Natural health with Megan Sheppard

I have read a lot recently about the link between intestinal health and mental wellbeing. Can you please throw some light on this somewhat dubious connection?

There has indeed been a lot of research into the gut-brain connection, particularly during the past decade or so, and in fact the ‘second’ brain in the gut is known as the enteric nervous system (ENS).

The gut-brain connection is very real. When we are developing and growing in our foetal states, our gut and brain are formed from the same tissue, with one section becoming the central nervous system (CNS), and the other becoming the enteric nervous system. Both are connected by the vagus nerve (beginning in the brain stem and ending in the abdomen).