Digestive tract influences on the brain

The digestive tract is the most responsive system in the body to the influences of the brain and the mind-body connection. In fact the digestive system is the only part of the body that contains and uses identical tissues and chemicals to the brain. This has led to the gut being referred to as the 'second brain'. There is a lot of interest in this area at the moment with researchers trying to determine the extent that the brain plays in digestive disorders.

As a result of this strong connection, stress and negative emotional states can have a profound effect on the health of the GI tract. One of the major physiological reactions to stress is the diversion of blood away from the digestive system to the skeletal muscles in readiness to either fight or flee. Effectively, the digestive system is shut down. Without the normal flow of blood, the digestive system is deprived of oxygen, glucose and essential nutrients. Chronic stress therefore leaves the tissues of the digestive system starved of the things it needs to maintain a healthy intestinal wall and produce adequate amounts of protective mucus. It's clear therefore that chronic stress plays an important role in leaky gut syndrome and other digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome.

Dr. Walt Stoll, one of a growing number of doctors turning to an integrative style of medicine, believes that stress is THE most important factor in recovering from leaky gut syndrome. He suggests that everyone suffering from leaky gut syndrome should practice a relaxation technique twice a day that puts the brain into an 'alpha' or 'theta' state. These names relate to the frequency of the brain waves with alpha waves having a frequency of 8-12Hz and theta of 4-8Hz. In these states the brain is able to release the stored stress response 24 times faster than normal sleep which creates 'delta' waves with a frequency of 2-4Hz

.

The leaky gut syndrome is almost always associated with autoimmune disease and reversing autoimmune disease depends on healing the lining of the gastrointestinal tract. Any other treatment is just symptom suppression. An autoimmune disease is defined as one in which the immune system makes antibodies against its own tissues. Diseases in this category include lupus, alopecia areata, rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, Sjogren’s syndrome, vitiligo, thyroiditis, vasculitis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, urticaria (hives), diabetes and Raynaud’s disease. Physicians are increasingly recognizing the importance of the gastrointestinal tract in the development of allergic or autoimmune disease. Understanding the leaky gut phenomenon not only helps us see why allergies and autoimmune diseases develop but also helps us with safe and effective therapies to bring the body back into balance.