Status and gut instincts. The top 2 secret survival tactics.

Table of Contents

Ever wonder why your stomach turns or your insides clog up (or let loose like a breaking dam) when you are stressed?

Your stomach is known in science circles as your second brain. It is believed that before we had such a big, highly developed fatty brain that we also worked with a stump up there that wasn’t much more evolved than our animal cousins in the wild kingdom. As part of our evolution in survival development, it also meant that our stomach appears to have acted as our second brain or what we are still affectionately referring to as our “gut instinct”.

What our high speed, modern brain can’t compute, calculate or analyze fast enough is often sped through our old fashioned, dinosaur version of a brain and sets off the early danger signals through our tried-and-true, fall back warning machine – our stomach. That bad feeling in the pit of your stomach, that nauseous feeling when you can feel bad news about to be delivered, that tightening of your innards when you are in a frightening situation… all part of your original brain-body-brain feedback system to warn you life is about to go sideways in possibly bad ways, even though you can’t consciously identify the problem. Gut instinct. Is there anyone who would argue that having a strong one would NOT saved their life at some point?

And inside that hot, squishy sack of roiling, boiling acidity or warm, fuzzy feelings is where your second “brain” or “processing center” is located. And we are learning more about the little oompah-loompahs down there keeping the place running (your probiotics) every day in science. It appears that those harmless, weirdos that seem to live in biochemical communes in our stomach folds are more powerful than we give them credit for.

You are what you eat.

Thanks to a gaining interest that has driven more and meaningful interest into nutritional science, an entire field of information has opened up and explores the impact of bacteria and intestinal function on brain function, brain development.

From everything that ranges from the development of autism in brain development to depression and anxiety in adults and also, research into the correlation between gut dysbiosis and schizophrenia to cognitive improvement or decline after neuro-inflammation – our guts are literally being revealed to be a powerful machine churning out the components of our ability to think and function effectively all from the bacteria it can (or cannot) develop from the quality of the foods we eat.

Sorry anti-vaxxers, it is not vaccinations that are proving to be the source of autism development but the imbalance of gut bacteria in some babies after a vaccination that affects brain development is now resulting in researching those correlations to autism development. Its not the vaccine that is proving to be the problem but the gut flora… the bacterial biodome of the gut.
Research confirms gut-brain connection in autism
Gut Microbiome and Brain-Gut Axis in Autism — Aberrant Development of Gut-Brain Communication and Reward Circuitry

Stress will kill you, but it will kill off your probiotics first.

Stress is a stealth killer. It is silent, patiently takes as much time as it needs, and erodes your strongest corners of defense before finally moving in to collapse you into unrecoverable damage, or death. During times of external stress where we find ourselves with very little control or power over events impacting us, stress levels rise exponentially. We are alarmed. And like an alarm, all our biological stress responses (cortisol, adrenaline, digestion shut down, vascular tension, blood sugar elevation, and more) all rise to 5 alarm fire levels in response. It is no longer an inconvenience, it is a a building crisis or emergency happening that we weren’t prepared for!

Batten the hatches! Man the decks! Danger! Danger! PREPARE FOR THE WORST, SURVIVAL IS AT STAKE!

Being late for an appointment. Insecurity in your job. Domestic uncoupling. Unexpected bills or debts. External forces or events that negatively impact you and you have no control or influence over. All of these things cause stress and when there are entire days, weeks or months of it happening in varying order and degrees of severity, well, it can make the finely turned precision mechanics of your insides start looking and sounding like an old fashioned pinball machine.

If you find yourself in the midst of epic proportion situations that are negatively impacting your life, like a tsunami or a pandemic, for example? You can bet that days, weeks or months of dealing with this is the biological equivalent of living with PTSD, except that you never really get to the “post” part of the PTSD. Your body is both drowning you in an ocean of stress chemical responses while trying to keep you from drowning at the same time.

This is why many adults crave more sleep, sweets, and/or liquor during these times. We want to shut down the stream of alarming external stimulus (sleep), we want to raise our dopamine levels to combat fatigue and depression (sweets) and we are trying to replenish our dwindling supply of probiotics with fermented food products (liquor).

When you crave alcohol but not the effects of it.

Do you ever crave the taste of a beer or wine (pick from your list) but decide against it because you don’t want the sedative effects of the alcohol? Its not the kind of craving that means you will be miserable if you do NOT get the drink in your system. It is the kind of craving that comes from your belly like you have for certain snacks or foods at random times. The kind of craving that just says “the taste of that would be really good right now”, but you can take it or leave it as a choice.

That kind of craving means you are not looking for the alcohol in your system but the fermentation in your belly. The probiotics from fermentation are a few steps before the advanced stages necessary to turn grapes into wine and yeast into beer. Often, but not always, those probiotics are killed during the process. As an example, here’s a great article that talks about this exact question involving beer products and which still retain probiotics in them!

Your tongue recognizes fermented food products (even if it can’t identify living probiotics) so naturally, if it identifies fermentation, it also assumes probiotics. When you find yourself thinking about liquor but not wanting it because you want the taste of it but not the sedation from it, this may be why.

In times of economic uncertainty and budgeting out of necessity, or for a goal (survival or reward), our pantries are the first place we make important changes. And while we may spend less on certain food items, we might also be spending more than usual on others, including liquors. (In the graphic above, feel free to replace “binge eating” with “indulgent drinking”)

But when we are in circumstances where the people around us are also sharing distress because of external uncertainties, their irrational or uncooperative behavior may be increasing our distress and stress levels exponentially in addition to the original problem. This makes the desire for fermented food products (alcohol, cheese) as well as “rage chewing” foods greater (hard, cracking, crunchy food items that you must audibly ‘break’ or ‘tear’ with your teeth to eat. Example, chips/crisps, pretzels, jerky, etc).

Show me a stressed out person involved with a long term environment full of quiet hostility and I will show you a well stocked liquor cabinet and a bag of crunchy/cracking/tearing/noisy/difficult snacks always available, no matter what their budget. Not all situations we find ourselves are within our control or influence. We can only manage ourselves, as best we can. Potato chip, anyone?

Fermenting more than resentment. How having guts will help you.

Here’s what we know in a short form.

Stress destroys our healthy levels of probiotics in our gut.
Stress leads to craving sleep, sweets and fermented foods (probiotics)
Economic uncertainty causes us stress and changes our food budget priorities, including less food and more alcohol.
Alcohol is expensive and does not improve our productivity or cognitive function.
Probiotics are cheap and will improve our cognitive function, among many other things leading to improved response and resilience during difficult times.
Probiotics keep you looking healthy and fit. Alcohol ages you prematurely.
Looking healthy and fit will get you laid more often and more easily, regardless of your age.
Alcohol will only help you get laid if you or the partner chemical assistance in finding the other person attractive.
Probiotics keep your digestive tract intact, healthy, moving and diarrhea free.
Nearly everyone who fantasizes about having anal sex fantasizes of empty chamber, diarrhea-free anal sex.
Sex that is free of OTHER, unexpected bodily functions makes adults relaxed and happy.
Relaxed and happy is the real goal here, right?

Along with all that, stress makes us sad and/or anxious. When we are really sad or anxious, then we move into a phase of existence that might require psychopharmaceuticals (medications) to manage it so we can continue managing our lives through this temporary troubled spot in it.

Medications are expensive, not always in our budget and not always as effective as we want them to be among many other considerations… and we might be able to head that trouble off at the pass by sending for the cavalry in the form of… yep, probiotic supplementation (not substitution) through our diet. That’s right, making different food choices or supplement choices may be the key to keeping you on an even keel physically AND mentally through tough, stressful times. If you are going to change your grocery shopping list, why not change it to benefit you more than just saving money?

Probiotics and Mental Health

Here are some interesting articles you might want to read about the relationship between probiotics in your gut and your mental/emotional health status at any given time.