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Some gut bacteria appear to communicate with the brain

bbc.com

51–60 of 196 posts

Re: Some gut bacteria appear to communicate with the brain

#51
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I started I Contain Multitudes and ended up reading 10% Human instead. It’s more human-centric. Fascinating either way. I suspect we are starting to see the first glimmers of a vast space of microbiome interactions.

It’s really interesting, and for me personally unfortunate that it seems to be a “crunchy” topic that’s regularly the domain of crystal healers and anti vaxxers and people who blame their maladies on “toxins in the body” because the science behind a microbiome growing from the food we eat and how we evolved seems pretty sound.

I share this sentiment. It seems that anything which has not yet been formally proven by academia is “not real” in the public eye and therefore all believers are cranks. We still have major gaps in our understanding of our bodies and our medicine, so to me it is ironic that the institutional science scoffs at things like the microbiome that we do not yet fully understand.

Re: Some gut bacteria appear to communicate with the brain

#52

I get gut pain sometimes, on a semi regular basis. The day before the pain hits I have mild-euphoria, clear thinking, positive outlook, lots of energy, more social and extravert. It's not normal. Something is going on with the brain and my gut. It's possible that it's endorphins being released to stop any pain ... but this is about 24 hours before the crippling cramps start, and it's more a mood shift than pain killi…

> The day before the pain hits I have mild-euphoria, clear thinking, positive outlook, lots of energy, more social and extravert. It's not normal.

Some might say that you got it backwards and this would be preferably your "normal".

First thing I'd do would probably be to document in detail what you're eating on those days and if any pattern emerges. Try eliminating things, if there is any pattern. Sounds a lot like lactose intolerance to me. I used to have it, but managed to get rid off it.

Re: Some gut bacteria appear to communicate with the brain

#53
post #7

In the last three years, something related to my gut-brain connection got fucked. I'm not sure if it was some kind of post-viral inflammation causing stress, or stress of isolation causing inflammation. But it's definitely a two way street and mine got completely stuck in a feedback loop. The mainstream medical system failed to help me. Eventually some functional medicine doctors managed to help me improve via diet,…

I got the opposite experience. I have IBD and recently started on some potent probiotics. Suddenly my energy and focus went up 1000%. So this is how regular people healthy live wow. I used to be lethargic all the time for 30+ years.

Recently, for the first time in my life, I took probiotics after a course of prescribed antibiotics.

I don't need coffee any more to function and I finally feel full after eating - strongly so even.

If it's really the probiotics, then I regret never taking them before - especially after antibiotics.

Re: Some gut bacteria appear to communicate with the brain

#54
Tim Spector seems like a good source on this stuff, I listened to some podcasts of his and he's doing some work here in the UK with Zoe, where they test you and figure out a nuturion plan for you based on your gut bacteria and what is best for you personally.

Re: Some gut bacteria appear to communicate with the brain

#55
post #7

In the last three years, something related to my gut-brain connection got fucked. I'm not sure if it was some kind of post-viral inflammation causing stress, or stress of isolation causing inflammation. But it's definitely a two way street and mine got completely stuck in a feedback loop. The mainstream medical system failed to help me. Eventually some functional medicine doctors managed to help me improve via diet,…

> pure Greek mastiha sap

Mmm. The root for the word “masticate” (the resin is used like chewing gum), and the “piney” flavour in Greek halva (among other things). Notably, a collection of trees on one Greek islands (Chios) were under threat from forest fire a few years ago[0].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Chios_Forest_Fire

Re: Some gut bacteria appear to communicate with the brain

#56
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are the side-effects for PPIs? I've been taking them for almost 2 decades for GERD without anything too specific coming up. I check my B12 levels from time to time and they seem ok. My hemoglobin is always a bit low and iron supplements don't seem to help. What other things are common with long-term PPI use?

Lowering stomach acid can throttle calcium absorption so is linked to osteoporosis but i don’t know how common that is in practice.

Can also lower iron absorption

Re: Some gut bacteria appear to communicate with the brain

#57

I get gut pain sometimes, on a semi regular basis. The day before the pain hits I have mild-euphoria, clear thinking, positive outlook, lots of energy, more social and extravert. It's not normal. Something is going on with the brain and my gut. It's possible that it's endorphins being released to stop any pain ... but this is about 24 hours before the crippling cramps start, and it's more a mood shift than pain killi…

Total shot in the dark, but maybe try having ginger shots. I started having 1 every morning before breakfast and it’s been a game changer for my gut.

You can make them by just blending ginger with citrus juice and tumeric, then filtering with a cheese cloth.

Re: Some gut bacteria appear to communicate with the brain

#58
There's also the Bone-Brain-Gut connection and Bone Gut connection. Bones are complex structures made of various proteins and studies have shown some microbiome as harmful to Bones or lack of diversity.

There was an experiment in mice that showed some mice devoid of any gut bacteria had better bone density than the other experiment group.

This is interesting and might suggest some bacteria can cause bone issues.

Re: Some gut bacteria appear to communicate with the brain

#59
post #7

In the last three years, something related to my gut-brain connection got fucked. I'm not sure if it was some kind of post-viral inflammation causing stress, or stress of isolation causing inflammation. But it's definitely a two way street and mine got completely stuck in a feedback loop. The mainstream medical system failed to help me. Eventually some functional medicine doctors managed to help me improve via diet,…

The challenge I think modern medicine has is that in order to prescribe a solution it does need to understand the problem and how your gut might be responsible for it. As we know the medical world takes time to adapt and so it takes more than just a few studies to require doctors and GP's to understand it, better yet be equipped to prescribe a solution.

For many of these gut health related issues, I think most people would be better off seeing a dietitian or even as you say functional medicine doctors. As Tim Spector has been saying, so many ailments resulting from the gut can be fixed through eating a more organic/wholefoods diet. This takes time and isn't easy to do.

Re: Some gut bacteria appear to communicate with the brain

#60
post #48

Ayurveda posited a form of gut-brain axis thousands of years ago (and is a core basis for its dietary aspects), interesting to see more scientific research delving into the details.

Ayurveda posits that palm reading is legitimate medicine.

The notion that gut health impacts mental wellbeing is obvious. The specifics of it are less so.

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