Serotonin in Your Gut

The Gut - Brain Connection is Truly Worth Investigation

Photo by Kouji Tsuru on Unsplash

I am incredibly hard wired to get my fix at the local convenience store. As I go about my life today, I realize this. During my twenties, the convenience store was where I got pop, pizza, cigarettes, and candy bars.

Today, I avoid all of the above, because I watch my weight. My medications require that I watch my diet. Interestingly, research indicates “reversal of insulin resistance by metformin resulted in statistically and clinically significant sustained improvements in depression”.¹

My observation today is that when I travel around town for work, I miss my fix. My travels are not quite the same without those addictive substances.

I was first diagnosed as a schizophrenic in the late 2000s. I accepted my diagnosis and had success with medication in 2010. I wish I knew more on the interactions of brain chemicals.

What I do know is that around 90% of your body’s serotonin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract. I came across that statistic the other day while doing some reading and the Cleveland Clinic website backs it up.

If I accomplish anything with this article, I’d like to encourage research on serotonin.

I’m not trained to fully understand what all this means and therefore can’t communicate more to you.

I can relate about my own experiences, though.

I was on a food fast because of some mild food poisoning symptoms. I was going about my typical work day which involves traveling. I decided to break my rule about not drinking pop.

What is notable is that I got a serious mood burst just from following that old pattern and drinking pop. Yes, it is a pattern from my 20s. I bought a bottle of pop and enjoyed it. There was a clear feeling of satisfaction from that simple action. Ah, caffeine and sugar.

I haven’t smoked cigarettes in a long time. I quit over 15 years ago, yet there are times when driving that I crave a cigarette.

This past week, I have been under more stress than usual with my work.

I’ll admit, when I have thrown my diet out the window, even before knowing the gut - brain connection, I have always known that gorging myself on cookies or Twizzlers will make me feel better.

It’s almost cliche about sitting at home with a big bowl of ice cream when you are not feeling good.

I don’t have the training to fully understand all these interconnections, all I can do is point out how I feel.

My doctor told me that cigarettes reduce the effectiveness of antipsychotics. That may have been part of the reason I became so ill in my last relapse of my schizophrenic symptoms.

I can specifically recall the voice I hear in my head telling me, “Let’s smoke a Chesterfield”.

I remember specifically asking myself, while in relapse, “Do you feel satisfied now?” I would ask myself that after eating a pizza, drinking Mountain Dew and finishing with a cigarette.

The answer was always “No.”

I was always chasing something.

I have mentioned a lot of substances in this article that humans seek - nicotine, caffeine, sugar, salt, and greasy pizza.

I don’t fully understand the mind - gut connection, but I know that I am better off taking my medications. I know I’m better off eating healthy and finally, I suspect I'm better off avoiding nicotine and excessive caffeine.

1. Miller, B., MD, PhD, MPH (2022, June 10). Metformin in Treatment-Resistant Bipolar Depression. Psychiatric Times. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/metformin-in-treatment-resistant-bipolar-depression