The Mind and Gut Connection

“Stomach Not Calm; Sleep Not Calm”

The spring of 1987 was an extremely busy time for me. I was in Beijing, a beautiful city with Babylonian weeping willows in full bloom, their white flowers flowing with the wind into all the crevices in the city. It was balmy and lovely outside, except for people with allergies.

Along with rendering acupuncture treatments for all the Kleenex huggers, I was in an accelerated advanced residency program. My program usually began at 7 am that I honestly could not finish until after 6 pm. My dinner was usually a late affair—finishing at 9 pm was not an unusual phenomenon. By the time I was ready for bed, my stomach was still full of dumplings, noodles, or rice with whatever the greasy wok-of-the-day chef found to throw into the mix.

We shall not discuss my waist size. At night my stomach was frequently uncomfortable which affected my sleep and my performance the following day. I needed help and I needed to change what I was doing so I studied a seminal book that was published by Dr. Li, Dong Yuan in 1249 A.D. called The Discussion of Spleen-Stomach Diseases.

Dr. Li believed that the majority of diseases or disorders in our body arise from dysfunction in our gastrointestinal system; in our stomach and in our guts. He believed that the fundamental approach to good health must begin with a healthy digestive system, with proper reception, breakdown, and assimilation of our food. Any disturbances to these functions, especially during infancy and childhood, could have a serious impact on our health and the occurrence of chronic disease in later life.

It is not only the body that relies on the health of the digestive system; digestive health also affects our mental development and the health of our mind. We have all felt butterflies in our stomach when we were nervous about a performance or having to make a speech. The dialogue between the gut and the brain has long been recognized by ancient healing traditions, but until recently modern medicine for the most part failed to appreciate the complexity of how the brain, gut, and our gut microorganisms communicate with one another.

Our gut is sometimes called our “second brain” — it not only handles digestion and inflicts an occasional pang when we are nervous, but the brain in our innards also connects to the big one in our head, and this connection plays an important part in our mental state and a key role in many diseases that occur in our body. The great thought processes such as religion, philosophy, or poetry remain in the brain in our head, but our second brain allows us to feel our inner world via our gut.

Our gut or second brain contains the enteric nervous system; it consists of tiny nerve cells that line the entire alimentary tract. These cells are communicators that send signals back and forth between our brain and gut, and continuously monitor and adjust digestive processes. Any digestive changes can cause mood changes in our brain and vice versa and that is why emotional or mental changes can affect our gut and our digestion. These findings are important in understanding why people who have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) also suffer from a higher incidence of depression and anxiety.

Knowing the connection between the brain and guts allows us to treat digestive problems and mental issues in a different way. The next time you have insomnia, you might want to try soothing or managing your digestion to help you to go to sleep. The next time you have indigestion or a nervous stomach focus on reducing anxiety or depression that in turn will most likely improve your digestion.

It is thought that in the coming years, psychiatry will begin treating our second brain in addition to the big one in our head. This is yet one more example of the importance of bringing ancient wisdom forward and applying it to modern times.