Addiction and the Gut-Brain Axis

Addiction(s) - you probably have one...you just don't know it. 

People with subnormal moods - mood problems  - (in a funk) -  lack natural mood boosters produced in the gut and brain, but mostly in the gut, have some sort of an addiction.

Addiction and depression go hand in hand.

Any level of a sub-optimal mood is depression. 

Long - chronic stress (sub-optimal mood) lead many to a place where coping mechanisms are sought to feel good: alcohol, cannabis, pain medications, etc.

Who do you know gets a little depressed?  Depression doesn't always mean laying on the couch feeling purposeless.  It is a state of less-than.

This state can lead us to an endorphin / dopamine seeking state where we can become addicted to what we feel pleasure from: alcohol, drugs, shopping, coffee, sex, gambling, sugar, food.

The element of addiction, in and of itself - is NOT BAD, it is when it starts to over-run you life, or starts to hurt you. Maybe it makes you sick, yet you can't let go of it, or you start losing friends, money and you can't stop the using the element that is causing it.

ANYTHING that overruns our lives....that we cannot let go of, even if we know it is hurting us, is an ADDICTION.

Addiction is a strong-hold. But why do we get there in the first place?

Anyone with addictions have most likely tried to quit many times.  

Just like me with my addiction to coffee (it was an emotional crutch during my burnout - but over the years, it made me feel ill...yet I still couldn't stop drinking it), I tried to quit SO many times, but nothing worked...I just couldn't. 

Coffee became such an attachment.  The aroma, the morning ritual, the fact that my husband also drank it.  It wasn't persistance or motivation I was lacking...it was the imbalance in my neurotransmitters (the chronic underlying stress from my years of adrenal fatigue that lead to my burnout chronically affected my gut microbiome).

You see, your gut microbiome produces most of your neurotransmitters...and although I tried all the tricks to help reset my microbiome with proper food, herbs, tinctures, prebiotic fibre, probiotics, and even parasite cleanses, it wasn't a consistent fix.  It became SO frustrating.  Why was nothing working? 

The constant underlying stress program (at the subconscious level - psyche) constantly affected my digestion.  So it was (and probably still is) a vicious cycle. 

However, I have found a solution that is helping keep my microbiome in check, while lessening the affects of the subconscious stress signalling.  And the byproduct - my addiction to coffee has disappeared.  I don't even care to have any, nor do I miss having it!

Do you have any addictions?

What are the substances you turn to regularly to alter your mood? 

Share with me, what group(s) you resonate with:

Group 1 - Serotonin

Sweets, starches, fatty foods, chocolate, alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, Ecstasy.

Group 2 - Low Catecholemines (dopamine, norepinephrine, adrenaline)

Sugar, chocolate, caffeine, aspartame, alcohol, cocaine, other uppers, marijuana, tobacco, opiates.

Group 3 - GABA

Sweets, starches, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, valium - tranqilizers, painkillers

Group 4 - Endorphin

Sweets, starches, chocolate, alcohol, tobacco, heroin, marijuana.

As you can see, many of the addictive substances affect all groups. And the natural Amino-Acid, herb, and nutritional needs differ for each. 

It can be very daunting to gather all the natural remedies and apply them daily.  This was part of my issue (as honey was another daily fix for me, and LOTS of it...so I was tapped into ALL groups).

I have recently come across a simplified solution that immediately helped with problems I was eager to solve!  My bloating disappeared, my addiction to coffee subsided (I was in disbelief at first), and I am two months in, and still good!  I don't reach for the spoon fulls honey either!

If you need a little support for your mental wellness, or just need a bit of mood support to help you get through the days, contact me, let's chat.  I may have the right solutions for you :)

Listed Groups from the Book "The Mood Cure" by Julia Ross M.A.