Supplements and functional ingredients
the large number of nerves in the gut. One good example here is the so-called ‘vagus’ nerve, the main nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system, which plays an important role in regulating mood, heart rate, digestion and immunity. With so much neural activity linked to the gut, meanwhile, it makes sense that interest in the relationship between gut health and mental disorders is growing. Consider, for instance, the frustrating condition of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). As Trevor Lawley, co-founder and chief scientific officer at Microbiotica and group leader at the Wellcome Sanger Institute explains, this disease is often linked to anxiety and depression. According to a number of studies, bacteria responsible for bowel inflammation are found in higher numbers in people with neurological disorders, even as bacteria associated with higher quality of life indicators are depleted. “We know from other human trials that inflammation is a major factor impacting depression, anxiety, cognitive disorders and more,” says Dr Uma Naidoo, a nutritional psychiatrist and the author of several books on the link between health and diet.
Gut feelings
How to explain these striking links? Naidoo takes up the story. “The primary reason gut bacteria have such a profound effect on mental health,” she explains, “is that they are responsible for making many brain chemicals. If normal gut bacteria are not present, production of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) – all critically important for the regulation of mood, memory, and attention – is impacted.” With the gut responsible for providing 95% of the body’s serotonin, and regulating mood among other body functions such as sleep and digestion, the presence of certain bacteria in the gut is clearly important. “Many psychiatric disorders are rooted in deficits and imbalances of these chemicals,” Naidoo adds. “When your gut bacteria are altered, you risk doing damage to this complex web of body and brain function.” Indeed, several studies have shown that people with psychological disorders have different species of bacteria compared with healthy people. Naidoo, for her part, points to a study in 2019, by psychiatrist Stephanie Cheung and her colleagues, who reported that patients with depression had at least 50 different types of bacterial species in their gut microbiome, compared to those without depression. This is not the only project focused on identifying the involvement of gut microbiota in psychiatric disorders either. For instance, a study in Frontiers in Microbiology found that there was a 36% higher abundance of Clostridium difficile in those with
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depression. Another study found depression-like symptoms after transplanting microbiota from depressed patients to animals. That’s echoed by current research too. One example is a project conducted by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, investigating the gut microbiome and breast milk in 10,000 mother-baby pairs to find out how the microbiome in early childhood impacts mental health later in life. According to the Wellcome Sanger study, disruptions to the microbiome are thought to play a role in a number of diseases and conditions – and though the evidence is growing, how this might work is unclear. “In terms of how diet, the microbiome and mental health come together” says Lawley, “I think we all agree there’s something that we don’t quite understand yet.” By syncing this data that tracks early pregnancy to childhood, and including different aspects of health and social circumstances, the study hopes to identify how the microbiome comes together to lead to healthy babies – or else babies with certain disabilities.
Tummy time With the link between gut microbiome and mental health increasingly scrutinised, can other factors help mitigate the risk of mental disorders through the gut? Food has long been associated with various health benefits – and as Naidoo explains, can the risk of depression, brain fog, Alzheimer’s and more. To have a healthy microbiome, it is therefore essential to eat a healthy, balanced diet to support the growth of healthy bacteria “One of the mechanisms involved in the connection between diet and mental well-being lies in the gut,” Naidoo explains, “and specifically
“In terms of how diet, the microbiome and mental health come together, I think we all agree there’s something that we don’t quite understand yet.”
Trevor Lawley
in the hands of the trillions of microorganisms that populate our bowel.”
“I think people recognise that you are what you eat,” agrees Lawley. “We’ve all experienced eating something and you feel bloated or feel lousy.” For functional gastrointestinal disorders – such as IBS – diet can play an important role in reducing symptoms of abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhoea or constipation. “There’s one effective diet intervention called low FODMAP,” explains Lawley. Research discovered that the digestive system can’t break
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Those surveyed who try to use probiotics.
IFIC’s 2021 Food and Health Survey
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