Saint Dymphna and gut health!

What does St. Dymphna have to do with gut health? 

Well, I am currently taking a gut health course and I have learned a few things:

* The gut has it's own "brain system" called the Vagus nerve that actually talks to your brain (and not the other way around!)

* The amount of microbiome or healthy bacteria in your gut actually relates to anxiety and depression. If you want to read more about that - here's an article for further reading: 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25448230/

* The gut is 70% of your immune system!

* Taking prebiotics is just as important as probiotics and much more! 

So, if our anxiety and depression can be affected by our gut - then we actually are "what we eat."

If we are more "mindful" of what we are eating, then this might affect our emotional state as well! 

So, what can we do to help our nutritional state? 

1. Be aware of foods that can have natural prebiotics in them - examples onions and garlic! 

2. Be aware of foods that have probiotics in them: yougurt, Kumbocha, buttermilk, Keifer, etc. 

3. Avoid processed foods - what does that mean? It means most of those foods you buy in a box - yeah a lot of food on the shelves are boxed and have all kinds of sugar and other additivies.

4. Avoid sugar as much as possible.

5. Eat more fresh foods. If you are really serious about your health, eat like the Europeans - they go to the market (which is like our farmer's markets here) and buy fresh fruit and vegetables on a daily basis! We would all be a lot healthier just doing that.

6. Juice the vegetables or fruits you get for added fresh and drinking benefit. 

7. Avoid wheat and gluten products - or at least try it for a week and see if you notice the difference. Personally, I had a bad allergic reaction last spring and I have avoided gluten for most part and a list of foods that I am sensitive too. 

8. Eat organic as much as possible - if you cannot - wash your veggies and fruits before eating them or eat frozen veggies as they are usually less likely to have as much chemicals on them. 

9. As far as your mental health goes - try breathing exercises to keep you calm and focused.

10. Another mental health tip - I love essential oils - they can help lift your spirits and relax you. I use Simply Earth as it is a good brand and pure oils - not the fake pure. www.simplyearth.com if you want to look that up. So, they have a free chart on which oils are safe for various people/situations - so some can be used for pregnant or kids, etc. 

Let us pray to St. Dymphna patroness of anxiety and depression to learn more about our gut health as well as our mental health.

If you need to read more about St. Dymphna in general go here: https://saintdymphna.org/ 

If you ever need a mental health professional, there are a few out there that are Catholic.

Here's a short list you may want to look up:

Our Lady of Good Counsel A: https://www.ologcounsel.com/ 

Our Lady of Good Counsel B: https://www.goodcounsel.us/ 

Immaculate Heart of Mary Counseling: 

https://www.immaculateheartcounseling.org/ 

Catholic Counseling Center: https://catholiccounselors.com/ 

Now, let's end our article with a prayer to St. Dymphna for our mental and gut health! 

Dear St. Dymphna,

We ask you to bless us graciously with good health from our mental state of mind - lift any anxiety, depression, etc. from our lives.

Next, we ask you to bless our gut health and to make our bodies more worthy of Jesus and lifting us out of any gut problems and help us eat more healthy. 

In Jesus name, Amen.