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Enhancing gut-brain communication reversed cognitive decline in aging mice

med.stanford.edu

41–50 of 194 posts

Re: Enhancing gut-brain communication reversed cognitive decline in aging mice

#41

i like how this research (and others related) kind of supports the idea that free will might be lacking. I still keep a pinch of skepticism about this idea, understanding that it's just a concept. But personally i like it, because it even fells a bit relieving... not to say that it helps you abandon responsibility, but it makes your stance on life easier, and pushes you not to blame yourself too much for your weaknes…

"It's not my will, it's the will of the bugs in my butt!" yes, very "relieving."

I kid, ;) but I see your point. The idea that you might, say, struggle to resist candy and sweets and it's because some population of your gut biome is fighting for its life if you don't eat sugar... makes sense.

The idea that "I just cut sugar out for six weeks and my willpower to resist sugar went through the roof" ... not because your willpower changed, but because you killed that part of your gut biome.

Re: Enhancing gut-brain communication reversed cognitive decline in aging mice

#42

IMO people should eat more fiber. A lot more fiber. It cleans the gut, the liver, absorbs cholesterol, slows insulin response and makes you feel full longer. The microbes in our guts need it to function. Rather than jumping from one fad diet to another, just eat what you like and be sure to get a lot of fiber each day.

Let me also introduce you to the new kid on the block, the resistant starch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6IcMW5Khh4

Re: Enhancing gut-brain communication reversed cognitive decline in aging mice

#43
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe this research is totally true-- I had a lot of memories come back after 1. I stopped drinking heavily and using other drugs, i.e. marijuana 2. managed my diet to avoid heartburn without medication 3. schedule my meals so it was easier to sleep at night (always eat something for breakfast when I wake up) I did not need any "poo infusion" or anything. I had a gal bladder removal that didn't fix the problems t…

What did you do for heartburn? Just looking for ideas. I noticed reducing gluten helped me personally a lot

There are many resources online on which foods trigger gerd and reflux. Also, try the whole30 anti inflammation diet, and don't eat at least 2, preferably 4h before bed.

Re: Enhancing gut-brain communication reversed cognitive decline in aging mice

#44
"You" don't crave stuff, the microbiome in your intestine craves stuff.

There are microbes in there that specialize in eating, say, sugar. You don't give them sugar, they send signals to your brain saying "yo, more sugar"

This is why if you go on a sugar-free diet (just stop eating candy and sweets) the cravings just go away eventually. The microbes who keep shouting for more sugar either die away or go dormant.

Re: Enhancing gut-brain communication reversed cognitive decline in aging mice

#45

Everyone's "poo-pooing" the article because the title doesn't mention mice, but, FWIW, stories of gut biota affecting humans behavior have been documented for a while. Memory gain is noteworthy, which is the article's "wow" factor, but everyone's just knee-jerk smirking so ... here's a few random articles to gross you out about the wild world of trading microbiota and, for better or worse, changing your personality:…

Not only are there tons of papers, there are off-label treatments (some that have improved more than 80% of the folks I'm about to mention), and this isn't just about age related decline, but cognitive impairment in general. Long COVID, ME/CFS, TBIs, and other conditions are widely considered to have a similar origin. If you are interested in this stuff, I encourage you to look up all the scientific papers on this. It is fascinating stuff.

Re: Enhancing gut-brain communication reversed cognitive decline in aging mice

#46

Everyone's "poo-pooing" the article because the title doesn't mention mice, but, FWIW, stories of gut biota affecting humans behavior have been documented for a while. Memory gain is noteworthy, which is the article's "wow" factor, but everyone's just knee-jerk smirking so ... here's a few random articles to gross you out about the wild world of trading microbiota and, for better or worse, changing your personality:…

In my opinion, gut microbiome stuff is massively overhyped.

Here's a study that tried fecal transplants to treat mental illness (and found no effect): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41785480/

The pattern with this stuff is that, when a blinded study is carried out, there's usually no effect.

Re: Enhancing gut-brain communication reversed cognitive decline in aging mice

#47
post #46

Everyone's "poo-pooing" the article because the title doesn't mention mice, but, FWIW, stories of gut biota affecting humans behavior have been documented for a while. Memory gain is noteworthy, which is the article's "wow" factor, but everyone's just knee-jerk smirking so ... here's a few random articles to gross you out about the wild world of trading microbiota and, for better or worse, changing your personality:…

In my opinion, gut microbiome stuff is massively overhyped. Here's a study that tried fecal transplants to treat mental illness (and found no effect): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41785480/ The pattern with this stuff is that, when a blinded study is carried out, there's usually no effect.

Replying to slibhb, while the research involving mental illness is not conclusive, fecal transplants are a known and accepted treatment for persistent C. diff (Clostridioides difficile) infection. Just for the record.

Re: Enhancing gut-brain communication reversed cognitive decline in aging mice

#48
post #46

Everyone's "poo-pooing" the article because the title doesn't mention mice, but, FWIW, stories of gut biota affecting humans behavior have been documented for a while. Memory gain is noteworthy, which is the article's "wow" factor, but everyone's just knee-jerk smirking so ... here's a few random articles to gross you out about the wild world of trading microbiota and, for better or worse, changing your personality:…

In my opinion, gut microbiome stuff is massively overhyped. Here's a study that tried fecal transplants to treat mental illness (and found no effect): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41785480/ The pattern with this stuff is that, when a blinded study is carried out, there's usually no effect.

You are probably right on the specifics, but serotonin is produced/located in the gut, and its an incredibly important neurotransmitter.

One day people will figure out how to use these correctly.

Re: Enhancing gut-brain communication reversed cognitive decline in aging mice

#49
post #46

Everyone's "poo-pooing" the article because the title doesn't mention mice, but, FWIW, stories of gut biota affecting humans behavior have been documented for a while. Memory gain is noteworthy, which is the article's "wow" factor, but everyone's just knee-jerk smirking so ... here's a few random articles to gross you out about the wild world of trading microbiota and, for better or worse, changing your personality:…

In my opinion, gut microbiome stuff is massively overhyped. Here's a study that tried fecal transplants to treat mental illness (and found no effect): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41785480/ The pattern with this stuff is that, when a blinded study is carried out, there's usually no effect.

Here's a meta analysis of 12 studies showing that FMT has a significant effect in reducing depression:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12536323/

It also found the effect was greater in people with IBS.

Re: Enhancing gut-brain communication reversed cognitive decline in aging mice

#50

"You" don't crave stuff, the microbiome in your intestine craves stuff. There are microbes in there that specialize in eating, say, sugar. You don't give them sugar, they send signals to your brain saying "yo, more sugar" This is why if you go on a sugar-free diet (just stop eating candy and sweets) the cravings just go away eventually. The microbes who keep shouting for more sugar either die away or go dormant.

You’ve heard of The Selfish Gene theory from Richard Dawkins but I’ve started talking about The Sefish Tube. If you think about us another way, we are a tube of GI tract that does everything in its life and with its power to simply be full.
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