Did you know that we live our life through our nervous system? When we have a better nervous system, we have a better life. It’s that simple. From our ability to digest our food, enjoy a sunset, or be delighted by a baby’s giggle, our nervous system allows us to experience life more enjoyably. If, however, your nervous system is compromised, you’re not able to live life to the fullest.

What Does Health Mean to You?

If you were to ask someone on the street, “How do you know if you’re healthy?” you might be met with answers that mention high energy and alertness, or maybe simply, “I just feel good.” But many rarely equate health to function — when all of the body parts are working as intended. And yet, that’s exactly what true health is.
So instead of thinking of the word health, think about having a sense of ease. If you have ease, which is the opposite of dis-ease, then consider yourself to have health. If there’s a lack of ease, you’re experiencing dis-ease, and chances are, your nervous system is not functioning as well as it could be.

Benefits of Chiropractic Care

Ensuring that your nervous system is free of interference through chiropractic can help you feel great. Many patients of ours also report improvements like:

• Reduced back and neck pain
• Enhanced immune system
• Improved range of motion
• Increased function
• Heightened energy and mood
  
  

If you’d like to experience life to the fullest with a properly functioning nervous system, regular chiropractic care can help get you there. 

Do you often find yourself getting sick?

It’s a feeling some of us know all too well, and it usually goes something like this. You’ve developed a slight tickle in your throat so you go to bed early hoping a good nights rest will help your body beat whatever bug you’ve picked up. But by the time you wake up the next morning, you’re feeling sick as a dog. Illness often comes on suddenly and without warning, disrupting our daily lives, routine and body.

After you get sick, you wonder how it happened. Did you catch your co-workers cold or get too close to that adorable but sniffling baby? Maybe you forgot to wash your hands after greeting a new colleague or traveling on public transport.

But have you ever stopped to think that maybe it wasn’t JUST germs that played a part in getting you sick? At our practice, we believe that it’s easier to stay well than to get well, and doing so can help you avoid a crisis of illness.

The Connection Between Our Immune and Nervous Systems

Having a healthy immune system isn’t the only requirement when it comes to fending off germs before they manifest in our bodies as an illness. Think of it this way—if your body was a symphony, your nervous system would be the conductor, orchestrating the entire show and calling all the shots. In the same way, your nervous system influences your immune system. When your nervous system isn’t balanced, neither it nor your immune system will be functioning as it should, leaving you more susceptible to illness.

So, what are the best strategies for obtaining a highly functioning immune and nervous system to stay healthy? One option is to avoid germs at all cost—if no germs enter your body, you won’t have to worry about catching a cold or the flu. But in today’s world, it’s next to impossible to stay away from each and every germ out there.
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Instead, switch your focus to maintaining a nervous system free of disturbances through chiropractic care, which will work with your immune system to fight off germs before they have you feeling under the weather. When you’re able to restore function to your body, it’s able to heal itself just as it was meant to. With proper rest, food, exercise and adjustments, you can do just that.

Published by the Australian Spinal Research Foundation 

Story at a glance

1. The gut has a diverse range of bacteria, called gut micorbiota. A healthy gut is full of balanced micorbiota. Dysbiosis is the shift away from normal micorbiota, which may cause some diseases.
2.  Scientists are studying microbiota to help understand the nature of gastrointestinal, autoimmune and even brain disorders.
3.  The health of your gut influences mental health and vice versa.

Published by the Australian Spinal Research Foundation

Story at a glance

1. The human gut has a brain of its own. Scientist are now calling it the ‘second brain.’
2. Gut instinct is a biological function of the ‘second brain.’
3. 90% of your body’s serotonin lies in your gut.

We’ve heard it a dozen times if not a million. Trust your gut instincts; listen to your gut feelings. Why do we keep referring to our gut as a source of wisdom and insight? Well science might have something to say about that. We all know that connection between our brain and our gut. It can be as heavy as the sinking feeling we get when something has gone wrong or the nervous butterflies we feel when we’re excited. When you’re stressed or stimulated your gut knows about it.

Over the last thirty years there has been extensive research into the gut. The rich nerve supply to the gut is as neurologically dense as our brains. In fact the neural network that lines the gut is so extensive that scientists have started coining it, the “second brain.” We have previously blogged about the second brain.
Could it be that we are hard wired to think from our gut?
But just to be clear, the second brain isn’t the tool you’re using to draft up that great novel, or to compose a symphony.

Dr Michael Gershon an an expert in neurogastroenterology and chairman of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology Columbia University Medical Centre says this about the second brain,
“The second brain doesn’t help with the great thought processes…religion, philosophy and poetry is left to the brain in the head.”
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But the second brain may have just as important role as the first brain in other areas.
The brain and the gut are connected by a super highway of neurons, chemicals and hormones. It’s a constant feedback loop, checking hunger, hormone levels, stress and diseases. This brain-gut axis is called the enteric nervous system (ENS). The enteric nervous system is embedded in the lining of the gastrointestinal system, beginning in the oesophagus and extending down to the anus. The ENS consists of over 500 million neurons. That’s one two-hundredth of the number of neurons in the brain and five times as many neurons as in the spinal cord. That’s some system.

Your Gut thinks independently.   What’s even more interesting is that it can and does act independently from your brain (the central nervous system – CNS). The central nervous system consists of two major structures, the brain and the spinal cord. The ENS structurally comes from the same tissue as the CNS during foetal development, which means the gut has many structural and chemical parallels to the brain. In fact, it uses more than 30 neurotransmitters, most of which are identical to the ones found in the brain; such as acetylcholine, dopamine, and serotonin.

We talk about the brain producing the happy chemical serotonin but more than 90% of the body’s serotonin actually lies in the gut. And you can add to that 50% of the body’s dopamine. If serotonin is the happy drug, dopamine is the reward centre chemical, what we have come to term the motivator chemical. It’s that same chemical that drives you to get up off the couch and give the house a good clean. People who are low in dopamine levels may have addiction issues and low dopamine levels cause anxiety. And where do you feel anxiety? In your gut. Foods high in protein increase dopamine levels, where they’re digested, in your gut.
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In our next article we will follow up on the microbiology of the gut and its complex ecosystem. We will have a look at the research between your digestive health and the link to neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Republished with permission from: https://spinalresearch.com.au/listen-gut-part-1-second-brain/