The mind-gut connection is well-documented.

Here’s my latest for Psychology Today.

Excerpt:

“I’m so tired all the time.”

“I feel sad and anxious a lot.”

“I just can’t focus.”

These are observations I’ve heard patients making more and more over the years and we can come up with plenty of reasons for them. Social media and being increasingly isolated are probable contributors. The stress of having multiple responsibilities and struggling financially are undoubtedly drivers of exhaustion and anxiety. But, in the past few months, studies are being published at a furious pace, suggesting that a daily factor that we have more control over may be a much bigger contributor to our moods than was previously thought: Our food.

How can food cause fatigue, depression, anxiety, and loss of focus?

There has long been a mind-gut connection that is well documented. The vagus nerve travels down from the brain and innervates the stomach and intestines. The stomach and intestines produce a variety of substances, like serotonin, that are known to affect our moods. Many different types of health care professionals have recommended mental health treatments such as meditation, talk therapy, and even anti-depressants to improve gut health. It seems, however, that the mind-gut connection may be better understood as a gut-mind connection first.

Read my full article here on PscyhologyToday.com.

Want to learn more about your own microbiome and mind-gut connection? I have several complimentary downloadable guides and of course, my book Eat Everything, and I also write on the latest info in my monthly email, you can sign up for that here.

From Authority Magazine

 I don’t want to only highlight the problem and give people something else to worry about, but help people come up with solutions that work for their lives and hopefully find joy in eating again.

Thank you to Authority magazine for this Social Impact Authors feature!

Excerpt:

As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dawn Harris Sherling.

Dawn Harris Sherling M.D. is an internal medicine physician and author whose work calls out the rampant diet-related misinformation out there and simplifies the real science and latest medical advancements that can not only heal a host of digestive related illnesses, but also make eating easier and more joyful again. A graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine, she is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine, and a former Instructor in Medicine at Harvard University. After struggling with IBS herself, Dr. Dawn Harris Sherling’s symptoms seemingly disappeared while in Italy. In an effort to help her patients and herself, Dr. Sherling began learning more about how food additives such as emulsifiers, thickeners, and stabilizers are wreaking havoc on our microbiomes and how eliminating them can reverse several diet-related diseases. Dr. Sherling currently sees patients at a clinic for the underserved in South Florida and teaches at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University where she serves as Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program. Her latest book, “Eat Everything: How to Ditch Additives and Emulsifiers, Heal Your Body, and Reclaim the Joy of Food” is available for purchase now HERE via BenBella Books and Penguin Random House Distribution.

Read the full interview here!