As a nation, we’re taking our wellbeing more seriously than ever, with new research[1] showing that daily walks, watching TV and listening to music are among the most common steps Brits take to make them feel good.
In addition, 4 in 10 of us will eat our favourite meals and snacks once or twice a week to help boost our mood – with 82% of the nation agreeing that food really can put them in a better mood.
But why is looking after our wellbeing (both physical and mental) so important? And can food really help boost our mood? Dr Zoe Williams, NHS GP & Media Medic, is on hand to explain why managing stress and looking after our overall wellbeing is crucial for our gut health, and how what we eat can have a positive impact on not only our guts, but our brain and mood also!
Dr Zoe comments: “Emerging evidence shows that stress and lack of exercise may negatively impact our health due to shifts in microbiota composition. Focusing on lowering stress can help improve both our gut and brain health, due to the gut-brain axis – the direct physical connection between the gut and the brain,a major component of which is via the vagus nerve.
“Turning to lifestyle measures such as getting enough exercise, breathing exercises, and ensuring sufficient sleep will help your physical health, while taking part in activities you enjoy such as long walks, listening to music, or even a spa day, can help lower stress.
“Research shows that people will often turn to their favourite meals and snacks to ‘feel-good’ also. This is because what we eat and how we feel are closely linked, with one having a powerful impact on the other.
“When it comes to mood boosting, the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine, also known as the ‘happy’ or ‘feel good’ hormones, are often involved in the two-way relationship and communication of the gut-brain axis. So, looking after yourself through both lifestyle measures and food, can have a positive effect on not only your gut and brain, but your mood also!”
To help everyone ‘feel-good’ this winter and beyond, Dr Zoe has shared some of her simple tips on the easy ways we can start to look after our wellbeing:
- Use mindfulness to help keep calm
Modern day lives are extremely busy and sometimes busier than what we have learned to adapt to. A serious consequence of this is stress on both our brains and bodies. You’ve probably had over 100 different thoughts running through your mind in the last couple of hours alone!
Mindfulness is the practice of focussing the mind only on the present moment, often with an emphasis on acknowledging the thoughts, feelings, or physical sensations at the exact time.
If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, it can be helpful to stop, take a deep breath and refocus your brain on a few things you can see, feel, smell, hear and taste at that very moment. This is a way of blocking out the chaos and focussing on the right now, which can be very calming and grounding, and may help towards reducing stress.
- Feel good through exercise
When we exercise, not only do we boost circulation by sending fresh oxygenated blood to all of our vital organs including our brain, but our brain also releases a powerful cocktail of feel-good hormones that can make us feel good.
Most people are aware that endorphins are released into our system, which relieve stress and are natural pain relievers. But that’s not the only helpful chemical! There’s also serotonin which is the ‘happy’ hormone and helps us regulate our mood, dopamine which gives a sense of pleasure and rewards, and noradrenaline which improves energy levels and alertness.
A healthy brain can support a healthy gut via the gut-brain axis. Exercise can look after our gut health in other ways too – moving our bodies helps our bowels to work properly and also reduces the risk of unhealthy inflammation in the body.
- Feeling good through food
Many studies have demonstrated that putting nutritious, healthy food into our bodies is an important factor for reducing the risk of both physical and mental health diseases.[2] In recent years, a flagship study called the SMILEs trial showed that a healthy diet can be effectively used as a part of the treatment of mental disorders, such as depression.
With the gut and brain being closely linked via the gut-brain axis, unhealthy diets can affect the chemical signals that are sent to the brain, and in turn have a negative impact on our mood. Conversely, when we’re stressed or affected emotionally, this can cause disturbance to our gut function. So, improving the quality of our diet, can overall help improve both our health and our happiness!
- Eat plenty of plant foods
One way that many of us can improve our diet is to add in foods that nourish the gut microbiome. This is the trillions of bacteria and other microbes that live in our gut – if they are happy, they send signals to the brain via the gut-brain axis, which in turn can help make us feel happier!
So how to nourish your gut microbiome? They love prebiotics! These are plant fibres, found in fruit, veg, beans, pulses, wholegrains and other plant foods. In addition, they also love probiotics, which can be found in fermented foods such as kombucha, sauerkraut and kimchi.
The different gut bacteria thrive on various ‘types’ of plant fibres, so it’s important to eat a diverse range of types.
Why not try adding items such as tins of mixed beans to curries, Bolognese, and soups, to boost your intake?
Or even adding mixed frozen fruit to porridge, other cereal, or salads! All these little additions here and there, can help boost our plant food intake and in turn, make for a happier gut and brain.
To help everyone ‘feel-good’ this winter, Yakult has launched a nationwide on-pack competition which is giving the chance to win one of 7 luxury spa breaks (worth £2600), as well as 1000s of feel-good prizes, with every purchase of Yakult.
For further information, visit www.yakultmission.com.