The Gut-Brain Connection, and My Easy Water Kefir Recipe

Have you ever had a “gut feeling”, or felt butterflies before something big? That’s not just a figure of speech. Your gut and your brain are in constant conversation.

Your gut, your mood and your hormones

Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria, your microbiome. They help you digest your food, they’re a big part of your immune system, and they make substances that travel to your brain. Some even make the same messengers your nerve cells use.

That’s why, when your gut is out of balance, it rarely shows up as just a tummy problem. You might notice:

• bloating and digestive trouble
• low mood, anxiety or brain fog
• picking up every cold going
• skin flare-ups

Your gut bacteria also help your body clear the hormones it has finished with, including oestrogen. That’s one reason I always look at the gut when a woman comes to me with hormone symptoms. I’ve written more about that in The Gut-Hormone Connection No One Explained to You.

Feeding your gut the way our grandparents did

For generations, people fermented food to make it last: sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, miso. Without knowing it, they were feeding their gut bacteria every day. Most of us have lost that habit, and our gut bacteria take more knocks now from stress, processed food and courses of antibiotics.

The good news is that it’s easy to bring fermented foods back in, bit by bit:

• sauerkraut or kimchi (look for unpasteurised, in the fridge section)
• natural yoghurt or milk kefir
• miso
• kombucha
• water kefir

If you’re new to fermented foods, start small, a spoonful or a small glass. Some people find too much at once makes them bloated, especially if they have SIBO.

My easy homemade water kefir

I used to make my own water kefir all the time. These days, with two small children, I mostly reach for fermented foods I can easily buy, and that’s completely fine too. But if you have a bit of time, water kefir is a lovely, lightly fizzy drink and so easy to make at home.

You’ll need:

• water kefir grains
• 1 litre of water
• ¼ cup of organic cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon of organic blackstrap molasses (optional, for minerals)
• a large glass jar

Method:

1. Stir the sugar and molasses into the water in your jar until dissolved, then add the grains.
2. Cover with a cloth and leave at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, for 2–5 days. Taste it from day 2. It’s ready when it’s only slightly sweet.
3. Strain through a plastic or nylon sieve into a bottle with a lid, and keep it in the fridge.
4. Start again with your grains. They’ll multiply each time, so you can share them with friends and family.

A note on the sugar: the grains feed on it as they ferment, so most of it is used up, but some does stay in the drink. A small glass a day is plenty.

Is your gut trying to tell you something?

If bloating, low mood, skin or hormone symptoms keep coming back, I’d love to help you get to the bottom of it. We look at your gut and your hormones together, because they’re one conversation.

Book a consultation, or book a free 15-minute call if you’d like to chat first.