Boosting serotonin can really bust sugar cravings.

This neurotransmitter is a natural mood stabilizer, so getting that quick release will definitely help you to fight the cravings when they're emotionally driven.

Boosting serotonin will help to combat both depression and anxiety, helping you ward off those down feelings and rapid-cycling thoughts that often lead us straight to the cookie jar for a little self-soothing.

Exercise is an easy way to give the brain a little something to work with. Research shows that exercise is linked to higher serotonin levels.

It doesn't have to be a tough or long workout.

Simply going for a walk or jogging enough to get your heart rate up should do the trick. Try to give yourself 15-20 minutes for the best results.

Plus, this will give you enough time to maybe even forget about your sugar cravings altogether.

This method combines both chemical release and distraction techniques for good results, tackling the issue from the root.

Fatigue is a very powerful force in our cravings because it messes with our hormones.

Appetite regulation is controlled by digestive hormones like ghrelin, leptin, and cholecystokinin.

Ghrelin signals hunger, while leptin tells us when we're full. When we're not getting enough sleep, studies show that leptin levels can drop by up to 18% and ghrelin can spike up to 30% - those numbers are huge!

Many people who experience regular cravings can link them back to strong feelings of fatigue.

These hormone imbalances are linked to increased hunger - particularly for carbohydrate-rich foods.

A simple nap won't fix the fluctuation hormones if you're chronically sleep-deprived. In that case, it's good to reset your sleeping habits and make getting those 7-8 hours a priority.

This could be the key to saying goodbye to cravings for good. For a quick fix and easy distraction, 15-20 minutes will do your brain and body good.

If you have the freedom to do so, this can be the key to getting through the afternoon slump.

If your cravings tend to hit hard as soon as you make your way home from work, take a snooze before you tend to the house, cooking, and all your other responsibilities.

Is there anything meditation can't address?

If you keep your practice consistent, not really. It provides some space in the day - space to just be, and not to think about anything at all.

Just 10-15 minutes spent sorting your thoughts, letting them pass by, and tending to your brain can be just as rejuvenating as a nap, and just as effective for stress relief as a serotonin boost from exercise.

It can be really simple, and if you can fit scrolling on Facebook into your day, you can definitely squeeze in a meditation session.

I recommend using the app Headspace.

In one study done with subjects who suffer from binge eating disorder, meditation decreased binge frequency from around 4 times per week to 1.5 instances which is a massive drop!

It also showed an increase in the perceived sense of control, which we know is a major component of cravings and giving into them.

This indicates that meditation can be therapeutic on a larger scale, so using it as an intervention for sugar cravings - and developing a consistent schedule to treat the root of comfort eating or emotional eating - can be incredibly helpful.

Read more about the amazing benefits of meditation.

Individuals who keep a food journal stick to good eating habits more often and lose more weight. A little accountability goes a long way.

There are two reasons why this intervention technique works for random cravings. First, you can log what you are about to eat now.

It's on paper or entered into your phone, so you can check out how it stacks up to the rest of your day.

Chances are, it will at least make you think twice. If not, now you've at least come to terms with whatever your craving might be, and you have something to look back on when it hits again.

Think about tracking your mood, fatigue levels, and anything else that might be driving the craving in your journal.

Alternatively, try logging the snack you are allowing yourself to have, and using it as a tool to set a limit for yourself.

Some people have no trouble stopping at a specified amount of a sugary snack and can fit it into their day seamlessly, but others face big triggers with food without brakes.

If you use a food journal to practice portion control instead of abstinence, this tactic could still help you implement some damage control.

Siberian ginseng is often considered an adaptogen, which is simply a compound that increases the body's ability to tolerate stress, increasing our threshold and reducing our negative reaction to it - physically and emotionally.

We understand stress as a threat to optimal cognitive functioning, so it's no surprise that a relative with a different chemical makeup - American ginseng - makes the list today.

Research has shown that consumption improves working memory, visuospatial short-term memory, choice reaction time accuracy, and calmness.

Ginseng root can easily be brewed into tea.

Always make sure to seek out quality ginseng. It can be a rather expensive ingredient to purchase, but it's not always worth it to seek bargains in this case.

Acetyl-L-Carnitine or ALCAR is an acetylated version of Carnitine. Carnitine is often used for athletic performance, but ALCAR definitely has more mental components than its relative.

Acetylcholine is a primary neurotransmitter associated with learning, computation, memory, analysis, and perception. Basically, it's key to unlocking our best brains.

Studies have shown it to be effective in increasing acquisition and retention rates, reduction in Alzheimer's-related cognitive decline, and beneficial for enhancing spatial and temporal memory.

Finally, it may reduce oxidative damage in the hippocampus - our brain's memory center. It has also been used as a treatment for alcoholism-related cognitive issues.

You might be more familiar with curcumin as the active constituent in one of our all-time favorite spices - turmeric!

We know that turmeric is antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and provides therapeutic treatment for depression.

It also improves the nervous system and has the ability to slow down inflammation-related aging processes and diseases.

It’s been shown to reverse and protect hippocampal neuron damage in response to stress and act as an enzyme that modulates the release of serotonin and dopamine – those “good mood” chemicals that are underproduced in the depressed brain, helping to boost cognition.

Turmeric’s antioxidant activity protects against vascular dementia, which is brain damage caused by multiple strokes.

Oh, and due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant abilities, curcumin has promise as an outstanding neuroprotective agent.

Now, I didn't mean to knock on caffeine earlier. In fact, it is good for boosting the brain, and you're probably no stranger to its positive effects.

A lot of people truly rely on their morning cuppa to get them going, and their brains suffer without it.

For some, this may simply be due to the fact that caffeine is addictive, and many of us have a dependence on it. For others, it's a treat on a day when the brain can use it. Either way, it's all about striking a balance.

High caffeine can work adversely, causing anxiety, a lack of focus, dehydration, headache, and scatter-brained thoughts.

Research shows that low to moderate caffeine consumption improves in endurance, cognitive function, alertness, vigilance, mood, and perception of fatigue.

The sweet spot? 38 to 400 mg per day, which is approximately 1 to 8 cups of tea, or 0.3 to 4 cups of brewed coffee.

Ashwagandha is another powerful adaptogen. Considering its long list of benefits, it's not surprising that it's a great supplement for longevity.

Not only is it good for preventing diabetes, treating chronic pain, and killing cancer cells, but it’s potentially useful in warding off degenerative diseases Alzheimer’s, and preventing trauma after head injury - pretty powerful stuff.

Taking ashwagandha has also proven to be effective in improving memory, sustaining attention, executive functioning, and speeding up information-processing.

Lastly, since it naturally improves stress tolerance, we can expect to see less of a negative impact of stress on our thinking, hopefully helping to clear up judgment, positive thinking, and mental health.

These are just some of the natural boosters that can improve your cognitive function. It goes without saying that good sleep, diet and regular exercise  will have a huge impact on your brain, so make sure to dial those in before you start getting into supplementation and natural remedies.

This article was fact checked for accuracy by Dr. Kim Langdon, MD. As always, this is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you talk with your doctor.

First, it's important to differentiate B12 from other vitamins. The body doesn’t make B12 which means we need to consume it.

The best source of B12 we can take in often comes from animal foods, but bread and cereals are often fortified with it which can be another good source - particularly for elderly people.

Another important thing to consider is that the body doesn’t store vitamin B12 for long, so consumption should be consistent and often to keep levels healthy.

Deficiency does not simply come down to how much of that nutrient you take in via diet; it comes down to how well you absorb it (directly related to gut health), demand of the nutrient due to physiological factors, genetics that impact utilization, and more which we will discuss further in the next section.

Deficiency is much more common in the elderly population, so individuals over the age of 65 should regularly getting serum levels tested.

Finally, B12 deficiency is closely linked to two other important factors: folate and homocysteine. B12 functions a lot like like folate (vitamin B9).

If a folic acid supplement is taken, it can mask - but not address - vitamin B12 deficiency.

It's also worth noting that people with low folate levels also tend to have low B12 levels, and higher homocysteine levels (3). B12 is required to convert homocysteine back into thiamine (vitamin B1).

In this section, we want to cover both symptoms of deficiency and some key factors that make individuals more susceptible to developing B12 deficiency.

It's important to address both ends of the spectrum for treatment and preventative measures, especially because deficiency tends to be asymptomatic; for example, B12 deficiency won’t cause anemia until Stage 4.

Earlier signs include weakness, tingling in the hands and feet, balance problems, irregular/rapid heartbeat, confusion, weakness, or sudden loss of appetite.

• Deficiency is a common cause of macrocytic and pernicious anemia - the latter being an autoimmune disorder - and has been linked to neuropsychiatric disorders (1).
• Patients with depression tend to have low folate levels (associated with B12/homocysteine) (3).
• People with immune system disorders are more likely to have B12 deficiency.
• Thinning of the stomach lining or atrophic gastritis makes individuals more prone to B12 deficiency due to reduction in absorption.
• Low blood levels of folate and vitamin B12, and elevated homocysteine levels are associated with Alzheimer’s (2).

Homocysteine is an amino acid that results during the breakdown of protein in the body. When found in high concentrations, it's been linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Elevated homocysteine levels are thought to contribute to plaque formation by damaging arterial walls.

Like we mentioned above, it's not just vitamin B12 we need, and many of these symptoms are thought to be linked to a host of deficiency or in homocysteine's case - overload.

B12 deficiency is also strongly linked to neurological disorders and brain/nerve damage (personality changes, dementia, MS, Parkinson’s, general, cognitive decline).

It's also associated with learning disabilities in children and infertility. B12 virtually affects every tissue in the body, so there's a reason we stress its importance. 

If you believe you might be deficient or you are someone whose physiological conditions make it more likely that you'll develop a deficiency, what's your next step?

Good question! Sometimes, supplementation just isn't enough. Besides, finding out if you're actually in need of a boost can be tough enough.

The serum B12 test doctors most often use doesn’t pick up everyone with deficiency because it only measures the B12 in the blood. We need to pick up more sensitive markers to detect it earlier.

Even so, getting a test is very simple and can give you an idea of where your blood levels of vitamin B12 stand.

If you feel as though you are truly at risk of deficiency and subject to serious health issues because of it, we recommend more sensitive testing such as a methylmalonic acid or MMA test.

Over 50% of vegans are deficient, and 7% of vegetarians (based on serum B12 testing). Sensitive markers detect deficiency at earlier stages with 83% of vegans being deficient and 63% of vegetarians being deficient.

This indicates the need for accurate testing, and also how high-risk non-meat eaters are for deficiency. All plant-based eaters should be supplementing with B12.

Now, let's discuss preexisting conditions that impact B12 levels. Treating or fixing H. pylori infection - a bacterium found in the stomach and duodenum- can increase B12 absorption, fix deficiency and treat anemia (5). 

People with digestive issues, leaky gut and conditions that affect the small intestine such as Crohn’s, celiac disease, bacterial growth, and parasites are more likely to be deficient in vitamin B12.

This leads us to believe that treating leaky gut will significantly increase our body's ability to absorb B12 and prevent deficiency.

Intestinal permeability is a good marker of how well we absorb all nutrients, so if you're struggling with gut issues or autoimmunity, getting enough B12 is crucial.

Studies show that supplementation with oral vitamin B12 is a safe and effective treatment for addressing deficiency states (1).

If you're not taking in a lot of animal foods or fortified grains, vitamin B12 has good bioavailability. Like with any vitamin or mineral, whole food sources are the best and easiest for our bodies to use.

B12 is found in meat and dairy products; the best animal sources are liver and kidney, but you can also get it in any animal foods such as fish (especially sardines), meat, poultry, eggs, milk, and milk products.

A great plant food source of B12 is nutritional yeast. No matter the source, it's good to remember that only tiny amounts of vitamin B12 can be absorbed at once (4).

This reinforces the notion that B12 intake should be consistent.

Last month we did a series of blog posts about skin health (you can read them here), and today we're jumping right below the surface.

In fact, we're heading deep into our belly to explore the multi-faceted areas of gut health and its role in health and wellbeing.

Gut health is a fascinating topic and plays a huge part in our health and wellbeing. 

Some people even refer to gut as 'our second brain,' the 9-meter long enteric nervous system, embedded in the walls of the gut.

It's a host to approximately 100 trillion bacteria and other microbes, known as our microbiome.  

These microbes are there to break down food, fight infection, and boost the immune system.

It's no surprise that when those microbes aren't present, we face dysfunction.

While a core community of microbes is common to most healthy individuals, 2/3 of it depends on genetics, diet, overall health, and location.

In a healthy gut, there will be a balance of good and bad bacteria that ensure the gut lining is healthy and intact.

Without that balance, though, we face the problem of leaky gut, which is the focus of today's article.

Leaky gut sounds pretty unpleasant, and truthfully, it's exactly what it sounds like. Leaky gut - or increased intestinal permeability - occurs when the intestinal tract lining is damaged in some way.

Due to its damage, which you can think of as causing leaks, it's more vulnerable to substances that shouldn't be passing that lining.

The only consumable things that should pass that delicate barrier are nutrients derived from fully digested food - vitamins, minerals, emulsified fats, amino acids, and simple sugars.

When the gut is leaky, we end up taking in undigested food particles, bacteria, and toxins that enter circulation.

When that happens, the body starts to fight because that is its natural reaction to inflammation, and this will generally be part of why you react to your leaky gut symptoms, which we'll get into more of below.

It makes it simpler to understand if we can trace it back to an inflamed gut, though.

To begin with, symptoms can include fatigue, bloating, gas, feeling sick after meals, inflammation, digestive issues, migraine, anxiety, and more.

The primary cause for leaky gut is unknown but some experts sum it up as poor diet, chronic stress, toxin overload, and bacterial imbalance.

Celiac disease is the most commonly associated condition linked to a leaky gut.

Here are some of the key signs that you might have a leaky gut, and how to address those problems from the inside out.

This is perhaps the most vicious cycle of them all when it comes to leaky gut.

Food sensitivities are actually the leading cause of symptoms related to damaged gut permeability.

Permeability of the gut has been shown to increase after exposure to allergens, and increased permeability is also a result of food allergies.

It's a never-ending cycle unless you find out what those foods are.

In more severe cases, people with eczema, allergic reaction skin rash (urticaria), and asthma are shown to have a more permeable gut lining (1).

Take into consideration, though, that these are just individuals with strict food allergies.

Many otherwise healthy foods could be the cause of leaky gut; it all depends on our body's reaction to those foods.

There's not a very simple way to measure reactions to foods besides your own instinct and severity of symptoms, but gut permeability testing can be an effective way of identifying those triggers.

You can also identify sensitivities with the Mediator Release Test.

It's important to note that sensitivities are not allergies.

This means the reactions you experience will differ from individual to individual, and can be pretty mild on the surface, unlike allergic reactions.

You might experience a migraine after eating wheat while others will primarily feel the negative digestive effects.

Sensitivities are also more likely to be had to multiple foods, while most people are only allergic to one or two.

In order to repair the gut lining, an elimination diet must be followed. For allergies, this elimination is permanent.

For sensitivities, it's best to follow a strict plan and reintroduce foods after at least 30 days on a one-by-one basis to see if you have reactions.

Eliminating the food will ideally help you understand its impact better. The autoimmune protocol is a great introduction to elimination diets designed to help you repair leaky gut.

This might be one of the most obvious symptoms to someone who doesn't otherwise know much about leaky gut.

Considering the gut encompasses all of our digestive organs from the esophagus to the anus, naturally, its overall health impacts digestion big time.

Like we mentioned above, those food sensitivities' main reactive symptoms could very clearly be happening in the intestines as a result or as a cause of leaky gut.

Autoimmune conditions and anxiety can also impact digestion and be linked to the gut. Most leaky gut symptoms are connected, and addressing leaky gut as a whole is key.

Those gut microbes? Think of them as the housekeeper to the digestive system. They're there to regulate, clean, and repair.

The dysfunction often comes down to lack of nutrient absorption and malnutrition (which we talk about below), because of the gut isn't functioning right, the microbiota isn't being fed those nutrients as they aren't properly digesting.

It is during this stage of digestion - or lack thereof - that intolerance forms, because the digestive system doesn't know what to do with the food.

At the end of the day, good digestion is a very strong marker for overall health and wellbeing, so addressing it at the gut is important.

Repairing the gut is a top priority, particularly for people with digestive disorders like Crohn's or IBS.

In individuals with Crohn's disease in remission, supplementing with zinc was shown to resolve alterations in permeability which could reduce the risk of relapse. (2)

Another solution that could help many individuals with digestion is digestive enzyme therapy.

Enzyme supplementation may improve conditions in people with malabsorption disorders (8).

Depression is invasive, it doesn't discriminate, and it's often tough to figure out why it happens.

Recent evidence has linked MDD or major depressive disorder to the inflammatory response system, which helps us trace symptoms to the gut.

We also know that pro-inflammatory cytokines and lipopolysacharides may actually cause depressive symptoms.

Finally, there's a link to the brain because gut microbes not only control leakage through the intestinal lining, but they also control leakage through the blood-brain barrier (6).

Is "leaky brain" a symptom of leaky gut?

It's also helpful to view major depressive disorder as an inflammatory response which helps us to better trace it.

The possibility is out there that prebiotics (a form of gut-healthy resistant starch) and probiotic foods can influence mental health (5), so we see a can assume that probiotic treatment and replacing bad bacteria in the gut with good bacteria could eventually lead to better moods and stabilization over time.

Specifically, Bifidobacterium (a strain of bacteria you will find in a good probiotic) was more effective than treating depression in mice than Lexapro, a popular anti-depressant (7).

When we look at studies done with germ-free mice, their stress hormone output is higher and the adrenal, pituitary, and thyroid output is very dysfunctional, so there is a very clear link between gut flora and hormone production, which can truly make or break mental health.

These mice also tended to be anti-social and present gastrointestinal issues. Fortunately, there's no such thing as a 100% germ-free human, but there are people who lack that good bacteria, thus resulting in poor hormone function.

With depression and other mental health disorders, the research isn't all there yet, but it's quite promising.

Microbial compounds use the vagus nerve to communicate which is connected to both the brain and the intestinal lining, so it's clear that our gut flora is impacting the chemicals up top (6).

Then, metabolites that are microbially derived interact with the immune system, keeping that communication with the brain open.

It makes us hopeful for targeting gut microbiota as a means of preventing and treating common mental health disorders.

Autoimmune disease is another example of the double-edged sword of leaky gut.

Autoimmunity is both a symptom and a cause of poor gut health, making it difficult to work around.

Autoimmune disease can be caused by changes in the gut microbiome.

Like I mentioned before, the autoimmune protocol and its gut-healing elimination technique can work very well for individuals who face a lot of food sensitivities as autoimmunity is often the problem.

There are over 80 recognized autoimmune disorders including Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and type I diabetes.

We can mostly link them to genetics, environmental factors, and gut dysbiosis (10).

Let's look at why. First, we can trace autoimmunity back to T cells. Inflammation and autoimmune disease can be caused by defects in the body's regulatory T cells as this can alter the type of bacteria that resides in the gut (9).

The good news? The most effective way to avoid autoimmune flares, in this case, is to replace the missing gut bacteria.

For example, L. reuteri (a probiotic) and other AZA receptor antagonists may provide therapeutic benefits in T cell-mediated autoimmunity.

Moreover, if gut dysbiosis can be corrected through manipulation of gut commensals on mucosal and systemic immunity, we could see benefits without side effects (11).

This is related to the pathogenesis or the development of a disease, helping us to look at both its root and its progression.

With an autoimmune disease, it's very important to identify triggers.

Many people with an autoimmune disease experience remission with proper diet and probiotic intake while also avoiding toxins in their environment from smoke, alcohol, pollution, infectious agents, heavy metals, and high stress among other factors.

An elimination diet, control of the environment, and managing stress efficiently can reduce or eliminate symptoms entirely.

Here's another symptom that can also be a cause, reinforcing the need for gut healing if it's damaged.

Many people who are eating a healthy, nutrient-dense diet are actually malnourished if they have leaky gut syndrome.

It's less about the nutrients we take in, and more about how bioavailable they are and how effectively they're being absorbed during digestion.

If the epithelial cells are damaged - the layer of cells that line both the large and small intestine, we see a decrease in trans-cellular absorption (1).

The trans-cellular route is where nutrients are absorbed.

Because the epithelium regenerates every 3-6 days, it has some pretty steep metabolic demands.

If those demands aren't being met with nutrition, the epithelium won't heal thus feeding into that vicious cycle.

Over time, this type of malnutrition and malabsorption can lead to conditions related to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, worsening leaky gut.

Optimally, we can address this issue by looking at what aids in the wound healing process of intestinal epithelial cells.

One of the best ways to do so is with a daily dose of quality probiotics which will help maintain gut homeostasis and protect the epithelial cells from injury (3).

It's also important to continue eating a nutrient-rich diet, consider eliminations, cut back on sugar and starch, and include fermented foods with gut-friendly bacteria like kimchi, beet kvass, and sauerkraut for healing.

The gut is absolutely fascinating, and we're so excited to see more and more research make its way to the surface with even more discoveries regarding how we can better identify leaky gut and how we can fix it.

For now, we have loads of information to work with, and we hope you learned a bit more today.

This article was fact checked for accuracy by Dr. Kim Langdon, MD. As always, this is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you talk with your doctor.