The gut microbiome has an intriguing relationship to mental health. Communication along the gut-brain axis is strongly implicated in depression and anxiety in animal models. Attempts to replicate rodent study outcomes in humans are encouraging. In one study, a strain of bifidobacterium … [Read more...] about Gut Feeling: More than a Hunch
anxiety
Age of Anxiety Calls for Probiotic Research
With soaring numbers of people taking anxiety-reducing drugs, it is good to remember that anxiety is a highly-valuable defense mechanism evolved over many thousands of years of evolution. Anxiety triggers cortisol release in essential fight-or-flight responses. Ergo, a calm demeanor in the face of … [Read more...] about Age of Anxiety Calls for Probiotic Research
Probiotics May Be the New Prozac
Evolution carved out a special place for anxiety, an often helpful emotion which triggers cortisol release in fight-or-flight responses. Anxiety can save your life. But these days anxiety from uniquely modern stressors—health screenings, computer meltdowns, traffic jams, noise pollution and … [Read more...] about Probiotics May Be the New Prozac
Probiotics: A No-Brainer for Brain Health
Drugs target serotonin to reduce depression and other mood disorders. Could probiotics do the same, given that the microbiome is one smooth operator in gut-brain signaling?[i] Researchers Caroline J. K. Wallace and Roumen Milev of Queens University in Ontario asked the same in “The effects of … [Read more...] about Probiotics: A No-Brainer for Brain Health