The two most important things that you can do for your health are to repair and reverse any dysfunction in your gut health and to also protect your gut health from the things that change the integrity of your gut and your gut bacteria: getting good bugs for a better mood. 

You can think of your gut bugs like this: Your good bugs are like the “armed forces”, they protect you from the bad guys: the terrorists, as I like to call them.  

When we are exposed to chemicals in our food and water, inflammatory and processed foods, antibiotics, other medications, stress, and poor sleep, it promotes the growth of the bad guys. Having too many bad guys and not enough good makes the lining of our gut “permeable” and allows things into our bloodstream that shouldn’t be there. These exposures can trigger our immune system, cause inflammation in our body (yes, even joint pain), and affect the production of our neurotransmitters that stabilize our moods. Most of our mood-stabilizing neurotransmitters are made in the gut, not the brain! So, ensuring that your gut has enough of the good can go a long way in helping your overall health, and moods, especially anxiety, depression, brain fog, and sleep issues! Start getting good bugs for a better mood 

So, what are some ways that you can support a healthy gut and healthy moods? 

-Drinking filtered water from glass or stainless steel 

-Purchasing organic foods 

-Each prebiotic food such as fruits and vegetables 

-Avoiding antibiotics (unless absolutely necessary) 

-Transforming stress with exercise, mindful practices, etc 

-Replacing nutrient deficiencies (you can ask your doctor to specifically check vitamin D, B vitamins, iron, and thyroid function) 

-Consuming fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, fermented pickles, kefir, low sugar kombucha (these give your gut the good guys)  

Using a 5R protocol is a great way to use a systematic approach to improving your gut health, your moods, and your overall health! When you commit to learning more about the body’s microbiome and how it works, and you start taking steps to support “growing the good” you will see how resilient your body can be! 

Make sure to include good bugs for a better mood in your daily diet