connection?
Although it is very complex, in simple terms, the gut-brain connection is a literal connection between the brain (the central nervous system, which includes the spinal cord) and the digestive tract. The gut-brain connection is both a physical connection, because there is a nerve called the vagus nerve that travels from the brain into the digestive tract, but there's also biochemical connection. So, both the brain and the gut are producing various chemicals (neurotransmitters) that are used for communication. The gut and the brain are inextricably linked back and forth.
Doug likes to think of the gut-brain connection as one entity, even though some people come to see him exclusively for gut health, and most people aren't really thinking about their gut, if they've got mental health issues (e.g., mood disorders). You can’t have the health of one without considering the other.
Are neurotransmitters produced in the gut?
There are dozens and dozens of neurotransmitters (brain chemicals). Neurotransmitters are often discussed in the context of mental health, because there are drugs that affect the metabolism of chemicals like serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. A lot of these neurotransmitters are produced in the gut. For example, approximately 80-90% of your serotonin and 50% of your dopamine is produced in your digestive track. A percentage of these chemicals are produced in the gut and then travel up to regulate the brain.
Since most of your neurotransmitters are produced in your gut, the foods you consume directly impact their production.
The quality of your diet and the food that you eat directly impacts your brain chemicals, because it provides the building blocks for the neurotransmitters. All neurotransmitters are basically made from amino acids, which come from the digestion (or the breakdown) of dietary protein. However, your brain chemicals are also influenced by how your dietary choices influence your gut health (or the activity in your guts), which impacts the production and regulation of your neurotransmitters.
Key Domains of Gut Health
There are five key domains of gut health, all of which are going to influence your state of well-being, and diet impacts all of them:
Quality of your digestion and absorption of the food, and therefore the nutrients, that you eat
Absence of gastrointestinal or digestive track illnesses
Normal and stable microbiota
Strong immune system - about 70% of the immune system is in the digestive tract; so, having a robust immunity will positively impact your gut health
Efficient elimination - are you having regular bowel movements?
What you eat and drink really does effect these domains of gut health. As such, the quality of your food choices (e.g., the nutrient density) will influence your overall state of well-being to some degree.
When you think about effective digestion, you are going to want to eat foods that support nutritional health, but that are also in line with your personal tolerance levels, food sensitivities and food allergies.
If you've got a happy gut and a happy digestive tract, it's going to lend itself to supporting a healthy mood.
Inflammation and Bloating
Is inflammation bad?
Inflammation of the digestive track can impact immune function, and in turn, neurotransmitter production which is going to affect your mood.
Is inflammation the same as bloating?
It is hard to separate gut inflammation from bloating, but gut inflammation can lead to bloating. Bloating is just really a symptom – it is not a diagnosis.
What is bloating?
In simple terms, bloating is a feeling of increased abdominal pressure from within - a feeling of fullness or distension. Bloating is sometimes perceived as discomfort or pain; it is not the same as weight gain.
What causes bloating?
There are many potential causes of bloating, for example:
Sometimes it’s muscular – so the walls of the stomach are weak
Food intolerance
Bacterial imbalance
Impact of a drug, alcohol or a medication
How to identify gut inflammation (other than the external symptom of bloating)
It is actually very difficult to identity whether or not someone is experiencing gut inflammation, but one way is to scope your colon. Specifically, you could have a doctor scope the first 8 - 10 inches of your small intestine, where they would be able to check for celiac disease and heavy inflammation. Other less common ways could include looking at blood markers or a particular type of toxin that's produced by bacteria that is found in the gut. If those levels are higher (above baseline), then your doctor could assume there's some leaky gut – in which case there would for sure be inflammation.
Also, if you have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or celiac disease, you can assume there's inflammation.
For the average person, if they're taking tons of ibuprofen or they're a moderate drinker, there's going to be some degree of inflammation; but, it’s not going to be something you can necessarily assess just by symptoms and there's certainly no diagnostic tool available to diagnosis gut inflammation.
What are FODMAPs?
FODMAP is an acronym which stands for: fermentable oligo-, di-, mono-saccharides and polyols, and it is just a fancy way of describing how different types of carbohydrates are found in the food supply. In other words, FODMAPs are basically just a way to categorize different types of carbohydrates.
FODMAPs are neither good nor bad.
For a normal or typical healthy digestive tract you need to consume a variety of foods, including a variety of these different types of sugars as well as starches (FODMAPs) and digest them without difficulty. When these FODMAPs get into the large bowel, some of them do get in without being fully broken down in the small intestine and the bacteria there ferment them and eat them (that's what they use for fuel, so that they can grow and populate and their children can have children and so on). This is all very good. So, we'll all ferment FODMAPs to some degree and that's what gives you your daily dose of flatulence.
Where FODMAPs can be a problem is if there's various digestive issues. For example, if FODMAPs are getting fermented excessively, this can produce a large amount of gas which can cause a lot of problems (e.g., reflux, bloating, changes in stool, etc.). This is typically seen when someone has Crohn's disease, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome or something called small intestinal bacterial overgrowth or SIBO for short.
Do you need to heal your gut?
Signs and symptoms
Excessive burping (i.e., interferes with your quality of life)
Excess flatulence (i.e., interferes with your quality of life)
Excess bloating
Recurring irritation – e.g., acid reflux
Persistent or unexplained nausea vomiting
Changes in the bowel habits (e.g., constipation or diarrhea)
If any foods are suddenly giving you problems
Any abdominal pain or cramping
Unexplained weight loss
*If you are experiencing any of these symptoms don’t panic - just go to your doctor and have it checked out.
Tips and tricks for healing your gut
Stop eating anything that is causing gut irritation
Reduce consumption of highly processed foods (i.e., poor quality food that lack vitamins and minerals).
The more refined and processed a food is, the more devoid it is of nutrients (e.g., vitamins and minerals) that are needed for gut health and overall health.
Eat foods that have different types of fiber to nourish your gut-bacteria.
Consider the role of prescription medications. Prescription medications may impact your digestive health and the lining of your digestive tract. *If you’re taking prescription medications, of course take them as prescribed; BUT, if there is a way to cut back on them that's always good.
Limit pain medications (e.g., aspirin and Ibuprofen), as they are quite hard on the lining of the digestive track.
Reduce alcohol intake, as it is quite hard on the lining of the digestive track.
Reduce stress
To learn more about Doug or to work with him
Doug offers private practice nutritional services. His focus is on gut health, but he is also interested in brain health. Specifically, he focuses on nourishing the brain for preserving cognitive function and reducing the risk for many brain related diseases that are associated with aging. Doug teaches people how to eat for longevity and to maximize quality of life.
To find out more about Doug Cook, you can visit his website by clicking here or follow him on social media: