What Does Your Digestion Have To Do With Your Depression? By Sarah Buck, ND


epression is a very common and very enigmatic diagnosis. The cause of depression still remains to be elucidated even though 1 out of every 5 people will experience a period of depression at some point in their lives. What’s more is that most people treated for depression will experience a relapse in symp- toms over a 10-year period. This prognosis does not instill confi- dence in the current model of treatment. The more we learn about human psychology, it seems the less we know about the human mind. To illustrate, here is a sampling of the many theories that attempt to explain the root cause of depression:


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• Neurotransmitter dysfunction or deficiency • Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor deficiency • Neuroplasticity decrease • HPA axis dysfunction • Inflammation and Immune system dysfunction • Microbiota-gut-brain dysfunction


Each theory focuses on a different system as a source of the cause of depression. Does it come from the brain itself? Does it come from the HPA axis (hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal) or is it the immune system? Perhaps the most tantalizing and most inclusive is the theory that the gut microbiome holds the majority of the power in the creation or elimination of depression. Humans have a “gut brain” that is mostly (90-95%) made up of microorgan- isms in our gut. These microorganisms collectively are known as


16 ELM™ Maine - March/April 2019


the gut microbiota or microbiome. They spend their time eating what we eat and making neurotransmitters, immune proteins, and hormones. In other words, the microbiota communicate with just about every system in the body. The products that the gut micro- biota make directly influence the various systems within our bodies such as the endocrine and immune system. It has been suggested that our microbiota contribute to our various body systems’ matura- tion. We have always looked at the body being organized in a top-down way, from brain in the head directs the rest of the body, but we are seeing evidence of the gut influencing the way the brain develops and that is really turning what we know on its head, so to speak.


What Does This Mean for Treatment of Depression? It means that treating your gut right can make a huge impact


on the way your mind and body feel. Researchers have found that the microbiome of a depressed individual differs from that of non-depressed individuals. Specifically, the amount of lactic acid bacteria in depressed individuals is lower. Scientists have suggested classifying certain probiotics as “psychobiotics” that together influ- ence psychological health. What’s more is that external factors can influence our microbiota. For example, stress, diet, and exercise all have been shown to influence the composition of the microbiota. Consider that all of these external factors are modifiable by you, and suddenly you hold a lot of power.


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