Fibre and mental health: why your nervous system needs more vegetables

It was somewhere between the white nights and the open tabs that are too numerous that my therapist said. Not as an intervention, but as a suggestion of passage, as if it recommended a good podcast. “You may want to eat more fibers,” she proposed, when I was describing what I can only call an existential medium level spiral.

I laughed. And then I googlé.

It turns out that she was not a party. While the internet of well-being with magnesium sprays and collagen supplements, the fiber has renamed aid to digestion in support of the nervous system. Not the glamorous genre with packaging and peptides, but the genre that is quietly doing work. Like Rajma. The conversation around fibers and mental health is gaining ground for a good reason, especially in a world where we are all looking for low -flood means to regulate our stress.

We generally do not associate Bhindi Sabzi with emotional resilience, but perhaps we should. Because the link between fibers and mental health – in particular by the axis of the intestinal brain – is more and more where nutritional psychiatry places its bets.

Your intestine is (probably) in your feelings

Science is surprisingly simple: your intestine and your brain are in constant communication, thanks to a network of nerves, immune signals and chemical messengers. About 90% of the body serotonin, the neurotransmitter of well-being, is produced in the intestine. And this serotonin production largely depends on what you feed your microbiome.

The fiber is what your intestinal bacteria eat. When you consume fibers, in particular from fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains – these microbes the climch in short chain fat (SCFAS). These SCFA lift heavy lifting: they regulate inflammation, modulate your response to stress and influence the behavior of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. In short, fibers supports mental health by feeding a microbiome which can send quieter and clearer signals to the brain.

Processed foods aggravate your anxiety

This is where modern eating habits come into play. A low fiber diet composed of white bread, ultra-suitable snacks, sweet yogurts or smoothies pretending to be business dishes of your intestinal microbes. This microbial famine leads to a decrease in the production of SCFA, which in turn affects everything, of the ability of your body to regulate blood sugar at its basic cortisol levels. Over time, it can disrupt sleep, have an impact on your mood and leave your nervous system more reactive to daily stress.