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A 2024 study from the University of California made a striking finding that transplanting gut bacteria from people with depression into mice triggered depression-like behaviors in the animals, keeping the environment and physiology unchanged. It is for the first time modern science has been able to provide evidence of what we have known in the Ayurveda for ages that the gut digests not just your food but also your mood.
We’ve long known that the brain affects the gut (think of “butterflies in your stomach” or that uneasy churning before a tough conversation or the final round of an interview when you feel like you need to make one last dash to the washroom). But the new study establishes the fact that the mind and gut are inextricably connected. As per Ayurveda, the emotions are governed by the manovaha srotas , the subtle energy channel that originates in the digestive system and travels through the body-mind network.
Now, an obvious question that arises, how do we feed the gut to heal the mind?
Beyond the usual “eat more fiber” let’s see some really effective, practical, and Ayurvedically-aligned gut-brain nutritional tips for a healthy mind and emotions.
Modern gut-health experts often begin straight with recommending fermented foods and probiotic supplements. But in Ayurveda, everything starts with having a stronger agni or digestive fire. You can have the best probiotics and prebiotics, but if your agni is weak, they will not work for you.
The Agni or digestive fire is influenced by factors like-
Having heavy, processed or cold foods, overeating disturbs the digestive fire. This can gorm toxins or ama in the system, while having warm, freshly cooked meals, at the right time with spices that aid digestion like cumin or ginger, go a long way in keeping agni strong and balanced.
Very simply, bad lifestyle choices like irregular sleep, getting not enough exercise or living with chronic stress, can dampen the agni. It is important to manage your stress levels with mind-body interventions like yoga, running, tai chi, deep breathing, meditation, and other practices.
As seasons change and doshas or bio energies aggravate or get out of balance, they can also influence the digestive fire. Agni tends to weaken in the cooler temperatures and is stronger once temperatures start rising again.
Your emotional well being greatly influences the health of your digestive fire. Perpetually living in a state of anxiety, stress and emotional imbalance can affect your agni in a way you do not want. And so managing your emotions, regulating them, working on living more in the present moment, cultivating joy can all help bring your agni back to a state of balance.
Want to learn more? The Breathwork & Meditation Retreat guides you in proven breathing techniques and deep meditation practices that calm the mind, restore energy, and promote emotional balance.
Bonus Tips:
Western diets often swing between sweet, salty, and spicy, leaving out the subtler bitter, astringent, and pungent tastes essential for better gut-brain health.
Why do we need all the six tastes in our diet? In Ayurveda, each taste (rasa) affects not just digestion but emotional state as well.
Sweet, can be had in whole grains, dates, or milk, calms and soothes the mind.
Bitter, found in greens, turmeric, or fenugreek among others, detoxifies the liver and mind. Don’t just ‘eat your greens’ but go for bitter greens like arugula, or mustard, or fenugreek.
The pungent taste of ginger or black pepper clears sluggishness and gives you more clarity.
The astringent taste is not often recommended for better emotional state since it can aggravate vata, increase bloating and gas. It is usually found in the rind of fruits, barks or leaves.
You can add a squeeze of lime and a dash of rock salt to your meals to absorb the food better and feel good about your meal.
Ayurveda doesn’t necessarily demonize coffee, but it warns against the overstimulation and increase in rajasic energy that leads to mental restlessness and scattered focus. Instead, you can have fermented, spiced buttermilk for a cooling, gut-balancing morning drink. You can also go for calming ginger, holy basil or chamomile teas as well.
Why buttermilk works is because it is light, rich in probiotics and calms vata, the one dosha most responsible for anxiety and insomnia.
Here is a recipe:
According to Ayurveda, ama is not just undigested food and product of weak metabolism but also unprocessed emotions and impressions that have been swept under the carpet. A healthy gut along with probiotics also needs good rest and emotional rebalancing from time to time. And that is why cleaning breath practices like Sudarshan Kriya and pranayamas are a big boon for those looking for a healthier gut brain connection.
Here’s what you can also do for holistic assimilation
Lot of us think ‘raw’ is clean eating and light but as per Ayurveda, raw salads may actually be harder to digest especially for those with anxiety, fatigue, or irregular appetite. Raw salads can aggravate Vata dosha, leading to bloating, worry, and sleep disturbances.
Instead, lightly steam or sauté your vegetables with clarified butter and warming spices like mustard seed, ajwain, or turmeric.
If you love salads, and can’t do without them then have them with warm, grounding elements like roasted sweet potato, sautéed beets, or a drizzle of warm tahini-lime dressing.
Spices are the secret emotional superfoods that find mention in Ayurveda. They add flavor while fine-tuning your nervous system. For example, having a pinch of nutmeg in warm milk before going to bed helps you deal with anxiety and gives deeper sleep; or cardamom clears heaviness and makes your mood better. You can have it in your morning tea or add it to your oatmeal. The glory of turmeric is well known with its anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, and liver-cleansing properties. It specifically boosts Sadhaka Pitta, which governs the emotional heart.
Sometimes, less is more. Ayurveda recommends periodic fasting with khichdi (a simple rice-lentil dish) that resets both body and mind. It is so very light on your digestion, increases purity or sattva, builds good gut flora and uplifts your mind. You can have it with cumin, ghee and ginger. On days you fast, end your day with spoonful of triphala to cleanse your gut and instill calm.
Believe it or not, your gut has its own circadian rhythm. Eating late disrupts not only digestion and puts the digestive system under pressure it also weakens the production of serotonin and melatonin, the neurotransmitters essential for good mood and sleep.
Ideally, finish your dinner before 7:30pm. Never go to bed immediately after a heavy meal. And end the day with warm golden milk (turmeric, nutmeg, cardamom, saffron in organic milk or oat milk). Do not have sugar, raw vegetables or citrus fruits post-sunset.
The gut isn’t just where food is broken down. It’s where memories, traumas, joy, and intuition thrive too. What we eat shapes how you think and feel, but even more importantly, how we digest life experiences, memories and complex intellectual phenomena. So having a meal mindfully in silence, offering gratitude before meals, chewing slowly, having wholesome meals with as many colors as tastes- they all add up to give you the perfect gut brain health for sound mental health in the long run.