Gut Flora is Linked to Mood

Recently the research has widened to include the effect on behaviour, mood, and feelings. Two recent studies reflect the critical role the gut-brain connection plays in children.

Article 1:
Toddler Tantrums May be Due to Their Gut Flora

Gut Bacteria and Happiness

In this first study, scientists found that toddlers with the highest variety of gut bacteria were more likely to be happy, curious, sociable and impulsive (I imagine positively!). In boys, extroverted personality traits were associated with the abundance of specific microbes. (Click the link below to find out which ones).

How to achieve a highly-diversified healthy gut flora…

Everything we put into our mouth has to come out at the other end. It should usually take 24 hours to 30 hours for food to make it through; this is called “transit time”. You can test your transit time by eating 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds mixed in a cup of water or a cup of beetroot an hour away from other foods. Note the time you eat these foods and track when the sesame seeds or red colour appear in the toilet.

Constipation slows down your transit time – the poo takes a lot longer to get moved through the intestines and out the other end. More water gets absorbed during this slower process and the poo gets harder. These hard bowel motions can hurt and take a long time to pass. The gut is a muscle and just like your leg muscles it needs magnesium and antioxidants to contract and move the poo along. This movement is called peristalsis.
So what are the causes of constipation? Here is a short list…