probiotics and anxiety

[aroraborealis]

So, in talking about his anxiety with me, my brother mentioned that he's always been kind of anxious, but it got suddenly and substantially worse when he was in Mexico for a semester in college, after he got sick and was treated with antibiotics. "Hmm," thought I, "We're learning so much about the symbiotic connection between our bacterial friends and many of our other internal systems..." So I did a quick web search to see if this is something people are talking about at all.

Well, lo-and-behold, it is. It looks like there may, in fact, be a connection between our microbiome and our mental health, and though the factors and relationship are just being discovered and preliminarily explored, it looks kind of fascinating.

Do Probiotics Help Anxiety?
Probiotics a Potential Treatment for Mental Illness

The more you know, the more you know you don't know.

Comments

[jillbertini.livejournal.com]

Yes!

I was just saying this to another friend of mine. Does your brother eat any fermented foods? Those are a good source of probiotics - like sauerkraut, kimchee, miso, yogurt, etc ...

[redheadedmuse.livejournal.com]

This is fascinating! Thanks so much for sharing it.

[entrope.livejournal.com]

Yep. One of my professional colleagues, who is....erm....sometimes VERY ENTHUSIASTIC about dietary links to mental health - talks about this a lot.

[gothtique.livejournal.com]

I have been tracking my anxiety, desperately trying to identify triggers so that I can AVOID them.
Despite my immune system being repressed, I tend not to get sick... I don't remember the last time I was on an antibiotic... but I expect, having read this, I will pay closer attention to my anxiety levels if and when I do get put on antibiotics again.
Thank you for sharing!

[laurenhat.livejournal.com]

Oh, interesting! Thanks for sharing. A couple related NPR stories:
2013 print article
2011 Science Friday segment (with transcript)

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Whoa!

[goat.livejournal.com]

Yes! There are so so many serotonin receptors in the gut, and having the right balance of microbes really helps mood. I try to carefully curate my microbiome to ensure mental health.

[dakotakym.livejournal.com]

The correlation between happy digestion and overall health (including mental health) is a widely discussed topic these days amongst natural health enthusiasts, particularly in places like Weston Price Foundation, GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) Diet, and whole foods, traditional foods, primal/paleo, and fermented food communities. I've been learning about and experimenting with how my body and my clients' bodies respond to different fuel for awhile, and what people eat (or don't eat), as well as whether or not they know how to get out of "fight or flight" mode, definitely seems to affect how their soft tissue adapts and heals. It's really cool and endlessly interesting stuff.

[geekchick]

This is really interesting, thanks for posting it!

[heinleinfan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting, I may have to develop a taste for kombucha and see if it helps my anxiety levels any!