Ashwagandha is an adaptogenic herb popular in Ayurvedic medicine that has shown incredible results for lowering cortisol and balancing thyroid hormones, of particular concern to people with stress-related leaky gut. In India, ashwagandha is known as the “strength of the stallion” since it has traditionally been used to strengthen the immune system after illness.
More than two hundred studies5 have investigated ashwagandha’s effects and found it to:
Reduce anxiety and depression Combat the effects of stress Increase stamina and endurance Prevent and treat cancer
Reduce brain cell degeneration Stabilize blood sugar
Lower cholesterol Boost immunity
Perhaps most helpful for those with leaky gut issues is ashwagandha’s therapeutic power with thyroid issues. Ashwagandha can help people with both hypo and hyper thyroid issues, supporting a sluggish thyroid for people diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, and improving the health of those with an overactive thyroid or Graves’ disease. For anyone who’s struggling with stress, lack of energy, adrenal overload, or thyroid issues, I recommend supplementing with 500 mg one to two times daily. You might also consider experimenting with similar adaptogenic herbs, such as holy basil, ginseng, and rhodiola.
But let’s say we did have a placid childhood, with happy bugs in our guts—
are we safe? Well, we’re certainly less prone to chronic stress—but we could experience a shift in our nervous system response at any moment in our lives. In addition to all of these stress-induced chemical responses—which can affect gut permeability—our use of antibiotics or any other gut-damaging factor we’ve discussed can tilt the microbial balance in our guts toward a dysfunctional stress response. Don’t forget—that vagus nerve is ever vigilant, allowing the brain to
interact and communicate directly with our microbes constantly. As we saw with those people who feared delivering a speech, any mental stress, either short or long term, can alter the bacterial composition of the gut, favoring “nervous”
strains of bugs.
That’s why stressful life events—a death in the family, lost job, divorce, or other trauma—often serve as triggers for autoimmune conditions. Countless studies have shown that depression is linked to health conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, addiction, insulin resistance, and obesity. The hormonal shifts triggered by that acute stress encourage the proliferation of pathogenic bad bacteria and decrease beneficial probiotics, leading to higher rates of leaky gut—allowing those nervous bugs to spread anywhere in the body.6
HOW PATHOGENIC BUGS CHANGE OUR BEHAVIOR
All microbes learn, grow, adapt—and these adaptations actually have a hand in controlling our behavior. One thing they have the biggest control over is our food cravings. Bacteria help themselves survive by influencing us to choose foods that feature the particular nutrients they grow best on, rather than just taking whatever comes along.8 Some bacteria love fat;
others love sugar. The bacteria are able to manipulate our feelings and cravings by changing neural signals along the vagus nerve. In this way, our gut bacteria literally teach us what to eat—they’re able to alter our taste receptors, release toxins that make us feel bad, and reward us with chemicals that make us feel good—all in the service of their own survival and population growth.
These mechanisms loop back on themselves constantly. We’ve all seen how stressful periods can have a domino effect on healthy habits. When we’re stressed out, we often crave junk foods and eat poorly. All of that junk food wreaks havoc on the gut wall and the microbiome. We may have trouble sleeping, which has a devastating effect on our immune system, resulting in increased inflammation. Inflammation can produce toxic metabolites that can
have a direct effect on brain function, with the potential to make any of us feel more jittery, anxious, and antisocial. The overabundance of cortisol in our bloodstreams greatly reduces the release of hydrochloric acid and the activity of digestive enzymes, effectively blocking your gut’s ability to absorb nutrients.7 The nerve cells in the gut that usually produce up to 95 percent of the body’s serotonin are deprived of nourishment, so they don’t have the tools to synthesize the very neurotransmitters that might help us feel better. Good bacteria starve and pathogens surge; our digestion suffers, we feel terrible, and we become even more stressed out.
Each version of this stress–inflammation–leaky gut cycle, no matter where it begins, can repeat itself endlessly and become self-perpetuating, unless we learn how to stop it. Thankfully, many of these same mechanisms can be reversed—
we simply have to choose a place to break the cycle. Remember, the gut-brain communication channel works both ways: the gut talks to the brain, and the brain talks to the gut. We can address this from either end of that channel.
When we reduce stress, the composition of our microbiome becomes more balanced, which helps to repair the gut lining, which reduces inflammation, which reduces stress and anxiety. As the balance of good bacteria increases, your mood and attitude will improve, leading you toward healthier habits and more gut-friendly foods. This positive feedback loop then gains momentum and continues to reinforce itself.