Managing Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) can be a complex process, as there are many factors that influence IBS, including stress, environmental toxins, nutrient depletion and gut dysbiosis. Often, by the time you see the patient, they have have been prescribed antibiotics and suffered from chronic infections, which only complicates resolvingRead …
Eating a poor diet as a child can alter one’s microbiome for life, even if one learns to eat healthier later in life, suggests a study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Granted it’s a mice study, but researchers at University of California Riverside showed a significant decrease inRead …
Read moreMicrobiome Discovery: You Are What You Eat … As a Child
The role genetics and gut bacteria play in human health has long been a fruitful source of scientific inquiry. A new study published in Nature Microbiology marks a significant step forward in unraveling this complex relationship. Its findings could transform our understanding and treatment of all manner of common diseases,Read …
On Today’s Practitioner, we’ve been a champion of reporting on the importance of regulating gut bacteria for mood disorders (see our Mood and Microbiome Resource Center here). A review study including 1,500 participants, published in General Psychiatry, showed that anxiety symptoms might be reduced by taking steps to regulate theRead …
Read moreNon-Probiotics Associated with Improved Anxiety Symptoms Over Just Probiotics
Individuals suffering from psychiatric disorders experience high levels of illness burden and a significantly reduced quality of life. Despite targeted psychopharmacological strategies and complementary psychotherapeutic procedures only moderate effects are obtained, and the risk of relapse is high in many patients. This narrative review highlights the important role of nutritionRead …
Read moreThe Role of Nutrition and the Gut-Brain Axis in Psychiatry: A Literature Review
Is one’s microbiome composition a question of nature vs nurture? Some microbiome researchers suggest that variations in a person’s microbiome begins with differences in our genes; but a large-scale study conducted at the Weizmann Institute of Science and published in Nature, challenges this idea. The study also provides evidence thatRead …
Read moreIs Microbiome Composition Defined by Nurture or Nature? The Answer May Surprise You
Like everyone, people with type 2 diabetes and obesity suffer from depression and anxiety, but even more so. Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center now have demonstrated a surprising potential contributor to these negative feelings, the gut microbiome. In this animal study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, mice that become obese whenRead …
Read moreLink Between Gut Microbiome, Obesity, Diabetes, Depression and Anxiety
Growing evidence about the microbiome and gut brain axis suggests that taking specific strains of probiotics may be an important aspect of mental health, and more specifically postpartum depression, which affects 10-15% of women. In this study, published by EBioMedicine, a LANCET publication, researchers studied the effects of probiotics supplementationRead …
In what is being described as cutting-edge research, published in the Journal of Immunology, scientists from the University of Virginia School of Medicine suggest that a mother’s microbiome during pregnancy plays a critical role in determining the child’s risk of developing autism-spectrum disorders. The study raises the possibility that autismRead …