Serotonin

STRESS IN ITSELF
The word stress is quite a complex phenomenon with individualistic stress levels.
Stress is the body’s way to respond to triggering events that the brain goes through. It might be emotional, biological or physical response and might vary from individual to individual depending on the environmental and genetic factors involved.
When stress levels are low, the body is often in a state of homeostasis: All body systems are operating smoothly to maintain equilibrium.

POSSIBLE TRIGGERS
According to a research: Stressors trigger a “crisis-mode” physiological response, a physiological response which the body attempts to return to homeostasis by means of an adaptive response. The internal fight to restore homeostasis in the face of a stressor is known as the general adaptation syndrome, or GAS. The GAS has three distinct phases: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. This leads to various physiological changes in the body. Stress is often described as a “disease of prolonged arousal” that leads to a cascade of negative health effects whose likelihood increases with on-going stress. Nearly all body systems become potential targets, and the long-term effects may be devastating.
Your stress levels when not adequately managed, could interfere with your medication and diet

IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME
On the other hand, Irritable bowel syndrome is your guts response to extreme stress levels
Triggers that easily affect the gut in IBS are sometimes perceived as psychological stress (loss of job, money, spouse), physical, physiological stress (diet, hormonal changes).
IBS can result from a very intricate biological interaction between the brain and the gut – this is why addressing psychological and emotional stressors that may be associated with IBS symptoms is the first step in understanding IBS triggers. Not all people with IBS have symptoms of psychological distress, but for those who do, stress management techniques become critical in managing IBS symptoms.
Another possible could be food anxiety (orthorexia), where one always gets worried about what to eat, how the food was prepared, the source and so on. Anxiety might precipitate IBS symptoms and not even the food itself.

STRESS MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES AND DIETARY APPROACHES
Managing stress sometimes involves some self-care techniques which might include:
• Guided meditation
• Reading
• Knitting or needlework
• Bubble baths
• Exercise
• Listening to music
• Taking a stroll
It’s very important to note that everyone’s coping mechanism or stress management techniques are different. But it’s important to add these techniques to your daily routines.

DIETARY APPROACH
Role of specific nutrient in regulation of food intake, in the maintenance of homeostatic mechanisms and emotional processes is very dense. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamin or 5-HT) is synthesized from the dietary amino-acid tryptophan (TRP). Likewise, tyrosine is a precursor of noradrenaline (NA). Psychosocial and physical stress increases the rate of release of noradrenaline (NA) in both the periphery and the central nervous system hence more protein especially tyrosine is required. Likewise various other nutrients are required to reduce the levels of the stress chemicals (cortisol and adrenaline) that activate fight and flight response in the body.
Nutrients which includes vitamin C, vitamin B, tryptophan, threonine, magnesium, phenylalanine all have roles to play in helping individuals reduce stress levels and they could be found in grains, pulses, legumes and vegetables.

CONCLUSION
Stress management is different for everyone. It’s important to seek a therapist and medical care if your stress levels are extreme. For IBS patients, a change of lifestyle would suffice to manage symptoms.

Most times we feel drowsy after eating some foods. This might occur as a result digestion patterns and sleep cycles. Some researchers has come up with theories as to why this happens; but they still agree it’s a natural response and not a cause for alarm.
Drowsiness after eating is due to an increase in energy levels which could be termed ‘postprandrial somnolence’.
Postprandial somnolence (colloquially known as the itis food coma, after dinner dip, or postprandial sleep) is a normal state of drowsiness following a meal (regardless of the time of the meal). Postprandial somnolence has two components: a general state of low energy related to activation of the parasympathetic nervous system in response to mass in the gastrointestinal tract, and a specific state of sleepiness. While there are numerous theories surrounding this behavior, such as decreased blood flow to the brain, neurohormonal modulation of sleep through digestive coupled signaling, or vagal stimulation, very few have been explicitly tested.
Physiology
Insulin, large neutral amino acids, and tryptophan
When foods with a high glycemic index are consumed, the carbohydrates in the food are more easily digested than low glycemic index foods. Hence, more glucose is available for absorption; and the more the glucose, the more the amount off insulin for absorption. Insulin stimulates the uptake of valine, leucine, and isoleucine into skeletal muscles, but not uptake of tryptophan. This however, lowers the ratio of these branched chain amino acids in the bloodstream relative to tryptophan (an aromatic amino acid), making tryptophan preferentially available to the large neutral amino acid transporter at the blood–brain barrier. Uptake of tryptophan by the brain thus increases. In the brain, tryptophan is converted to serotonin (the hormone responsible for moods and sleep cycles) which is then converted to melatonin. Increased brain serotonin and melatonin levels result in sleepiness.

Insulin-induced hypokalemia
Insulin also can cause postprandial somnolence via another mechanism. Insulin increases the activity of Na/K ATPase, causing increased movement of potassium into cells from the extracellular fluid. The large movement of potassium from the extracellular fluid can lead to a mild hypokalemic state. The effects of hypokalemia can include fatigue, muscle weakness, or paralysis.

Some health experts also suggests that food coma could be caused by a slight shift in blood flow away from the brain to the digestive organs. Eating helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
The PNS regulates certain processes in your body like slowing the heart rate and regulating blood pressure and digestion. The PNS is triggered when the stomach expands from accommodating a large meal. As a result of this, blood flow is directed to the working digestive organs and less to the brain. This slight diversion may cause you to feel drowsy and fatigued.

Why do people feel tired after eating?
Apart from the physiology explained above, a person may feel tired after eating due to what, when and how much the person consumes per sitting.
A large meal would obviously lead to a rush of insulin to help in absorption and moving of glucose to cells where they are needed.
A person’s circadian rhythm might affect how they feel after eating; well, that doesn’t mean calories know time.
The National Sleep Foundation reports that people naturally have a lull in energy 2.am and again at 2pm which might explain why you have to take a nap after lunch. Meal timing are very essential.

Remedy?
• Small but frequent meals are preferable to very heavy meals.
• Quality sleep matters.
• Light exercise after eating would help. A walk would do.
• Avoid drinking alcohol with meals.
• Do more of fluids.

Sources: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323379.php#seeing-a-doctor

There are bacteria present in our entire system, our guts especially and the largeness of a colony determines if our guts and us would he healthy. These bacteria could be helpful or harmful, but we would look more at the helpful ones.
In the light of that, we’d be seeing what prebiotics and probiotics are and how beneficial they are to our gut.

🔥 Prebiotics are non digestible part of foods like banana, garlic and onions which goes through the small intestine undigested and ferment when they reach the large intestine. This fermentation process helps in feeding beneficial bacteria colonies  and help increase the number of desirable bacteria in our digestive system that are associated with better health and reduced health risk.

🔥Probiotics are live beneficial bacteria that are created during the fermentation process of yoghurt, sauerkraut e.t.c.

There are two major beneficial bacteria present in our gut which are: lactobacillus and bifidobacterium.

Lactobacillus is present mainly in yoghurt and other fermentable products and helps with diarrhoea and people who are lactose intolerant.

Bifidobacterium also can be found in dairy products and helps to ease irritable bowel syndrome.
It helps to fight againts harmful bacteria, helps againts constipation and give immune system a boost.

To easily understand probiotics and prebiotics, you can call probiotics the ‘seed’ that is planted prebiotics is the water and fertilizer that helps it grow and thrive.

Additional benefits of both is that it could help prevent halitosis (bad breathe), enhancing mineral absorption especially vit B12(intrinsic factor).
Its important to note also that anaemia or nervous system damage could rise from the deficiency of vit B12, so its important to always add CARBS to your diet😏🙄.

Food sources: fibre rich containing foods, especially carbs 🤧🤧; they contain resistant starch which is fermentable and healthy for the gut, onion, garlic, asparagus, apple with skin, oat, wheat and bran bread, yohhurt , kefir, e.t.c.

Note: 90% of your feel good hormone(serotonin) is produced in your gut, so the healthier your gut, the happier you are😘😊😊.