GUT FEELING

We’ve known for a long time that the way we feel affects our guts. Just think about the last time you had a job interview or another situation that made you nervous or anxious. Most likely, you will have felt nauseous, experienced butterflies or suffered a stomach ache.

That’s because the brain and gastrointestinal system are intimately connected via the ‘gut-brain axis’ – a fancy term for the communication network that links the pair. A two-way street, the brain is able to send signals to the gut and vice versa.

Now, it’s emerging that the ecosystem of bacteria and microbes that live in your digestive tract – known as the gut microbiome – could impact the way you think and feel. Although the gut might not be the first place you think of when it comes to mental health, it may well have a profound influence over your sense of wellbeing.

“What we know is that the