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Tag: Microbiota
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…
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
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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…
Ready for Your Fecal Transplant?
Strange as it seems, someone else’s poop — a fecal transplant — could turn your life around. The fairest thing in nature, a flower, still has its roots in earth and manure. —D. H. Lawrence Yes, fecal transplants are a thing. And they are just as cringeworthy as you might imagine. But to someone dying of…
Can Oral Microbes Cause Dementia?
The gut microbiota is enjoying a renaissance. Everywhere you look, some kind of health issue is being traced back to gut microbes. Fortunately, gut microbiotas have been found to be largely beneficial unless — like a jungle with too many tigers — they get ecologically unbalanced. This tiny ecosystem starts with oral microbes that can…
Do You Have a Leaky Brain?
Recent research demonstrates a solid link between gut microbes and mental health. There are likely to be multiple mechanisms, but one theory stands above the others: Gut microbes may get unbalanced, like an ecosystem with too many hyenas, and lead to inflammation and even brain damage. This is the avoidable scourge of a leaky brain.…
A Surprising Way That Exercise Improves Your Mind
Research shows that exercise improves your microbiota, boosting your mood. Exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health, but it also has a surprising impact on your mood. That’s because there is an intriguing relationship between exercise, your gut microbes, and your brain. Research has found a correlation between the…
Coronavirus Drives Us to Drink and Our Microbes Are Enablers
Can a healthier gut microbiota help us to drink less? COVID-19 is making happy hour come earlier for many who are sheltering in place. But should we really be starting our day with Chardonnay over our Cheerios? Insidiously, the coronavirus may have enablers: your gut microbes. You have a unique set of microbes in your gut, called…
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…
Unending Fear and the Gut-Brain Axis
A mouse study finds a remarkable microbial connection to fear. A new study in Nature finds that gut microbes are essential for extinguishing the fear response in mice. This may help clinicians devise strategies for people with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study is the latest in a continuing exploration of the mechanics of the gut-brain axis. We’ve come a long…
Stress Can Kill You: How to Cope
Life stressors can lead to nasty diseases. Here’s how to chill out. For many of us, stress starts when we wake and ramps up throughout the day. We are steeped in it. For the worst afflicted, it can define their lives. We may no longer have to deal with lions on the savannah, but we…
Problems Sleeping? Look to Your Gut
How the bacteria in your gut manipulate your sleep patterns. Your gut is linked to your brain in surprising ways, and you may be losing sleep over it. Research into the gut-brain axis reveals that, amazingly, microbes in your gut can affect your mood—and along with that, your sleep patterns. Sleep disorders and depression are common among…
The Shocking Source of Your Cravings
Your gut microbiota brazenly gives you cravings to get what it wants. “If you’re not constantly craving breakfast every second of every day, you’re not a real American.” –Rob Riggle I have carefully honed my taste buds for years to appreciate the finer things in life like doughnuts and Cheetos. OK, I don’t actually remember choosing…
Developing Your Gut-Brain Axis: The First Thousand Days
In the first thousand days, proper brain growth depends on a healthy microbiota. 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…