Your cart is currently empty!
Category: Microbiota
The Standard American Diet (SAD) is making us miserable.
What we eat has a huge impact on our moods and cognition. Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. – Hippocrates Can food affect your mood? Of course, it can, especially in the short term. Who hasn’t joyfully consumed a candy bar or a bag of cheese nips? It can be the…
Do Microbes Make Us Social?
“Microbes may have influenced the evolution of the social brain and behavior as a means to propagate their own genetic material.” —Cryan, Dinan, et al., Science Do our gut microbes make us party animals? It sounds preposterous, but nothing beats socializing when it comes to spreading microbes. And, perhaps, nothing beats microbes when it comes…
Developing Your Gut-Brain Axis: The First Thousand Days
As a spanking new baby, you are completely defenseless against the dangerous pathogens in the world. Your mother’s beneficial microbes—delivered by vaginal bacteria, breast milk, and even kisses—are designed to protect you against that onslaught by kick-starting your very own microbiota. Mother’s milk is a wonderful substance that includes prebiotics, probiotics and even a rudimentary immune system…
Your Immune System Is Aging. Here’s How to Rejuvenate It.
Aging brings some rewards. Our acne clears up and we have a small chance of becoming wise. But most of the effects of aging are not so great. Wrinkles, stiff joints and forgetfulness are just a few of the things we have to look forward to. But the worst insult may be the aging of our…
The Gut-Brain Axis Is More Important Than We Thought
A new study highlights the gut-brain connection in psychiatric patients. Gut-brain research continues to provide extraordinary insight into the effect microbes have on our mental health, and a new Chinese study ups the ante. If you are depressed or anxious, how likely is it that the cause is gut-related? Is this something that psychiatrists should be…
What is the Diversity Diet?
Diversity is a hot topic these days. Certain TV pundits will tell you that diversity is a bad thing, but Mother Nature begs to disagree. Ecology always favors diversity. Diversity allows redundancy: when several creatures can perform the same task, losing one is not fatal to the ecosystem. Variety thus creates a more resilient network, with a great store…
The Psychobiotic Revolution
—
by
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to have more focus and energy than you do? Their secret may be psychobiotics (read on). We all have microbes in our intestines, and some are better than others when it comes to keeping us alert and motivated. Don’t despair, you too can have a better gut…
Be Good to Your Microbes, You’re Probably Stuck with Them
For better or worse, gut microbes form long-lasting communities. You got your first microbes as a birthday present from your mother. The earliest of them came from the birth canal and were followed up by microbe-laden breast milk. Over time, you became the proud possessor of trillions of microbes, called your microbiota. If you were…
Can Gut Microbes Predict COVID-19 Severity?
A healthy gut microbiome might improve COVID-19 outcomes. COVID-19 is notorious for striking harder at older patients, often landing them in bed, hooked up to a ventilator. Once that happens, the odds get grim: according to one report, only one in seven intubated patients survived. No one knows exactly why some patients are affected more than…