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Eating a healthy, balanced diet that supports a diverse microbiome is protective against numerous mental health-related conditions such as anxiety and depression. The relatively new field of Nutritional Psychiatry focuses on how diet and gut health can positively or negatively affect mood.

The gut is necessary for life, as it digests energy and nutrients which are then delivered to cells throughout the body. The immune system has a large presence in the digestive system. The immune system typically functions fine and helps keep potential invaders from causing harm in the body, however, many autoimmune diseases begin in the gut. When the immune system attacks healthy cells in the gut, a number of issues can occur and result in various autoimmune diseases.

The medical community once thought that the gut was an incredibly simple system that was easy to understand. The original thought was that the digestive system was only responsible for absorbing the nutrients in food, while discarding the parts of the food that have no use. That thought has completely changed over the past 100 years or so. The medical community now understands what role the gut plays in several key areas.