I Didn’t Know How Much my Gut Health was Affecting my Mental Health

For as long as I can remember I have had serious issues with my gut.

We tried everything. Blood tests galore. elimination diets and eventually came across a diet testing kit that told me all of my intolerances and what levels they were at.

I followed this religiously and within the first few weeks of eliminating everything I was “intolerant” to I started to feel more bouncy and energetic. This however was a journey to food restriction and over exercise which was very unhealthy for my physical body and my mental health.

My anxiety has been affected drastically throughout my life due to my poor gut health.

the only way to get around it for me was to take it on the chin, laugh and own those times I shit myself or had to go to the toilet in a Sainsbury’s “bag for life” because I couldn’t control my gut. Yes that has truly happened. As funny as it sounds it’s is also a serious trigger for worry discomfort and fear of what will happen in the office the pain I have felt when I ate even the slightest thing wrong. The agony over trying to figure out what triggered it this time.

My anxiety and depression was worsened by my discomfort with my gut health and my gut health was worsening my anxiety. A great big never ending flush of the toilet.

I have always been extremely interested in lifestyle & gut health and the impact it has in your mental health. June 2020 I came across the podcast that lead me to really embrace this journey of lifestyle change and gut health. Feel Better To Live More By Dr Ranghan Chattergee. I found it fascinating to listen to and binged on it like no ones business.

There are approximately 100 billion neurons in the human brain. Interestingly, your gut contains 500 million neurons, which are connected to your brain through nerves in your nervous system. The vagus nerve is one of the biggest nerves connecting your gut and brain. (The Gut-Brain Connection: How it Works and The Role of Nutrition - Health Line Written by Ruairi Robertson, PhD — Updated on August 20, 2020)

After a year of ongoing therapy and antidepressants, a change in job, lifestyle, living situation, and listening to Feel Better To Live More on repeat, I decided I was ready and had the headspace to focus on my gut health on a deeper level.

This is when I first had a consultation with Alice Yeates the founder of Help Me Healthy Nutrition. After years of going to GP appointments explaining my symptoms only to get another blood test and feed me with antibiotics AGAIN for that reoccuring sinus infection, I had someone who listened to me and looked at everything as a whole. someone who validated what I was feeling wasn’t JUST that or ”because you’re stressed”. Alice went through my overall health, all symptoms, medical and family history. from this she was able to pinpoint what might be going on with me, and it was as I suspected for so many years in my gut. I had finally been given an answer to why I had so many different symptoms. CANDIDA.

The symptoms of Candida are:

• Oral Thrush

• Vaginal Thrush

• Tiredness and Fatigue

• Recurring Genital or Urinary Tract Infections

• Digestive Issues - Diarrhoea, Constipation, Bloating

• Sinus Infections - Strong seasonal allergies

• Extreme cravings for sugar

• Skin and Nail Fungal Infections

• Joint Pain

• Dizziness

• Brain Fog

• Irritability

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Lack of focus

• Memory loss

• Difficulty concentrating

• ADD

• ADHD

On my Help Me Healthy 9 week course with Alice we proceeded with an anti Candida diet starving it out. Having weekly meetings and checking on my progress. I made myself a LISTEN TO YOUR BODY prompt journey that helped me keep my daily symptoms in. I highly recommend keeping one, because it will help you when you start to feel overwhelmed. (see the following link to download my free ebook LISTEN TO YOUR BODY journal template.)

After just two weeks of the programme with Alice I was less bloated, my brain fog had reduced, I felt less anxious. I had more energy and things were starting to feel as if there was finally a light at the end of the tunnel.

This journey, similarly to my mental health journey, has not been smooth sailing so far. However it is definitely looking up and I am absolutely on the road to recovery. I am still very much in the deep with this one, and it’s a serious challenge to say the least. It is a huge LIFESTYLE CHANGE and I am embracing it.

If you are struggling with symptoms like mine, gut health, or just want to focus on better nutrition, I highly recommend checking out Alice at Help me Healthy. Her holistic appoarch is incredible. the first thing I was tasked to do was meditate daily. I now follow an energy routine to help with fatigue and as silly as it feels to do sometimes it really works.

In no ways am I finished on my Gut Health Journey, however I am starting to get somewhere, with a few wobbles here and there. Let's do this together.

Big Love

Georgie xxx

#guthealth #mentalhealth #free #ebook #listentoyourbody