Episode 151: What is the gut-brain connection and why does it matter for our kids?

The rise in mental health issues among children is concerning, but did you know that it's tightly woven with changes in their gut microbiome? In this episode, I will share with you how nurturing a diverse microbiome can balance neurotransmitters and enhance mental well-being to improve mood, sleep, behaviour, and more. 

In this episode, we will delve into:

• Understanding what the gut-brain connection is;
• What the gut-brain connection means for our children's overall health and well-being;
• Steps we can take to improve our children's mental health through the gut-brain connection, including dietary, lifestyle, and nutrient suggestions;
• I will share more information on the gut and why our microbes are so important for brain health;
• What affects microbiome diversity in our children;
• The link between gastrointestinal complaints & mental health disorders;
• I share more information on neuroinflammation and what we can do to reduce this;
• I delve into the topic of psychobiotics and what specific strains have been researched in connection to improving mood, sleep, and mental health outcomes.
• Plus my favourite herb & nutrient for gut-brain connection.

Episode Links:

• Download our free Kids Gut Health eBook to start improving your kid's gut health here;
• Book an express consultation with our practitioners to receive supplement advice. 
• Reach out to us on Instagram here. 

• Sign up for our FREE Immunity masterclass here.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:54

Welcome to the Natural Super Kids podcast, where you will discover practical strategies to inspire you to boost the health and nutrition of your kids. I'm Jessica Donovan, a qualified naturopath specialising in kids health, and I want to make it as easy as possible for you to raise healthy and happy kids. Let's get into it, hello, hello, jessica Donovan here. Welcome back to the Natural Super Kids podcast, or welcome if it's your first time listening. Today we are diving into the fascinating world of the gut and the brain, more specifically, that all important gut-brain connection and how it relates to our children's health, particularly their mental health, their behaviour, their mood, their sleep, all of those brain related kind of issues, conditions that we can see so commonly in children these days. So this is an area that there is a lot of research being done in, and so there's more and more findings coming out. It's something I've talked about on the podcast various times before the gut-brain connection in relation to children's behaviour, anxiety, things like ADHD but I really wanted to dedicate a podcast episode to talking about this gut-brain connection from that sort of birds eye view generally, and we'll dive into some specifics as well. So today we're going to be talking about you know, I'm going to be helping you understand, as best I can, what this gut-brain connection is, what it means for our children's health and wellbeing, and what are some of the things that we can do to improve and enhance this, that the health of this kind of gut-brain connection and the gut health and brain health of our children in general as well. So, unfortunately, the prevalence of mental health disorders, behavioural conditions in kids is at an all time high things like anxiety, depression, adhd and so many more and at the same time we have, you know, huge changes in the composition and function of the gut microbiome. Is this a coincidence that both of these are sort of changing and increasing at the same time? No, there is definitely a link between the all-important gut health of our children and the all-important brain health of our children. We could argue that these are two of the most important areas of our children's health and adults' health for that matter. And what we know what's really interesting is that gastrointestinal and mood disorders co-occur at remarkably high rates. So if someone has a mood disorder, they are very likely to also have a gastrointestinal sort of disorder or symptom as well. So there are some, you know, really interesting connections there. But when it comes to the gut brain connection, I'm sure we've all sort of felt this connection before. You know, when we've been angry or sad or emotional, we might also feel sick. When we're nervous, we might get butterflies or need to go and do a nervous poo, as I call it, or have those loose bow movements. Our emotions have a direct impact on our gut. So this is one way to kind of, you know, think about that gut brain connection. But the relationship goes both ways and the communication between the gut and the brain goes both ways as well. So research has found that the microbes within our gut can talk or communicate to the brain and this is thought to affect the production of neurotransmitters or brain chemicals, so things like serotonin and dopamine and GABA, which are essential to be in balance for good mental health. But when there is an imbalance in these chemicals, you know, there is also often a lower diversity or a lower range of different bacteria in the gut microbiome. So we know that diversity is really important for our overall health, that gut microbiome diversity. But this sort of suggests that that gut brain connection has a part to play here as well, so that higher diversity within the microbiome has an important positive role on our brain health and our mental health as well. So improving that microbiome diversity could help to rebalance brain chemicals, improve mental health, and research suggests that using probiotic supplements can improve conditions such as anxiety, depression, bipolar, even schizophrenia. So we also know that our kids mood affects their behavior, and same goes for adults. You know when, when our mood is not in a good place or we have a mood disorder or condition, it can definitely affect our behavior in negative ways as well. So when our child's behavior is not ideal or we're concerned about that, you know the gut can be involved here. And what we find over and over and over and over again here at Natural Super Kids in terms of the families that we support, both in our one-on-one online consultations and in our Natural Super Kids Club membership program, is that when we address the gut, when we improve those digestive symptoms, mental health, mood, behavior, sleep, can all improve as well. So, as I was talking about before, that microbiome diversity is super important, and what we know is that the diversity in general populations of our microbiome has halved since many, many, many years ago, back in the Hunter Gatherer days, and there are so many factors that are influencing this narrower diversity or this lack of diversity within the microbiome. You know our diet that is lacking in fiber and phytonutrients that are so important for the microbiome, our obsession with hygiene and sanitation and the lack of exposure to different microbes, especially early on in life in children, is affecting their microbiome negatively as well. And then, of course, we've got mode of birth less children being breastfed, so children that are born vaginally and breastfed have much higher diversity within their microbiomes. And we've got antibiotic use, especially in early life, and so much more. So we have all of these factors that are affecting the microbiome diversity of our children and us in a negative way, and this is leading to a decline in so many ways in mental health and an increase in behavioral challenges, sleep issues and so much more. And of course, you know mood issues, behavioral challenges, sleep issues they're complex. It's not just about the gut and the microbiome, but it is a really important factor that is often not talked about, you know, when things like antidepressants are prescribed or you know other medications to treat these conditions. But if we can, you know, prioritize the gut and that microbiome diversity, we can see huge improvements in our children's behavior, their mood, their sleep, their cognitive function, their learning, their concentration and so much more. So let's just break this down a little bit into some of these specifics. So the microbiome, we know, influences mood. So the gut microbiome composed of trillions of microorganisms, you know, and the more diverse the better. We want that diversity, lots of different strains of healthy bacteria in the microbiome. And the microbiome does affect the production of those important mood neurotransmitters, and studies indicate that there is a link between the composition of the gut microbiome and mood disorders in adults. And then we've got, you know, behavior and cognitive function. So there's evidence suggesting that the gut microbiome influences cognitive function and behavior through the production of certain metabolites. And animal studies have shown that alterations in the gut microbiome can impact behavior, can impact the stress response and can also impact social interactions in animals. So that's really interesting as well. And then we've got sleep. You know that all-important sleep that I know so many kids, particularly young kids, struggle with. But older kids as well. You know there can be sleep issues, seen commonly in teenagers as well as young kids. So the gut microbiome can influence sleep patterns and that circadian rhythm through the production of metabolites that can affect that sleep-wake cycle. And you know, we know, that sleep disturbances and gut disturbances kind of go hand in hand. So more research definitely needs to be done in this area. But if we go back to those neurotransmitters, melatonin the key neurotransmitter that the influences our circadian rhythm and that sleep wake cycle is, you know, is affected by the state of the gut, that production of melatonin and how much is produced. So we definitely want to be thinking about the gut when we are seeing, you know, sleep challenges and issues in children. Now, when it comes to our western diet and lifestyle, you know, us naturopaths often talk about inflammation and there are so many Things that we are doing ways that we're living, foods that we're eating that are promoting more inflammation in the body, and Inflammation is not a good thing. Of course. You know, short-term inflammation is a natural sort of body's response to trauma or illness. So I'm not talking about that kind of inflammation, but I'm talking about more chronic inflammation, and chronic inflammation does affect hugely the gut and the brain, and I want to talk a bit about what is known as neuro inflammation, which is inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, and this is something you know that we don't want to promote, because links elect. Neuro inflammation is linked to changes in neuro transmitters, as we've as we've been talking about these neuro transmitters that are involved in regulating mood behavior, such as serotonin, dopamine and glutamate, and neuro inflammation is also associated with those older kind of chronic diseases Alzheimer's disease, parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, dementia, depression and, and you know, adhd, anxiety are also linked with this neuro inflammation as well. So we want to reduce neuro inflammation in our kids, and there are Certainly. You know neuro inflammation is something that builds up over time, you know. We know that Parkinson's disease, as an example, doesn't just present one day when someone's in their 60s or 70s or 80s. It's been, you know, there's been lots of. Of course, there's genetic factors, but there's lots of dietary and lifestyle and environmental factors that you know over time are leading to these chronic brain conditions. And the good news here is that, as you know, parents, we can be encouraging our children and our families to, you know, have healthier brain habits that reduce that inflammation, that neuro inflammation specifically. So when we're talking about neuro inflammation, you know the main dietary factors are, you know, our diet, our Western diet in general that's, that's high in sugar and refined carbohydrates. These things are known to increase neuro inflammation. Food, some food additives increase neuro inflammation. Omega-6 fatty acids found in processed vegetable and seed oils that are found in almost everything on the supermarket shelves increase this neuro inflammation. Chronic stress, lack of sleep, a sedentary lifestyle, too much screen time and Certain environmental toxins can also lead to this inflammation of the brain. So we can start to, you know, form healthier habits, because our daily habits influence our neuro inflammation levels. So we can make those choices to reduce neuro inflammation by eating more of that Mediterranean style diet, getting plenty of physical activity, keeping our brains active by learning new things, you know, reducing that screen time, getting plenty of sleep. It's the basic, foundational things that can make a really big difference to this neuro inflammation and that really links into the gut brain connection, because these same things that are causing neuro inflammation can also lead to gut inflammation and, and you know, negative, have negative effects on that gut brain Connection. So it's, you know, I know a lot of this stuff. This information can sometimes be confronting, but you know there are definitely things, simple things that we can do to start to reduce neuro inflammation and gut inflammation and there are many sort of positive side effects from these healthier habits that that we can start to, you know, put together a live by with our families. So a key takeaway here is anything that we can do to support and improve our kids brain health and or gut health is going to benefit both the gut and the brain because they are in constant communication with each other and, you know, the reassuring thing is that many of the tools that we have in our naturopathic tool belts really support you know, can support both the gut health and brain health and that overall gut brain connection. So we don't have to be thinking of them, as you know, separately. And two different things that we need to work on, for example, eating more foods that are high in omega three or taking supplements that contain omega three fatty acids support both brain health and support gut health and the gut microbiome. So now I want to sort of talk through some of my personal favorite tools as a naturopath that we can use to support both the brain and the gut, and you know a lot of these have got, you know, some really good research behind them, which I want to share some information on as well. So, first of all, you know the probiotics. Now there are so many different ways that we can improve the health of our children's microbiome. You know diet, eating more fermented foods, playing outside or spending more time outside All things that I've talked about you know quite extensively on the podcast. But what I want to talk about specifically here is that there are certain strains of probiotics that are sometimes now being called psychobiotics that are known to have a positive influence not just on that all important gut microbiome but on that gut brain connection as well. So look, as I've talked about before, certain you know strains of bacteria are good for certain actions that we are wanting to improve in our kids health, and not all probiotics are good for, you know, all sorts of things that we're trying to do in our kids, whether it be boosting our, boosting their immunity or improving their mood. So a couple of my favorite probiotics for this particular use for that gut brain connection Lactobacillus helvectus is one of them. There's good research showing that that is that particular probiotic really helps with that all important gut brain connection and bifidobacterium longum as well. These are often found together in supplements. Another really good one is lactobacillus plantarum, which really works on reducing that inflammation in the gut and, you know, has some promising studies to show that it's like it has benefits on that gut brain connection as well. As always, I do recommend that you consult with a qualified professional we can help you with that here at Natural Super Kids to make sure your child is taking the very best probiotic supplement for the uses that you are sort of wanting to achieve in them. But just know that there are strains of probiotics that are beneficial, specifically beneficial for you know that gut, brain connection, mental health, mood, behavior, sleep in our children as well. And as always, when I'm talking about probiotics, we always need to be talking about prebiotics as well. So prebiotics are the fuel, the food for our probiotics. So just as, if not more important than probiotics, and when we're getting, you know, prebiotic fibers into our kids, either through supplement forms or food sources, what's happening is that when probiotics and prebiotics come together they produce a really important substance both for the gut and the brain, which are short chain fatty acids. So short chain fatty acids. They nourish the gut lining. There's so many benefits that they do within the gut, but they also support that all important gut brain connection. So getting more prebiotics, either through supplements like partially hydrolyzed Guagam or green banana starch you can easily add to smoothies is really important, or through dietary sources onion, garlic, oats, rye, cooked and cooled potatoes, and pasta and rice are all really good sources of prebiotic fibers. So don't forget the prebiotics as well as the probiotics. Another really really useful tool it's a herb is saffron. Saffron is amazing in its ability to support both gut health and, even more importantly, brain health. So saffron you can find in supplement form. Obviously you can add it to cooking as well. Very high in antioxidants, it helps to modulate the gut microbiome and it has amazing benefits for the brain, for mood, for behaviour. It has neuroprotective properties, so it's protecting the brain and the neurological system in general as well. And the great thing is, you can like one of the supplements that we regularly prescribe at Natural Super Kids does. It is a practitioner only supplement, but it does contain some of those psychobiotic probiotics as well as saffron, so you don't need to be taking millions of different supplements to get all of these things in. So saffron gets a big tick for supporting that gut brain connection, as does vitamin D. Now vitamin D, that sunshine nutrient so important for so many different uses within our children's health and development, but specifically vitamin D when it comes to the gut and the brain. It helps to reduce neuroinflammation. As I was saying, we definitely want to keep that as low as possible. So vitamin D helps to reduce neuroinflammation and inflammation in general. It helps to reduce blood brain permeability as well. So there's like a filter that kind of separates the blood and the brain, because the brain is so important. You know, this blood brain barrier stops molecules from getting into the brain, and so vitamin D helps to protect that blood brain barrier and reduce any sort of permeability or leaking of the blood brain. So vitamin D also supports serotonin production. It maintains that intestinal barrier, so reduces intestinal permeability as well. And a little known fact about vitamin D is that it supports microbiome diversity, and so that, just you know, makes it even more important to get out in the fresh air and sunshine. You know there's that delicate balance between sun safety and adequate vitamin D levels, but so many people are deficient in vitamin D, so most of us do need more safe sun exposure and or need to take some vitamin D supplementation. So keeping an eye on vitamin D levels easy to test in a blood test, really important. I personally get my vitamin D levels checked, you know, every 12 to 18 months. And lastly, we have L-theanine. So L-theanine is an amino acid that is found in tea leaves and particularly in higher concentrations in green tea and also white tea. So a key reason to drink more of you know of green teas and white teas. L-theanine has a lovely relaxing effect on the brain. It also inhibits intestinal inflammation and protects against leaky gut. So L-theanine is something to think about. You know, increasing either in that green and white tea consumption or in supplement form If you're wanting to support that gut-brain connection and gut health and brain health generally as well. So that was a lot to cover in an episode. Hopefully that all made sense and you know, really the key learnings here is that the gut and the brain are connected. When we work on improving or supporting the health of the gut, we also benefit the brain and vice versa, and I hope that's given you some an understanding of the importance of the gut and the brain and that all important gut-brain connection and also some of the things that you can do to support that area in your children or also in yourself as well. As always, I love to hear from our podcast listeners on Instagram. Come on over and reach out in the DMs on Instagram. Over at Natural Super Kids, we often share well. We always share highlights from the podcast and talk about the podcast topics in different ways, so make sure you're following us over on Instagram. And, yeah, I would love to hear from you any questions you have, any aha moments and how you found this episode in general. Thanks so much for listening and I will be back next week talking about the gut and skin connection for those of you who are interested in that topic. Bye for now. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. Head on over to our website, naturalsuperkidscom, for the show notes for this episode, as well as a whole heap of inspiration to help you raise healthy and happy kids. I'll see you next week.