I was exhausted, irritable and anxious for years.
Until I learned about the ultimate tiny edit—how to care for the tiny critters in my digestive system.
That’s right—the bacteria that live in our guts.
You’ve probably heard by now about the trillions of microscopic bugs that live in your gut, performing various tasks like digesting your food and boosting your immune system. Well, research shows that they are major players in your body’s serotonin-making process.
Serotonin is the mood-boosting stuff anti-depressant drugs are supposed to help with—Prozac was designed to maintain levels of feel-good neurotransmitters like serotonin.
Guess what? You don’t need a prescription to get more of this fancy neurotransmitter. It’s free!
Here’s a fun fact that most people don’t know (and the antidepressent pharmaceutical companies don’t tell us):
Over 90% of our bodies’ serotonin is produced in our guts. Specifically, our colons.
Whoa! Mind-blowing, right?
According to Scott C. Anderson, author of the 2017 book, The Psychobiotic Revolution, serotonin is the hormone responsible for our moods, sleep habits, sex drive, appetite, and more.
So, if you want to start taking control of your serotonin levels and your moods, you need to make friends with these tiny critters.
Here are 10 edits I’ve made to boost my serotonin levels without a prescription. Even after living with anxiety for so many years, I feel fantastic every day. And I haven’t been sick in almost three years.
But I have to follow the rules to feel fantastic.
You can do this, too. Let’s get started.
P.S. I don’t think any physician would disagree with these suggestions, but if you’re being treated for depression or any digestive disorder, definitely let your doctor know what you’re doing.
1. Eat more leeks (and broccoli stalks, celery, fennel…)
If you do only one thing from this list, make it this one.
I’d always enjoyed salads, but I didn’t know a whole lot about the benefits of seasonal, fibrous vegetables. Now I enjoy some every day: Leeks, garlic, onions, artichokes, broccoli, dandelion greens, radicchio, endive, escarole, celery, fennel, beets, and carrots are in heavy rotation at my house.
Why should you do this?
Fiber is the best way to feed the good bugs in your microbiome, according to scientist Jeff Leach, who has dedicated his career to researching gut bacteria.
In this Eating Well article, he says your veggies “should be chewy, should get stuck in your teeth. Eat the end of the asparagus, the stalk of the broccoli. Become a little more adventurous in the produce section. This is a part of your health you can control. You can shift your microbiome.”
Leach eats a whole, lightly sauteed leek every day.
To get maximum benefits, don’t overcook. Sorry, carmelized onions.
And, nope, kale doesn’t make this list—it has wonderful micronutrients, but as far as gut-friendly fiber goes, Leach says you’d have to eat a wheelbarrow full to get the same amount fiber as a leek.
2. Cut waaaaay back on your wine consumption
I know, I know. I, too, want to believe that a glass a day is good for our hearts. But let us take a more logical stance: alcohol is a POISON, and, therefore, an assault on our good bugs.
Scientists in this 2018 Guardian article contend that the benefits from the polyphenols override the alcohol’s toxic effect, but I’m not buying it. I know that having even one glass of wine will make me tired and slightly anxious the next day.
That’s because even moderate use of alcohol upsets the balance of good bugs and bad bugs in your gut, says Katherine Harmon Courage, author of Cultured: How Ancient Foods Can Feed Our Microbiome.
The big takeaway: Chronic (daily) use of alcoholic bevvies will only make you more irritated, anxious and tired—and zap your immune system.
Not to mention that hangovers suck, especially as we get older, amiright?
If you really want those polyphenols, eat some berries.
3. Get some unprotected UVB exposure.
Confession: I don’t use sunscreen, unless I’m planning on being exposed for more than 30 minutes. Most often I tend to just cover up or wear a hat.
That’s because I’m more concerned about my health than wrinkles.
Here’s my argument:
Sunlight is important for our moods and our health. Science shows that most Americans are vitamin D deficient. And it tells us vitamin D supplements don’t fully protect us against cancer or heart disease.
But then doctors tell us we need sunscreen.
Our critters need vitamin D—the kind that can only come from sunshine and UVB exposure. You can’t get it anywhere else. So, treat your body to some D, and step outside without your sunblock for just a few minutes a day.
Read this article from Outside magazine for an interesting perspective on sunshine, humans, and skin cancer.
4. Curb your coffee habit
Caffeine is a hell of a drug. One minute you’re sipping your coffee and flying high, two hours later you’re trimming the lawn with manicure scissors and yelling at your husband.
It’s not surprising that it’s one of the most addictive substances.
Even one cup of Joe gets my moods swinging. And then I’m on the hamster wheel: Drink coffee, snack on sweets, and crave a glass of wine later in the day.
Coffee is my trigger food.
Yes, the latest studies say that coffee has beneficial antioxidants and can help prevent diabetes, cancer, and depression.
But if you’re anxious or depressed, or having negative thoughts or trouble sleeping, I know from personal experience that coffee MAKES IT WORSE. Psychology Today says caffeine increases feelings of anxiety and stress…and anger.
Bottom line: Coffee is a stimulant that’s probably irritating your guts. Ever wonder why you rush to the bathroom after your morning cup? My theory: your guts are MAD!
Try cutting out coffee and see if your mood and energy level improves. Black, green, or herbal tea may be a better choice for you.
Hey, moms: steer your kids and teens away from frappucinos and mochas, too.
5. Try some sauerkraut. Or yogurt. The real kind.
I happen to love stinky ferments, like sauerkraut, and kimchi, but even if you’re not into funk, you can increase the number of good bugs that pass through your gut.
If you’ve taken antibiotics recently, you especially want to do this.
Get small amounts of live foods in your gut, like kraut or plain unsweetened yogurt (even coconut milk gurt!) that have a few different strains of beneficial bacteria. Probiotic supplements will work, too. Then feed those bugs with fiber to get them to hang out for a while (even though they don’t hang out forever, the way they mingle with the natives is helpful, says Cultured author Courage).
Again, fiber-rich foods like leeks, artichokes, broccoli, whole grains (if you can tolerate them), asparagus, and beans are good party snacks for your critters. If you’re prone to bloat, eat small amounts.
Look for live foods in the refrigerated case at the market, or make your own if you have time. It’s actually pretty easy!
6. Get at least 8 hours of sleep each night.
I go to bed at 9 pm and wake around 5 am. That’s a solid eight hours.
This was an easy transition for me to make: Instead of staying up, watching TV (or watching my husband watch YouTube), I go to bed soon after I put my daughter to bed. And I get two quiet hours in the morning to myself before anyone else gets up for the day. Bliss!
Our bodies get stressed out when we don’t get enough sleep. And—another fun fact—57% of the human body is made up of bacteria (the rest is human cells).
Most of these bugs live in your gut. If you want more serotonin, stop stressing them out—turn off your devices an hour before bed, and treat your little buddies to some ZZZZZs.
Random note: Discovering this information in Michael Pollan’s book, Cooked, sparked my curiosity for the bacteria-brain connection back in 2010.
7. Go outside. Take a 15-minute walk.
I usually walk on my work breaks in my regular clothes with flat sneakers. I think walking is the best exercise, and you don’t need fancy equipment or clothes to do it.
It’s been proven that being outside helps improve gut health and reduces stress. Gardening, hiking, petting a dog—-nature is full of friendly microbes (and vitamin D) and you should be exposing yourself to them!
8. Cut down on snacking.
I eat two or three meals a day. If I find I really need something to eat in between them, I turn to something gentle like broth, nuts, an apple, or a smoothie. A handful of nuts around 2:30 pm keeps me going until dinner time around 6pm.
Give your guts a chance to rest and ‘clean house’ between meals. Not only are your bugs emptying your gut, they are building a protective lining, says Anderson in The Psychobiotic Revolution.
Try not to eat after 8 pm to give your guts a much-needed break until breakfast. A twelve-hour break between dinner and breakfast is ideal.
Here’s another Mom tip: If your kids are picky eaters or don’t eat much at mealtimes, snacking might be the culprit.
9. Stop eating so much sugar and processed foods.
Garbage in = no serotonin for you.
Sugar messes with my head. Most of my crying jags have come after a sweets binge. That’s because sugar is terrible for your critters—it feeds the evil ones, and starves the friendlies that make serotonin.
Most processed foods have sugar and flour and other ingredients that are irritating to the good bugs.
BTW, white flour counts as sugar: your body turns it into sugar.
I hardly ever cry anymore. My bugs and I don’t crave sweets like we used to.
So, don’t piss off your good bugs—stop eating fast food, deli meats, and those cute cookies from Trader Joe’s!
I challenge you to cut out the garbage completely for six weeks—you’ll get your emotions in check, and you will lose the cravings.
Hi, again, moms: If you have cranky, emotional, or anxious kids, you might want to look closely at what you’re feeding them.
10. Eat as many veggies as possible.
Get your micronutrients. Fruit is good, but vegetables are better. Aim for four cups a day. A big salad with some fiber-rich vegetables tossed in at lunch will take care of most of that.
Make your salad protein-packed and crunchy, tangy, and sweet, and—since you will not have snacked between breakfast and lunch—you will look forward to lunchtime and DEVOUR your veggies.
Final mom tip: If you’ve curbed your kids’ snacking and they are hungry before dinnertime, they will eat the veggies you give them to munch on while they’re waiting for dinner! Bonus tip: If you watch TV at your house, hungry kids will scarf down veggies while they’re watching TV.
Ready to edit?
- Start small. Make one change each week and see how many you can build up to. It’s freaking hard to dump coffee and sugar and alcohol simultaneously.
- Embrace your inner citizen scientist and learn more about what your critters can do.
Happy editing!
Erica
