Can Probiotics Help With Mental Health?
'The gut and mood are connected via the so-called gut-brain axis,' says Dr. Miriam Stengel of SRH Klinikum Sigmaringen in Germany. 'It was first described in the 19th century by Dr. Beaumont, who investigated how anger affects the production of stomach acid and stomach function,' she explains.
According to research, understanding how the gut-brain axis works 'has led to the development of novel therapeutic approaches aimed at targeting the gut microbiota to improve brain disorders symptoms.' This research has led to the exploration of all sorts of microbiome-based therapeutic interventions—including the use of probiotics, prebiotics, and dietary interventions—as potential strategies aimed to support mental wellbeing.
Emotions and the microbiome
Since the 1980s, research has increasingly focused on the neurotransmitters, or chemical messengers, that exist in both the brain and in the gastrointestinal tract. These messengers influence many bodily functions—including emotional processes.
But these messengers need a healthy microbiome. After all, the microbiome does a lot: It influences the immune system and helps to defend against pathogens; it produces anti-inflammatory substances and vitamins; it synthesizes or influences the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and GABA.
Probiotics and the gut
'In the last ten years, another 'organ' has been discovered—the gut microbiome, i.e. all living organisms including bacteria, viruses, and fungi that populate our large intestine and contribute to our bodily functions in a variety of ways,' says Stengel.
Probiotics can specifically support this microbiome by supplementing beneficial bacterial cultures or promoting their growth. In this way, they could also indirectly influence emotional processes such as mood, stress processing, and motivation.
What are psychobiotics?
A healthy gut is an essential component of a healthy body, an insight that dates all the way back to Hippocrates who said that 'all diseases begin in the gut' over 2,000 years ago. Today, modern science is proving his point. In the discussion about emotional balance, the term 'psychobiotics'—special probiotic bacterial strains that influence the mood—is gaining traction.
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