When it comes to our biology, it is so important to remember that everything is connected, and that we should always take a holistic approach when it comes to our mental and physical health, and avoid magic bullets and one-shot wonders.
This, in turn, impacts the way our body functions by impeding our ability to get nutrients from our food, which can set us up for all sorts of diseases (for more on the gut-brain connection, see my recent blog and podcast). So, if our brain is not as healthy as it should be, this can directly affect the gut, and thus our digestive system. Our gut has about 500 million neurons, for example, which are intricately connected to the brain. This is particularly true when it comes to the brain-body connection. If our neurochemistry is in anyway off due to poor brain health, whether certain chemicals are not produced in the proper amounts or do not function as they should, this can potentially influence how we feel, from our work life to our eating habits to our relationships! This is why it is so important that we make an effort to protect and improve the health of our brains, which will help us succeed at home, at school and in the workplace. However, if someone’s brain is not as healthy as it should be (whether from a lack of nutrition or exposure to toxins in the environment), it does not produce the necessary levels of oxytocin, which can negatively impact how this person bonds with a loved one, thereby directly impacting the quality of that relationship and potentially setting it up for failure. For instance, when it comes to connecting with others, oxytocin is an important bonding chemical, and is released in greater amounts when couples first come together.
When we think about brain health, we often don’t realize just how connected it is to our everyday lives: our relationship with a spouse or loved one, our performance at work, how likely we are to get other diseases and so on. Not only do our choices create real, structural changes in the brain, but they also affect the overall health of our brains, which impacts how the brain and body function on a day-to-day basis, while, if our brains are not healthy, it’s hard for our minds to be healthy and for us to make healthy decisions. As you have heard me say many times before, how we choose to use our brains affects both our mental and physical health.
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