When it comes to brain health, go with your gut

DetoxLogicfrom the OmniVista Health Learning News Desk

The majority of the science for probiotics has focused on gut health. But as the understanding of the gut and the microbiome increases, probiotics are increasingly linked to a range of beneficial effects. From weight management to immune support and allergy response, and from oral health to cholesterol reduction.

Now, researchers are finally looking at the “gut-brain axis,” or the communication between the gut microbiota and the brain.

Data from rodent studies has indicated that modification of the gut microbiota can affect the brain’s signaling mechanisms, instinctive reflexes, and even emotional behavior.

And thanks to another recent, groundbreaking discovery, we now know there is a direct connection between the brain and the gut through the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. A direct path of communication scientists never new was there before. These systems regulate blood flow to and from the brain. And the enteric nervous system contains a number of neurons (including motor neurons) that extend along the entire length of the gut.

Which is why it now makes perfect sense that the bacteria in your gut can affect the communication between your belly and brain. And how the lack of healthy gut microbiota can lead to dysfunction in the gut–brain axis, which in turn may lead to a variety of disorders, from neuropsychological to gastrointestinal.

Beyond this, intervention trials with select strains of probiotics have revealed that supplementation may influence mood (Lactobacillus casei Shirota), and anxiety and depression (L. helveticus and B. longum).

So it’s time probiotics seriously got their due. And maybe they are: there is an event called Probiota America taking place this year. It’s a step in the right direction.

Source:

“Psychobiotics and the gut-brain axis: in the pursuit of happiness.” Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment. 2015, Volume 11, Pages 715-723.

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Research/Psychobiotics-Modulation-of-gut-microbiota-may-hold-the-key-to-neuropsychological-disorders