“If microbes control the brain, then microbes control everything.” — John F. Cryan
The connection between microbes and minds has a surprisingly long and complicated history. It all started in the early 20th century when zoologist Eli Metchnikoff became fascinated with yogurt. He found out that the Bulgarian farmers, who consumed a lot of yogurt, live to old age despite their difficult living conditions. They seemed happier too.
Being a curious zoologist, he investigated and found that yogurt was full Lactobacillus bacteria. Believing that bacteria keep farmers healthy, he made it a habit to eat yogurt every day. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens, his theories about probiotics and health were ignored and not rediscovered until the 1990s.
Unless your gut looks like a yogurt maker, these particular types of microbes don’t live there, but they do provide healthy growth in transit. Today, you can pick up a jar of probiotic supplements, which Metchnikoff immediately recognizes as most of them being standard yogurt bacteria, mostly Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria.
Family feud
You might think that closely related bacteria interact with each other and that you can replace one with a close cousin. But it’s not like that in the microbial world. It’s hard to be tiny, and for microbes, the closer it is, the bigger it is competition.
so personality calculates Bacteria challenge Lactobacillus like calling a flower a rose is a description. Is it a tea rose, bush rose or climbing rose? What color is it? Does it have a smell? We need more specifics to truly identify both roses and germs. Different strains of microbes produce different chemicals that are important to both the other microbes and the host.
The world of probiotics changed in 2013 when Ted Dinan, Catherine Stanton and John Cryan of the College of Cork announced a new type of probiotic. psychobiotic. Despite the somewhat unfortunate name, psychobiotics are defined as Reduce germs that can boost your mood anxietyand improve knowledge. That’s a big lift for such a small creature.
(Full disclosure: I wrote a bestselling book called Cryan and Dinan The psychobiotic revolution from National Geographic.)
Initially, these psychobiotics could only be identified at the genus level, which is not very detailed. But the 2020s brought a new set of tools, including metagenomics, which allows researchers to look at every gene in a sample with the ability to identify microbes down to the strain level. This ushered in a new era of very well-defined psychobiotics.
Psychobiotics become real
At the top of the list, not so surprising Lactobacillusespecially plants of L. Note that biologists gratefully abbreviate the genus name to preserve color. Strains of this type, including JYLP-326, CR12, P72, 299v and GM11, are effective in relieving symptoms of pain. depressionanxiety and cognitive disorders. plants of L naturally found in various fermented foods such as cabbage, capers, olives, grape juice and wine.
Another powerful psychobiotic Bifidobacterium breveespecially strain CCFM1025. In clinical studies, B. brev relieves symptoms of depression and sleep disorders. B. brev naturally found in dairy products and breast milk. B. long is a related species with similar properties.
Another is a psychobiotic Akkermansia muciniphila, which has antidepressant affects and improves cognition. A. muciniphila likes polyphenols, which can be found in colorful foods like cranberries, grapes, and berries.
L. helveticusfound in fermented dairy products such as cheese and yogurt, is another strain with anxiolytic and antidepressant properties. The combination of Lactobacillus group L. reuteri and L. rhamnosus strains zz-1, UBLR-58 and JB-1.
Some of these microbes provide a better environment for other microbes on the list, so they like to mate. On the contrary, some of these can contradict each other and completely cancel out the effect of the psychobiotic. For this reason, manufacturers try to carefully develop mixtures.
Modern probiotics can contain a dozen or more different types of microbes, often with a serving of prebiotics – food for the microbes. Similar to packed lunches, these help microbes survive their journey through the gut.
Warning
Probiotics are not for everyone. If you have an IBS or IBD flare-up, wait until it is over before taking supplements. Talk to your doctor. This gut disorder can be a sign of an active gut leak, and although a psychobiotic is good in the gut, it is a pathogen in the blood.
There are also reports of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) from probiotics, so pay up attention to your health and note.
Before you take probiotic or psychobiotic supplements, try the natural versions: enzymes like yogurt, kimchi, kefir, kombucha, and cabbage. These are time-tested foods designed to balance your microbiome and keep your immune system in tip-top shape. Start small: these enzymes can be powerful.
From their humble beginnings as Bulgarian yogurt, probiotics and psychobiotics are becoming big players in the world of health, longevity and mood. It’s surprising that such tiny creatures have such a big impact, but we can’t ignore them. Maybe we have no control over ourselves genes and the environment, but these microbes are ours to exploit.
