From: mha23x@gmail.com   
      
   Brain-gut connection: Beneficial bacteria, probiotics ingested with food may   
   affect brain function: Study    
      
      
   By: Bel Marra Health | Colon And Digestive | Saturday, September 24, 2016 -   
   08:30 AM    
      
      
   Brain-gut connection: Beneficial bacteria, probiotics ingested with food may   
   affect brain function: Study    
      
   How we feel about things can be revealed by our stomach. There’s an intimate   
   connection between our brain and our stomach – commonly referred to as the   
   brain-gut connection – that’s hard at work 24/7. As research now shows,   
   those butterflies are    
   like pin pricks of dread for the tummy, turning you into a physical and mental   
   ball of nerves. The stomach is like a control center for mood and other brain   
   functions.    
      
   A troubled intestine can send signals to the brain, just as a troubled brain   
   can send signals to the gut. Therefore, a person’s stomach or intestinal   
   distress can be the cause or the product of anxiety, stress, or depression.   
   The brain and the    
   gastrointestinal (GI) system are intimately connected, so much so they should   
   be viewed as one system. So when you look at how to improve digestion   
   naturally, you’re also benefiting the health of your grey matter.    
      
   Changing gut bacteria through diet alters brain function in humans    
      
   Researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles revealed some of   
   the first evidence that bacteria ingested in food can affect brain function in   
   humans. In other words, eating the right food can help your mental outlook,   
   changing how your brain    
   responds to the environment. Stressed out? Eat yogurt, for starters.    
      
   In their study of healthy women, the researchers found that women who   
   regularly consumed beneficial bacteria known as probiotics through yogurt (one   
   serving, twice a day) showed altered brain function, both while in a resting   
   state and in response to an    
   emotion-recognition task.    
      
   Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans conducted both before and   
   after the four-week study period looked at the women’s brains in a state of   
   rest and in response to a task, where they viewed a series of images of people   
   with angry or    
   frightened faces and matched them to other faces showing the same emotions.   
   This task, designed to measure the engagement of affective and cognitive brain   
   regions in response to a visual stimulus, was chosen because previous research   
   in animals had    
   linked changes in gut flora to changes in affective behaviors.    
      
   The researchers found that, compared with the women who didn’t consume the   
   probiotic yogurt, those who did showed a decrease in activity in certain areas   
   of the brain linked to emotion and behavior. They remained calm and “in   
   control” throughout.    
      
   There are studies showing that what we eat can alter the composition and   
   products of the gut flora. In particular, research shows that people with   
   high-vegetable, fiber-based diets have a different composition of their   
   microbiota, or gut environment,    
   than people who eat the more typical Western diet that is high in fat and   
   carbohydrates. Now we know that this not only affects the metabolism but also   
   brain function.    
      
   Healthy gut and brain: Linking digestive health to mental illness    
      
   Numerous studies over the past decade have linked the gut microbiome to a   
   range of behaviors and body functions, such as appetite, cravings, mood, and   
   emotion. The gut essentially helps maintain brain function and has been shown   
   to influence the risk of    
   psychiatric and neurological disorders, including the following:    
      
   Anxiety, where feelings of fear and distress interfere with normal daily   
   functioning.    
      
   Depression, where feelings of gloom and sadness can also be accompanied by a   
   slowing down of the body and profound fatigue.    
      
   Autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder, present from early childhood,   
   characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with   
   other people and in using language and abstract concepts.    
      
   The research suggests that these brain disorders may be treated through the   
   gut, which is a much easier target for drug delivery than the brain.    
      
   How is it possible? The gut microbiome communicates with the brain through   
   molecules that are produced by gut bacteria and then enter the bloodstream.   
   These molecules are strong enough to change the behavior of mice, as studies   
   at the California    
   Institute of Technology have shown. Researchers here have found that a   
   metabolite produced by gut bacteria is sufficient to cause behavioral   
   abnormalities associated with autism and with anxiety when it is injected into   
   otherwise healthy mice.    
      
   There is still a lot more work to be done to understand the gut brain   
   connection, but this is a starting point for new therapies to treat mental   
   disorders.    
      
   7 tips to improve digestive health    
      
   Do your stomach and your brain a favor and take these steps to improve   
   digestion naturally at home. We’ve talked about research on the benefits of   
   yogurt (start with a cup a day, plain with your own added toppings to control   
   the ingredients).    
      
   Here are seven more tips to try for yourself:    
      
   1. Peppermint tea: Take a pass on after-dinner coffee and try a cup of   
   peppermint tea. It does wonders to improve digestion naturally. Buy it fresh   
   for a DIY brew, and steep a few leaves of the fragrant herb for about five   
   minutes.    
   Not a tea person? Try chewing peppermint gum (a natural sugarless brand from   
   the health food section) or sniffing peppermint oil – both good options to   
   help relieve your symptoms.    
      
   2. Chamomile: Chamomile tea soothes the stomach and calms the nerves. If, in   
   addition to a stomach ache, you are having trouble sleeping, homemade   
   chamomile tea will soothe you and your stomach.    
      
   3. Burnt toast: Charcoal helps neutralize the toxins in the system. If   
   you’ve just had too much alcohol, the charcoal in the burnt toast may help   
   absorb some of the alcohol and neutralize the toxin. Black tea or anything   
   with tannins (not wine) also    
   helps neutralize toxins and process the alcohol in your system. Toast is also   
   part of the well-known acronym B.R.A.T. (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast),   
   commonly used to treat children with stomach aches or diarrhea.    
      
      
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