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Intestinal bacteria may influence our moods

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Re: Intestinal bacteria may influence our moods

#11

Post by MisterWebz »

Bacteria feed on nutrients we ingest with our food, and like people, bacteria don't use everything they eat. Whatever doesn't fuel their growth and reproduction, the bacteria expel as waste.

That waste gets into the blood and probably into the brain, changing its chemistry.

If this theory is correct, does it mean that a drastic change in diet might change a person's behavior? I'm imagining a future where people match their diet to their intestinal bacteria to increase or reduce the "waste" that gets produced to achieve a desired mood or behavior.

Re: Intestinal bacteria may influence our moods

#13

Post by throwaway111222 »

jmhain wrote: post #4

Be very careful with probiotics; just loading your system with random strains of bacteria from your local health food store can have serious consequences. I have IBS and an anxiety disorder that had been in remission for years. I tried Primadophilus Optima and it wrecked me. I went from a mild IBS-C to severe IBS-D, and my panic attacks came back with an intensity unlike anything I've ever experienced. I don't doubt…

I also have IBS and was diagnosed years ago, but I never heard of different classifications that you mentioned, IBS-C or IBS-D. Mostly, I classify the severity as "day-to-day", workdays usually being the worst. I haven't tried consuming live cultures other than yogurt, and even then I have mixed results. Have you gotten far in your research on the types of bacteria, and do you have any resources you could share?

Edit: just read about differences between IBS-C and D and it definitely sounds like there has been some headway in the last 15 years since I was diagnosed (back then it was mostly a prognosis of "here's a colonoscopy, sorry not much else we can do"). I should definitely get re-evaluated. Thanks for mentioning this.

Re: Intestinal bacteria may influence our moods

#14

Post by VLM »

MisterWebz wrote: post #11

Bacteria feed on nutrients we ingest with our food, and like people, bacteria don't use everything they eat. Whatever doesn't fuel their growth and reproduction, the bacteria expel as waste. That waste gets into the blood and probably into the brain, changing its chemistry. If this theory is correct, does it mean that a drastic change in diet might change a person's behavior? I'm imagining a future where people match…

This goes beyond just bacterial waste into macronutrients like sugars messing with your blood sugar level and thus mood. And who knows what a lifetime of pesticide or herbicide consumption will do to you... I guess we'll find out, some of us anyway.

Or the short answer is yeah your diet strongly affects your behavior. If you don't believe me do drink a couple Mt Dew and see what happens, or a couple beers.

Re: Intestinal bacteria may influence our moods

#15

Post by bignaj »

spingsprong wrote: post #10
curiousDog wrote: post #2

I must agree with this. I've been suffering from IBS for a while now. Anytime I have a flare up, I most certainly have severe anxiety (and it's not just anxiety of having to deal with the flare up. Anxiety symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness just show up). I've tried a few probiotics but didn't see any noticeable difference though.

I'm just asking, but is there any chance the connection is the reverse? Stress and anxiety can cause digestive symptoms.

I have Crohn's disease (similar) and you have a good point. In reality it's a vicious feedback loop where 1) you get stressed out 2) your symptoms flare as a result of stress 3) you get more stressed out because of the symptoms. Works both ways and there's no easy way around it.

Re: Intestinal bacteria may influence our moods

#16

Post by bignaj »

throwaway111222 wrote: post #13
jmhain wrote: post #4

Be very careful with probiotics; just loading your system with random strains of bacteria from your local health food store can have serious consequences. I have IBS and an anxiety disorder that had been in remission for years. I tried Primadophilus Optima and it wrecked me. I went from a mild IBS-C to severe IBS-D, and my panic attacks came back with an intensity unlike anything I've ever experienced. I don't doubt…

I also have IBS and was diagnosed years ago, but I never heard of different classifications that you mentioned, IBS-C or IBS-D. Mostly, I classify the severity as "day-to-day", workdays usually being the worst. I haven't tried consuming live cultures other than yogurt, and even then I have mixed results. Have you gotten far in your research on the types of bacteria, and do you have any resources you could share? Edit…

C is constipation. D is diarrhea. I have Crohn's and didn't know these either, but Google was my friend. I personally don't distinguish. Diarrhea largely affects individuals who have Crohn's in the colon (not me) due to the colon's role in body water absorption from fecal waste. My inflammation occurs in the ileum so I rarely, if ever, have diarrhea but I do have severe, piercing abdominal pain from scar tissue and constriction. My personal opinion from a biology background is we largely don't know jack about Crohn's/IBS and the classifications are grasping at straws. If you do want to know some of the scientific stuff the genetics side is a great place to start. NOD2 is specifically involved in Crohn's: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NOD2 and you can learn a lot of interesting things about our innate immune system.

Re: Intestinal bacteria may influence our moods

#17

Post by bollockitis »

MisterWebz wrote: post #11

Bacteria feed on nutrients we ingest with our food, and like people, bacteria don't use everything they eat. Whatever doesn't fuel their growth and reproduction, the bacteria expel as waste. That waste gets into the blood and probably into the brain, changing its chemistry. If this theory is correct, does it mean that a drastic change in diet might change a person's behavior? I'm imagining a future where people match…

> If this theory is correct, does it mean that a drastic change in diet might change a person's behavior? I'm imagining a future where people match their diet to their intestinal bacteria to increase or reduce the "waste" that gets produced to achieve a desired mood or behavior.

The concept is really not new. Diet has long been linked to mood and behavior in traditional medicine. It wouldn't be a shocker to learn that some traditional approaches to dietary therapy are actually effective, though probably not for the reasons they proclaimed.

Re: Intestinal bacteria may influence our moods

#18

Post by bdamm »

spingsprong wrote: post #10
curiousDog wrote: post #2

I must agree with this. I've been suffering from IBS for a while now. Anytime I have a flare up, I most certainly have severe anxiety (and it's not just anxiety of having to deal with the flare up. Anxiety symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness just show up). I've tried a few probiotics but didn't see any noticeable difference though.

I'm just asking, but is there any chance the connection is the reverse? Stress and anxiety can cause digestive symptoms.

The interesting part is that even if that's the case, treating the digestive symptoms in an effective way could provide meaningful relief, cascading back into the emotional state that caused the initial problem.

I've had it described to me in the following way; stress creates physical manifestations of that stress, those physical manifestations create discomfort, that discomfort creates stress. The feedback loop, once in place, can accelerate the anxiety. It can also be used to shut the anxiety down. It is possible to focus on the physical manifestations and "cut the strings" of the cycle by relieving those symptoms through meditation and treatment. You're left with the original stressor, but the feedback cycle doesn't help you get better as long as it is active.

Re: Intestinal bacteria may influence our moods

#19

Post by erichmond »

jmhain wrote: post #4

Be very careful with probiotics; just loading your system with random strains of bacteria from your local health food store can have serious consequences. I have IBS and an anxiety disorder that had been in remission for years. I tried Primadophilus Optima and it wrecked me. I went from a mild IBS-C to severe IBS-D, and my panic attacks came back with an intensity unlike anything I've ever experienced. I don't doubt…

IBS seems like the doctors way of saying "We don't know what your problem is".

Doctors told me I had IBS for 10 years, then a friend suggested to stop eating wheat, and 95% of my symptoms went away.

I'm actually about to start testing a FODMAP diet to see if I can improve my health any further.

Have you tried anything to improve your health, or did you just accept the IBS diagnosis? I only ask because I've seen no research that suggests IBS is a real thing, just a catch-all for many potential things.

Re: Intestinal bacteria may influence our moods

#20

Post by bignaj »

Paul_Dessert wrote: post #8

Although I see a connection, I stopped taking this article seriously when I read this sentence: "Their study, published last year, was funded in part by Danone Research, a division of multinational food company Danone."

So? Danone makes yogurts with probiotics. I think they might be interested in knowing if there is any value to a diet mood connection. If you would take your head out of the sand you'd know that lots of research is funded by industry and that's not necessarily bad.
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