The short answer is yes. While it may seem difficult to understand how tiny organisms can affect the way we think and feel, the reality of the brain-gut connection cannot be ignored. Probiotics play a vital role in the development, management and prevention of mood disorders and the brain. Probiotics are important for mental health.
What are probiotics?
Probiotics are microorganisms, usually bacterial in origin. Just like cultures across the globe, there are thousands of different colonies of bacteria that live in the human body. As humans speak different languages and prefer different climates, some bacteria prefer to live in the gut, while others like the lungs. Either way, these bacteria form an essential part of our immune system and the more variety we have, the more we benefit. When we isolate and encapsulate these specific “good” bacteria, we create a probiotic.
The basis of our bacterial ecosystem comes from our mothers. As we age and interact with different people, our environment begins to finely shape this ecosystem into adulthood. Things like antibiotics, pollution, high stress and infection all challenge our gut bacteria and introduce some bad guys. Having an overload of bad bacteria can often feel like excessive indigestion, heartburn, bloating and diarrhea. However, as long as the good bacteria outnumber the bad ones, our gut remains relatively stable. This means we may not notice any symptoms of having the bad bacteria at all.
Probiotics Maintain Balance
Like any good action movie, we always want the good guys to win. When we take antibiotics to kill an infection, we often kill the good guys too. This means we lose the ability to regulate our good/bad balance and allow other non-bacterial organisms to overgrow. Yeast or Candida, for example, is not a bacteria and will not be killed by an antibiotic. Without our good bacteria destroyed, this creates a perfect opportunity for yeast to take over.
Probiotics and Mental Health
Bacteria are great at fooling our immune system. Many unwanted microorganisms from that trip to Mexico when you were 10 might still be living in your body when you hit 40. They form these incredibly complex biofilms, like bubbles that surround them and effectively disguise them from ever being identified. This makes it very difficult to kill them off, and gives them plenty of time to mutate and become resistant if they were found.
These bacteria can hide within the brain and nervous system. They can cause strange neurological symptoms or questionable fluctuations in mood. They can create lasting brain fog, memory deficits and even contribute to major depression.
To restore our balance of bacteria in the brain, we need to kill off some of the bad microorganisms, and fortify the body with healthy bacteria. This could take weeks or months, depending on the complexity of the organisms. Adding probiotics into the routine is especially helpful, because it strengthens the immune system in its own fight against these biofilms. The right type of probiotic can lower inflammation, pain and allergies – all symptoms related to a weakened immune system.
Not all Probiotics are Equal
However, if we just start taking a pill off the shelf, we are not guaranteed to see results. Probiotics are not made equally and have different strains with different functions. Certain probiotic formulas are perfect for pregnancy, others for inflammatory bowel disease. Finding the right strains and dose really comes down to your health concerns and your past medical history. Naturopathic Doctors gather all the information about your health right from infancy. This helps to determine the current state of your immune system and which product can get you right where you need to be.