In this article, we discuss the gut-brain axis and how it affects mental health. Poor gut health affects everything from concentration levels to sleep – and can hamper an individual’s productivity in the long run. As employee mental health becomes a priority for organizations worldwide, here is how you can use a gut care solution to keep your employees healthy and happy.

After years of stigma, mental health has received the attention it needs. Amongst other things, the pandemic has highlighted the need to address employee well-being from the lens of mental health. Employers and employees are now making it a priority.

As employers are still figuring out a way to devise a productive work-from-home strategy, incorporating mental health programs for the workforce is inevitable for employers.

There’s a new approach that can help you dramatically influence the productivity of your employees: the gut-brain axis.

Doctors and scientists have recently claimed that anything that affects your Gut, has the capacity to affect your brain. Gut health and mental health are closely associated.

For ages, mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, stress and insomnia were blamed solely on the brain. But a weak digestive system can disturb mental health. A healthy workforce not only contributes to individual growth but also to the company’s overall growth.

Here are 5 mental health benefits a well-devised Gut care solution can add to your employee benefits program:

1. Less Anxiety, Better Focus
   

   Employees with anxiety disorders may feel discomfort in dealing with challenges, setting and completing deadlines, maintaining personal connections, participating in meetings, and giving presentations.
   
   And how does a healthy gut help? Let’s dig a little deeper and get to the roots of gut health and mental health.
   
   Studies suggest that probiotic gut bacteria help with sadness and anxiety. The production of mood-enhancing and calming chemicals is influenced by gut microorganisms.
   
   Approximately, depression impairs a person's ability to do physical job responsibilities 20% of the time, and about 35% of the time, depression impairs cognitive performance.
   
   A healthy diet and regular check-ins with your doctor help in reducing anxiety and improving concentration power. Improving the intake of certain dietary supplements like Magnesium, Vitamin D, saffron, and Omega-3s may help alleviate anxiety symptoms.
   
   Reduced anxiety results in better focus, longer attention spans and obviously, less absenteeism.

2. Healthy Gut = Happier You
   

   Gut microbes exude happy hormones! Gut health and mental health are interdependent.
   
   According to a new survey, almost two-thirds of employees report clinically significant anxiety or depression symptoms.
   
   A ‘leaky gut’ or a damaged gut has a direct influence on mood and can induce depression. Gut bacteria have an essential role in maintaining mental and emotional wellbeing. They can help cure depression symptoms.
   
   Pharmaceuticals are a widely accepted cure for depression, but they come with side effects. Studies indicate that, despite a considerable spike in dosage, more than 33% of individuals no longer experience any sort of effects of pharmaceutical antidepressants over time.

3. Better Sleep Cycle
   

   Sleep is an important factor that influences mental health. A sound seven-hour sleep is considered healthy and aids gut health.
   
   Employees who don't get enough sleep have a harder time concentrating, learning, and communicating. Memory problems become more common. Problem-solving skills deteriorate.
   
   Specifically, poor sleep costs American businesses an estimated $60 billion in lost productivity. Without sleep, your employees operate slower and less efficiently.
   
   Fatigue-related productivity losses are projected to cost $1,967 per employee per year. Naturally, employees with a good sleep cycle perform better than employees suffering from insomnia.
   
   Melatonin - a sleep-inducing hormone is generated in the gut. Another proof of how gut health and mental health are closely knit.
   
   A gut care program can help employers take care of their employees' sleep cycle by feeding the good bacteria and maintaining the health of their gut.

4. Lower Stress levels
   

   Only a strong gut can build a strong mind.
   
   Stress is known to have adverse effects on health and mental well being.
   
   Gut health can impact stress levels and the nutrients absorbed by the body. To protect the body from food-related microorganisms, the intestines have a strong barrier. Stress can weaken the intestinal barrier, allowing bacteria from the gut to enter the body.
   
   Stress is linked to lower organizational performance, lower employee overall performance, a high rate of errors and poor job quality, high staff turnover, and absenteeism due to health issues such as anxiety and emotional disorders.
   
   Employers need a holistic gut care solution program that will help their employees to be emotionally and physically fit.
   
   Digbi Health is an advanced and forward-thinking customized digital care startup that uses the gut microbiome, genetics, clinical signals, diet, and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide simple, effective, whole-person precision assistance to people with polychronic illnesses. We address the underlying causes of their mental and physical illnesses.
   
   Gift your employees the opportunity to live a healthy, disease-free life by introducing them to their genetics and gut microbiome.

FAQs

1. Can gut health affect mental health?
   Recent studies prove that gut health and mental health are closely associated. An unhealthy gut sends signals to the brain which in turn cause anxiety, stress, depression, etc.


2. How does the gut play a role in mental health?
   Gut bacteria have an important role in your mental and emotional wellbeing. They can help with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms.