Researchers exploring the connection between our intestines and brain confirm that mind and body are connected: our gut and brain are physically linked via the vagus nerve, and the two are able to send messages to one another.
While the gut is able to influence emotional behaviour in the brain, the brain can also alter the type of bacteria living in the gut.
Our social food habits can also improve our mental well-being: eating meals with other people has many psychological, social and biological benefits that give us a sense of rhythm and regularity in our lives, a chance to reflect on the day and feel connected to others. Biologically, eating in upright chairs helps with our digestion. Talking and listening also slow us down, so we don’t eat too fast.
Some more questions arose when I was pondering this:
What are the changes that we need to make to our diet when we experience mental ill-health or after a breakdown due to burn-out or trauma?
Can we prevent conditions of mental ill-health by avoiding processed foods and maintaining a natural diet?
To find some answers to my questions, I spoke to Dr Zuzana Oravcova-Wheeler of Zivio Health.
Dr Zuzi is a lifestyle medicine practitioner, working in a holistic way to address health. She believes that the "the mental and the physical are very much connected" and when treating her patients she addresses the whole person starting with their lifestyle. She puts a lot of emphasis on nutrition, physical activity, stress management and other aspects of lifestyle.
Q What happens to our physical body after a mental breakdown, or prolonged stress?
A It can be helpful to approach mental health with positive language. If we see problems as learning opportunities, a holistic approach to mental well-being can go a long way and produce more sustainable results.
Dr Zuzi explained how being in a state of stress can affect our body:
"When we are feeling anxious or distressed, the body responds to this as if it were under real danger. This is known as the ‘fight or flight response’: the heart rate and blood pressure go up (delivering blood around the body faster so we can react to danger quickly), our focus narrows (so we can concentrate on the danger), the breathing is faster and more shallow, muscles tense up to prepare the body to fight or flee. Both body and mind are focused on survival. Bodily functions that are not needed for survival are slowed down — these include digestion and reproduction (hence the increase of chronic illness in these areas)."
Dr Zuzi talked to me about how powerful the mind is and how perceived stress can cause changes to how our body works. This emergency response is very demanding on the physical body, and prolonged or frequent stress can create a variety of mental and physical issues, including imbalance between the sympathetic ("fight or flight") and parasympathetic ("rest and digest") nervous systems and, in this way, affect many bodily functions, including digestion. Furthermore, chronic stress can also affect our microbiome, which is also very important for mental and physical wellbeing.
As a lifestyle medicine practitioner, she often addresses the disconnection between the mind and the body, which can develop in response to stress.
She also emphasises connections with whanau and wider communities; and having a sense of purpose, or meaning in life, which can all positively influence long-term outcomes.
A The vagus nerve is an important nerve that extends from the brain stem to our gut and many other organs. It has nerve endings in all the major organs as well as the nasal passage.
It is the most important player in the "rest and digest" mode. Stress can "turn down" the vagus activity (known as "vagal tone") as the "fight and flight" mode takes over. We can help the body retrain the vagus with breathing exercises, relaxation or meditation (any activities that induce a state of "flow", including cold exposure) when we are enjoying ourselves to the point that we forget about time and in several other ways.
Q What about aspects of nutrition?
A What and how we eat are very important for both mental and physical well-being. There are foods that provide important nutrients needed for optimal bodily functions and can even improve inflammation, which is the root cause for many chronic health problems, including many mental health issues. On the other hand, there are foods that worsen inflammation and can even strip our bodies of important nutrients. There is a lot of research into the role of nutrition in mental health, even a new branch of psychiatry, called nutritional psychiatry.
Dr Zuzi’s recommendations are to nourish ourselves with health-promoting "whole-foods" (foods that are close to nature and have undergone minimal processing): such as vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts and seeds, good quality meat, fish, eggs, dairy, etc.
She also recommends avoiding highly processed foods, foods containing man-made additives, foods high in sugars and refined carbohydrates (white flours and starches), unhealthy fats, all industrialised processed oils and margarines.
Basically, eat food in its original form, avoid bad fats, choose good oils, including cold pressed olive oil, virgin organic coconut oil and oil-rich foods such as avocados and brazil nuts.
Dr Zuzi concluded that feeling better and fixing a health problem does not have to be expensive or super-complicated!
Natural food and natural movement, spending time in nature, time with friends and feeling connected are the key factors.
Anti-inflammatory soup with millet
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves, garlic chopped
2 carrots, sliced or cubed
2 medium zucchini, sliced
A small bunch of parsley, chopped
A small bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
3 large katel leaves, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 tsp salt & black pepper to taste
1 litre of stock or 1 litre fresh water and 1 Tbsp of good quality stock powder.
1 cm piece fresh turmeric root, grated
1 cm piece, fresh ginger root, grated
Olive oil
¼ cup millet
Method
1. Place a little olive oil in a medium pot and place on the stove, heat and add onion, fry for a minute and add garlic, carrots and celery.
2. Add stock and bring to the boil, turn the heat down so the soup is simmering gently and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add the millet, fresh parsley and coriander, zucchini and kale, the grated ginger and turmeric, salt & pepper. Stir all the ingredients and spread the millet around, and cook on gentle simmer with the lid on for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Allow the soup to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
5. Give thanks and enjoy!
Superfood bliss balls
Ingredients
½ cup almonds.
½ cup walnuts.
¼ cup linseeds.
¼ cup cacao powder.
½ cup dates - cover in boiling water and soak for 20 minutes.
¼ cup organic virgin coconut oil.
Method
1. Place the almonds, walnuts and linseed in a blender and grind by pulsing a few times until all the nuts are finely ground.
2. Drain the dates and add to the blender.
3. Add coconut oil and cacao to the blender and pulse a couple of times to mix all the ingredients together, but be careful not to over blend.
4. Empty the blender contents into a medium size mixing bowl.
5. Form small balls and place on a plate.
6. Refrigerate for half an hour before serving.
7. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
