4 Ways to Improve Mental Health and Clarity

Half of all United States citizens will be diagnosed with a mental illness within their lifetime, and chances are that their doctor will prescribe them a pharmaceutical to ‘treat’ the condition. Unfortunately, the antipsychotic or anti-depressant drugs that the doctor prescribe can ultimately lead to suicidal thoughts, type 2 diabetes, and an overall shortened lifespan – making it extremely important to know of ways to improve mental health without pharmaceuticals.

Improving gut health may be one of the most important ways to improve mental health. New research has shown that your mental health is actually influenced by gut health. The role of bacteria in your gut goes way beyond the stomach and intestines, majorly affecting the state of your brain. A disruption in natural gut bacteria can easily result in symptoms of mental illness, as research has shown using lab mice. Changes in the normal gut flora of the mice led to both behavioral and cognitive changes, making them less timid and more adventurous. Very similar to the symptoms of ADHD, where children start to misbehave seemingly-abruptly.

So how can you restore and maintain your gut health to ensure that you have optimum mental health and clarity?

4 Ways to Improve Mental Health and Clarity

1. Eliminate or Severely Limit Sugar Consumption

Inflammation is the most common cause of poor digestion and overall gut health. Sugar is a leading cause of inflammation, with the average American consuming 100 grams of sugar each day in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. Of course, 50% of high fructose corn syrup has also been found to contain toxic mercury, which will wreak havoc on your body. Sugar will also feed the yeast and bad bacteria in the intestinal tract, leading to an imbalance between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ forms of gut bacteria. When you have too much ‘bad’ bacteria, digestive conditions arise.

Limit your sugar consumption to 16 grams per day or less and watch your gut health drastically improve along with your mental health and clarity.

2. Eat Probiotic Rich Foods or Take a Powerful Probiotic Supplement

Many people looking for ways to improve mental health often gloss over the ingestion of probiotics. In order to restore the balance of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria, you need to replenish your good bacteria through the intake of probiotics. This can be done through natural foods or high quality supplementation, though you may find that consuming such foods is a challenge. Fermented food items such as sauerkraut, tempeh, miso or kefir are all rich sources of probiotic bacteria. There are countless probiotic supplements out there, but most either contain toxic fillers or do not even reach the gut due to improper capsule production. I personally take and recommend Latero-Flora, it’s free of fillers and will make it through the stomach acid into the gut.

3. Chew Your Food

Not only does properly chewing your food lead to fat loss, but it can also help to preserve and restore your gut health. Chewing your food until it is nearly a liquid will allow your digestive system to work less, and won’t leave undigested pieces of food to float around your digestive tract. This is among the most simplest of ways to improve mental health.

4. Cleanse Your Colon

By age 40, the average person has an estimated 10 to 20 pounds of compacted fecal matter stuck in the intestinal tract. This is a result of undigested food buildup, mostly from dairy and meat products. Left to rot, the compacted matter often compromises the health of the colon, which severely hinders your ability to fight off disease. As a result, an unhealthy digestive system is often impacted with mucus, toxins, and unwanted waste. This can trigger conditions such as:

• Bloating
• Weight problems
• Mood swings
• Constipation
• Back Pain
• Headaches

The most effective way of eliminating this buildup is through cleansing the colon without the use of harsh laxatives. Many colon cleansers use extremely powerful laxatives to simply eliminate the contents of your stomach, but this does almost nothing. An oxygen-based colon cleanser is a very effective way to eliminate toxic buildup from your colon and subsequently restore gut health.

Before turning to harsh pharmaceuticals, test a few of these ways to improve mental health and clarity to see what works for you. Don’t forget to share your findings with others!