Can the Bacteria in Your Gut Explain Your Mood?

The New York Times Magazine ^ | June 23, 2015 | Peter Andrey Smith

[2ndDivisionVet]

The rich array of microbiota in our intestines can tell us more than you might think.

Eighteen vials were rocking back and forth on a squeaky mechanical device the shape of a butcher scale, and Mark Lyte was beside himself with excitement. ‘‘We actually got some fresh yesterday — freshly frozen,’’ Lyte said to a lab technician. Each vial contained a tiny nugget of monkey feces that were collected at the Harlow primate lab near Madison, Wis., the day before and shipped to Lyte’s lab on the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center campus in Abilene, Tex.

Lyte’s interest was not in the feces per se but in the hidden form of life they harbor. The digestive tube of a monkey, like that of all vertebrates, contains vast quantities of what biologists call gut microbiota. The genetic material of these trillions of microbes, as well as others living elsewhere in and on the body, is collectively known as the microbiome. Taken together, these bacteria can weigh as much as six pounds, and they make up a sort of organ whose functions have only begun to reveal themselves to science. Lyte has spent his career trying to prove that gut microbes communicate with the nervous system using some of the same neurochemicals that relay messages in the brain.

Inside a closet-size room at his lab that afternoon, Lyte hunched over to inspect the vials, whose samples had been spun down in a centrifuge to a radiant, golden broth.....

[Pelham]

“Never seen the digestive system described as a tube before.”

I first ran across that description in an article on “leaky gut syndrome”, which evidently affects people who actually do have a problem with gluten proteins. If you experience “leaky gut” then the digestive tube isn’t intact and proteins are able to penetrate into places where they shouldn’t go.

[donna]

You captured it exactly, lol.

[Yaelle]

So good to see this truth reaching the mainstream.

I hope you all read the article. Pass it to people who have MS, depression, autism.

Take aways for you all: eat real, fresh foods and healthy foods that are naturally fermented. Organic yogurts with full fat. Hard to find. Seek out sauerkraut made with only salt, not the vinegar kind. Don’t worry, it’s still deliciously sour. Eat at least a tbsp a day. Don’t wash the veggies and fruits grown in good quality soil (your garden). Eschew all round up treated foods and gardens.

All diseases improve —including cancer — when your gut bacteria is more diverse.

More good bacteria in your gut will improve your digestion, sleep, and mood.

[Yaelle]

You need to try soil based probiotics. What really helped me was Prescript Assist. There are others. S. Boulardii helps people. Surf around, research. Don’t stop the lacto, just add something new.

[Yaelle]

Yes: cravings comes from the bugs themselves. The really bad carb and sugar cravings need to be starved out. Eating your favorite savory foods really helps you go cold turkey. Smoked salmon and cooked greens really help me do a few days without sugary things.

[Pelham]

Thanks, I’ll look into it.

[MaxMax]

Your post is 100% on the mark. I suffered from acid reflux for at least a decade
while eating antacids and anything else on the shelf until I found fermented foods.
No more waking up in the night with a flaming esophagus and drinking a gallon of
water to flush my system.

Now when I rest it's peaceful and through the night. Anybody who suffers
from reflux alone might want to try the fermented, and it's only needed
in small amounts like you described in your post. After about five weeks
of twice daily doses of Fermented Curd my gut was normal and now I only need
to eat a small bit about every other day. I try to anticipate when I do need it
by what I eat that day.

And sauerkraut can't have vinegar in it for this purpose as you said. Only salt.

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

You got any websites that gives a detailed list of foods, recipes and the like on this topic?

[texas booster]

bump for later reading.

[FreedomPoster]

Likewise

[muggs]

I believe the impact of not being able to eliminate the feces also has an impact on your mood. It makes you feel miserable.

[muggs]

Make sure you get one that breaks down in the intestines, not the stomach. My neurologist recommends pro-biotics along with many other natural supplements.

[Billthedrill]

My gut bacteria speak to me all the time. At the moment they're calling for beer.

Here, however, is a break from the ridiculous cant we've been fed with respect to climate science. This is how real scientists speak:

Mazmanian, however, cautions that this research is still in its infancy. ‘‘We’ve reached the stage where there’s a lot of, you know, ‘The microbiome is the cure for everything,’ ’’ he said. ‘‘I have a vested interest if it does. But I’d be shocked if it did.’’

And,

Lyte issues the same caveat. ‘‘People are obviously desperate for solutions,’’ Lyte said when I visited him in Abilene. ‘‘My main fear is the hype is running ahead of the science.’’

Imagine that. No call for the UN to take charge of an international feces-improvement program. No call for an end to capitalism and a worldwide effort to find the optimal mix of tummy bugs. Just, "We think this might be true but maybe not."

Real science. Isn't it refreshing?

[muggs]

Sadly, most pro-biotics break down in the stomach, not where they are needed. They need to make it to the intestines. We are trying to find a way to get my grandson to swallow a pill. He still takes pro-biotics, hoping some of it will make it to the correct place.

His problem is so bad there is talk about a fecal transplant. Right now it’s just in the talking stages.

[muggs]

Where do you find sauerkraut with only salt?

[TomGuy]

Many pro-biotics are in a ‘shell’ capsule engineered to resist stomach acid and disolve in the lower tract.

Purchasers should check for that.

[muggs]

Thanks Tom Guy. That’s the kind my husband and I take but can’t figure out a way to get our 5 year old grandson to swallow a cap.

All 3 of us really need them, Husband has ulcerative colitis, grandson has autism with severe bowel issues and I have seizures and the neuro believes there is a gut/brain connection. Probably more info than anyone wanted to hear.

[MaxMax]

It's just fermented cabbage. Recipes all over the net, takes about a
week to make a mason jar of it. Good for a while unless you like it like I do. I think most store bought have vinegar.

[muggs]

Thanks MaxMax. I will look it up. It probably won’t stick around here that long either. I like all cruciferous vegetables.

[Cvengr]

Can the Bacteria in Your Gut Explain Your Mood?

The bacteria in my gut might cause a lot of symptoms, but they have yet to analyze, let alone explain anything to me, so I refuse to listen to them any more. What do they know about my mood? ;^)