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Tag: gut health research

January 23, 2021

The “SAD” Truth About How Cheat Days Could Impact Your Health

Added sugars. Saturated fats. Sodium. Mmm, tasty, right? These are the food groups The U.S. Department of Agriculture says our population is over-indulging in.

But hey, they can’t hurt in moderation, right? Alright, alright. If balance is key, then surely cheat days shouldn’t make too much of a difference, no?

Well, according to a study in the Neurobiology of Pain journal, eating healthy most of the time (five days a week) might not be enough to curtail the negative impact cheat days could have on your health.

More specifically — the impact cheat days could have on your ability to heal from inflammation, which is a staple of chronic pain.

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March 16, 2020

Can You Stomach It? The Mysterious Relationship Between Psychedelics and Gut Health

By now, it’s no secret the brain and gut are in constant communication – and yet, there’s still an air of mystery shrowding the gut-brain axis.

So far, we know serotonin is central to gut-brain signaling. In fact, 90 percent of serotonin is synthesized in the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, according to a 2016 Nutrients journal review.

Psychedelics, including psilocybin (a.k.a ‘shrooms’), LSD (a.k.a. ‘acid’), and DMT are serotonergic drugs that bind to the 5-HT2A receptor, says a 2018 World Psychiatric article. This is central to triggering the “psychedelic experience.”

Although research on psychedelics in mood, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders has been and currently is being heavily investigated, with a particular focus on serotonin, the impact of psychedelics on gut health remains largely untapped and under-researched.

Now that’s a head trip.

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