More and more, we’re finding areas of the mind and body interacting in unexpected ways. It used to be that the mind was the mind and the body was the body. For all we knew, they were barely acquainted.
But not anymore. It turns out our intestines are in cahoots with our brains. And probiotics for brain health are a real benefit.
The Ways They Connect
The vagus nerve is the nerve that connects our intestines to our brain. And science is learning more about the vagus nerve all the time.
And the chemicals released by the microbiota (or as some call them, our little gut friends) also have an impact. Some of those chemicals affect our brains directly. Others affect our immune systems or relieve inflammation.
4 Reasons to Use Probiotics for Brain Health
- Probiotics may improve your mood. A study investigating major depressive disorder (MDD) found that depression improved after probiotics. Probiotics also improved some markers of insulin resistance and inflammation. This was the first study of MDD, but not of the effect of probiotics on depression and anxiety.
- Probiotics may also improve your stress level, including academic stress. One study tested probiotics on medical students facing a test. It helped.
- Probiotics may have a positive effect on some symptoms of schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis.
- Those with TBI (traumatic brain injury) are at a higher risk of infection. Studies show that adding probiotics to the feeding tube reduces the risk of infection.
Conclusion
There are effective probiotics for brain health. Finding and studying the right strains for a particular condition is no easy task. But now that we know where to look, we can expect some fascinating scientific breakthroughs in the years to come.
