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The Mental Health Benefits of Probiotics (How the Gut Affects the Brain)

MTLynn

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Jan 27, 2003
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From video the description:

We are outnumbered by foreign invaders in our bodies. Alright, they're not really foreign invaders. In fact, they're very welcomed guests. What I'm talking about is our gut bacteria. I'm talking about the bacteria that has a symbiotic relationship with us that lives inside our guts.

In fact, here's what's kind of interesting. It used to be believed that we had approximately 100 trillion bacteria in our bodies versus 10 trillion human cells. If you do the math on that, it's kinda scary. We have more of an external bacteria in our bodies than we do our own intrinsic human cells.

Now, further research has now proven that it's a little bit different than that. We have more like 40 trillion bacteria versus 20-30 trillion human cells. Still, we're outnumbered. Even with modern research, we see that we have more bacteria in our bodies than we do human cells. So why is it that we focus more on what is happening inherently with our bodies and what's happening in this system of cells, but we're not as concerned with what's happening with this wonderful symbiotic relationship of bacteria that's in our guts and in our bodies that dictates a lot of what happens in our bodies?

Well, it probably has something to do with the fact that it's newer science and it's just not out there yet. So the purpose of this video is to help you understand the relationship between the bacteria in your body and how your brain actually functions.

Now, I've done videos on what's called the gut-brain axis in the enteric nervous system before. Those are good videos to talk about how the gut actually affects emotion and things like that. And that's wonderful. But what I want to talk about today is literally more the electrical system.

You see, we found through recent research that literally the individual bacterias within our guts can send specific electrical signals to our brain that tell us to do certain things or tell us to feel a certain way. They're called microbes, okay, and these microbes send electrical signals.

Now, if you've ever seen any of that National Geographic footage or some really cool footage of those blue lights that wash up on shore ... You see a coastal region will have this crazy group of waves that has blue lights in it. Maybe you've seen it, maybe you haven't, but basically what that means is you've got this bacteria that's in the ocean. And this bacteria in the ocean is emitting a blue light. And it's sort of a wonder of the world. Everyone's fascinated by it.

The fact is, bacteria emit energy. It does in the ocean and it does it in our bodies, too. And this energy that it emits can actually send a signal to our brain. And it does it through a central nervous system superhighway known as the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve connects the intestinal tract up to the brain, and without the vagus nerve, we can't have a lot of this process happening. So it all comes down to our central nervous system and the ability for the bacteria to actually produce sort of an electricity.

Now let's talk about some science here so this all makes sense. I'm gonna reference two big studies and I'm gonna break them down in a little bit more detail so it all makes sense.


References

1) Wenner, M. (2007, November 30). Humans Carry More Bacterial Cells than Human Ones. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...

2) How Probiotics Can Be Good for Your Brain. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/...

3) Bravo JA , et al. (n.d.). Ingestion of Lactobacillus strain regulates emotional behavior and central GABA receptor expression in a mouse via the vagus nerve. - PubMed - NCBI. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

4) Champeau, R. (n.d.). Changing gut bacteria through diet affects brain function, UCLA study shows. Retrieved from http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/cha...

5) Probiotic, Prebiotic, and Brain Development. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

6) https://www.nature.com/articles/natur...

7) Sender R , et al. (n.d.). Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body. - PubMed - NCBI. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

8) Tillisch K , et al. (n.d.). Consumption of fermented milk product with probiotic modulates brain activity. - PubMed - NCBI. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

9) https://www.gastrojournal.org/article...

 
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