Probiotics Calm Mice (via the vagus nerve)

[Ignis]

The latest evidence for this “gut-brain axis” comes from Javier Bravo at University College Cork. He fed mice with a probiotic bacterium called Lactobacillus rhamnosus, often found in yoghurts and dairy products. The bacterial menu changed the levels of signalling chemicals in the rodents’ brains, and reduced behaviours associated with stress, anxiety and depression.

Probiotic bacteria – those that benefit their host – are the subject of sweeping, hand-waving health claims. But beneath the breathless marketing hype, there is some intriguing underlying science. For example, some trials have found that probiotics can help to alleviate the mood symptoms that accompany irritable bowel or chronic fatigue syndrome. To that end, Bravo wanted to see if L.rhamnosus could influence the brains of normal, healthy animals.

Bravo found that his mice, after regularly eating Lactobacillus, were more likely to spend time in the exposed parts of a maze (a common test for anxiety symptoms) than those who ate bacteria-free meals. They were also less likely to drift motionlessly when plopped into water (a common test for depressive symptoms). And during stressful situations, they built up lower levels of stress hormones.

(snip)

It may seem odd that bacteria in an animal’s gut can control what happens in its brain, on the other side of the body. But the two organs have a direct line between them – the long, branching vagus nerve, which transmits information from the gut and other visceral organs to the brain. When Bravo severed the vagus nerve in his mice, Lactobacillus lost all of its influence. It changed neither the rodents’ behaviour nor their GABA receptor levels.

-- story @ Discover Magazine

[TlalocW]

1. Thank god cuz...

I have got a SHITLOAD of nervous mice on my hands, and aromatherapy and classical music ain't cuttin' it.

TlalocW

[Ignis]

8. Have you tried a mouse organ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9nGyPz9uT0

[emilyg]

2. Good to know - cuz I have

a gut that feels like mice are running around.

[enlightenment]

3. Ever tried apple cider vinegar?

It really helps calm things down in my alimentary canal (which likes to do daily reenactments of Waterloo, Gallipoli, and Omaha Beach . . . usually at the same time . . .)

And I do usually feel happier after eating a big bowl of fresh yogurt with fruit. Not sure if it's because the little gut flora are making whoopie with my vagus nerve or just because I like fresh yogurt with fruit, though!

[LongTomH]

6. Where is the best place to buy apple cide vinegar?

I've got excessive gas and reflux. Would that help?

[enlightenment]

7. Yes, it helps.

I use Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar because it is not pasteurized (look for apple cider vinegar that says it has 'the Mother' in it - or looks cloudy with floaty things in it).

Most grocery stores carry some kind of apple cider vinegar - most 'natural' foods stores carry brands like Bragg's. Spectrum makes a version and Trader Joe's has an own brand version, also.

Try a teaspoonful either straight up (like a shot is easiest) if you can handle it - or in a glass of water. It's kind of icky at first but you get used to it. If you have severe gas, you can make homemade alka-selzer by mixing about a teaspoonful of baking soda. Now THAT is kind of nasty - but boy does it work fast!

Take the vinegar at least once a day. If you start having an attack, take some more. Brush your teeth or rinse your mouth thoroughly afterward, because it's vinegar. Corrosive on the tooth enamel.

I started doing this when nothing else - proton pump inhibitors, nothing - was working anymore. It was astonishing how quickly it would counteract the agony. I stopped doing it when I actually stopped (for the first time in decades) having pain . . . it stayed gone for more than a year. I'm working on getting it to go away again now.

Good luck!

[Ignis]

11. +1 vote for Bragg's

In addition to being unpasteurized, it also tastes (relatively) good.

[emilyg]

9. Love yogurt. On a

plain baked potato. Tried the apple cider v.

[bananas]

4. the gut is called the second brain

google it

[postulater]

5. Rec

[applegrove]

10. Now I know why I love me some cheese so much.

[truedelphi]

12. Cheese is high in salt and fat and tastes yummy.

But it is not a good source for probiotics.

And it often is created through the use of molds that people are allergic to.

I love cheese too, but I go to yogurt and kefir for the probiotics.