The answer is yes, probiotics can be beneficial for your brain and mental health. It’s essential, though, to understand where the research is at. That’s what we’re going to be looking at in this Free and Inspired radio episode.
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“I didn’t know there was a connection between my brain and digestive system.”
“The brain and digestion are connected in the literal sense. For example, the central nervous system, located in the brain and the spinal cord, and the “enteric nervous system”, located in the digestive system, communicate directly between each other.”
This network is where the digestive system gets the nickname the “second brain.”
The digestive system plays a critical role to protect our bodies from the outside world. The brain and the endocrine system (your hormones) combine to assist in this defence.
A quick introduction to probiotics, how they work and how they can help the brain.
The definition of a probiotic is as “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host.”
Philip covers the four key characteristics that make a probiotic beneficial to us including some of the main applications.
For example, in order to be probiotic a microorganism has to suppress undesirable bacteria in the gut.
That’s quite cool, but I’m interested to learn how probiotics might help my mental health.
Well, introducing the term “psychobiotics.”
In this episode, Philip introduces the definition of psychobiotics and some of their research.
For example, a meta-analysis found benefits for those using probiotics with depression scores and anxiety ratings in some cases whilst improving performance under stress in healthy subjects.
Did you know that probiotics produce brain chemicals such as GABA, serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine?
For example, Lactobacillus species create their versions of gut-derived neurotransmitters.
Find out more as Philip outlines just exactly how probiotics create these important compounds for your brain.
All this and more in this episode of Free and Inspired radio!
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