āKILLS all known germsā was once an effective advertising slogan. Now we know this promise isnāt as desirable as it might sound. Not all āgermsā are bad. In fact, you couldnāt survive without help from the many microbes that live on and within you.
A thriving microbiome isnāt just essential for your physical health, though. In the latest twist to this story it turns out that microbes in your gut also influence your mood.
These so-called psychobiotics are intimately entwined with us from birth. They help shape the developing human brain, particularly the areas associated with emotions. They also exert day-to-day control over how we feel.
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The mystery of how single-celled organisms have an effect on our minds from a distance is starting to be solved (see āHow what you eat directly influences your mental healthā). Intriguingly, bacteria in our intestinal tract can produce almost all the same neurotransmitters we generate in our brains, and they have a hotline from the gut to the head.
As yet, we donāt know exactly which microbes influence our moods. Still, we know enough about psychobiotics to start to benefit from them. Experiments show that consuming certain probiotic foods can help people cope with anxiety and depression, the most common causes of disability worldwide. With more research and a better understanding of the bacteria involved, psychobiotics look set to offer a real alternative to drugs and cognitive behavioural therapy for a range of mood disorders.
Some will find this liberating, because it offers hope of taking back control from a mental health condition. But the psychobiotics revolution has implications for all. Anyone can cultivate feel-good bacteria in their gut with the right kind of diet (see āHealthy gut, happy mind: What to eat to boost how you feelā). You really can eat yourself happier.
