Experiment proves what’s in your gut can affect your mental health

The stomach and the brain have an interesting connection. The stomach is one of the first places to signal fear or excitement, with the opposite also true; When the stomach is upset, the brain can interpret this as a signal of fear or worry and create a jumble of emotions.

A new study shows that good bacteria in the gut can have a positive impact on depression and mental health.

The study, published in the journal Translation Psychiatry, was conducted by researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland who studied 47 volunteers with a history of depressive episodes – each given probiotic supplements for 31 days.

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The results showed that participants who took probiotics along with their antidepressants experienced greater improvement. Her intestinal flora also changed and increased lactic acid-producing bacteria.

The researchers conducted a study four weeks later that showed the results stopped once the probiotics were no longer consumed. “It may be that four weeks of treatment is not enough and it takes longer for the new composition of the intestinal flora to stabilize,” says psychiatrist Anna-Chiara Schaub from the University of Basel.

The study showed that probiotics affected the area of ​​the brain that processes depression. Through fMRI scans, the researchers saw that probiotics had an impact on how people react to fearful or neutral faces. Researchers don’t quite understand why, but probiotics normalized the way brains with depression process these experiences.

“Although the microbiome-gut-brain axis has been the subject of research for several years, the exact mechanisms have not yet been fully clarified,” says Schaub.

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Scientists have long believed in the brain-stomach connection, and this study only adds further evidence to the theory. Still, the researchers make it clear that antidepressants are still necessary and that the study needs more evidence and research to provide a conclusive answer.