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1. Healthy Diet
A healthy microbiome can be thrown off balance by numerous factors, especially the standard American diet (SAD), which is low in fiber and lacks vitamins and other nutrients essential for human gut lining cells. Junk food can shift the microbial balance in a negative direction. Also, high sugar intake can encourage excessive growth of yeasts that contribute to leaky gut.
By contrast, early human societies discovered they could benefit more from specific foods if they fermented them first. Certain of the bacteria traditionally used in food fermentation are closely related to the good bacteria that reside in the gut. By eating well-defined fermented foods, you obtain supplies of these friendly bacteria.
Probiotics are found in a variety of foods, including:
2. Reduce Stress
Gut bacteria are vulnerable to assault, most notoriously by antibiotics. But emotional stress, being overweight or obese, environmental pollutants, and negative lifestyle factors such as smoking, drinking, or other bad habits, also can deplete friendly gut bacteria.
Studies show that stress can decrease healthy gut flora. Persistent, unmanaged stress raises cortisol (the stress hormone) levels which can damage your gut flora and stop the gut from working properly. Research has established that taking a probiotic supplement can help reduce the stress response.
3. Probiotic Supplements
In 2001, the World Health Organization defined probiotics as “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.” In the intervening years, clinical research on probiotics has exploded.
Sadly, many of the strains being used in commercially available probiotic supplements haven’t been tested in clinical trials to document their health benefits. Without such controlled research, we can’t be sure that using these strains will be of any help to our gut, brain or body.
To establish health benefits, a probiotic strain must be put through a controlled clinical trial, performed on the very same strain in the very same ratio as present in the supplement, because even good bacteria can compete or interfere with each other.
Certain strain combinations have been found to improve immune, intestinal, liver, lung, and skin health, as well as healthy glucose metabolism and healthy inflammatory balance. Science-based probiotic supplements have been found to benefit practically every organ system, including the brain.
In the two clinical trials, these probiotic strains were shown to improve intestinal discomfort related to stress. They were also found to measurably promote healthy mood and assist in coping with occasional anxiety.
“When your gut isn’t healthy, your brain will not be healthy. Intestinal problems increase inflammation, a low-level fire that destroys your organs, and increases your risk for moodiness, nervousness, pain, and memory issues. When we take antibiotics or eat pesticide-laden foods, it upsets this delicate balance and we are much more likely to get sick. Eat right and take probiotics.
If you aren’t taking a high-quality, brain-directed probiotic supplement
