Post: #1

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140221...ou-smarter
Body bacteria: Can your gut bugs make you smarter?

"The bacteria in our guts can influence the working of the mind, says Frank Swain. So could they be upgraded to enhance brainpower?
I have some startling news: you are not human. At least, by some counts. While you are indeed made up of billions of human cells working in remarkable concert, these are easily outnumbered by the bacterial cells that live on and in you – your microbiome. There are ten of them for every one of your own cells, and they add an extra two kilograms (4.4lbs) to your body.

Far from being freeloading passengers, many of these microbes actively help digest food and prevent infection. And now evidence is emerging that these tiny organisms may also have a profound impact on the brain too. They are a living augmentation of your body – and like any enhancement, this means they could, in principle, be upgraded. So, could you hack your microbiome to make yourself healthier, happier, and smarter too?

According to John Cryan, this isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds. As a professor of anatomy and neuroscience at University College Cork, he specialises in the relationship between the brain and the gut. One of his early experiments showed the diversity of bacteria living in the gut was greatly diminished in mice suffering from early life stress. This finding inspired him to investigate the connection between the microbiome and the brain.

The bacterial microbiota in the gut helps normal brain development, says Cryan. “If you don’t have microbiota you have major changes in brain structure and function, and then also in behaviour.” In a pioneering study, a Japanese research team showed that mice raised without any gut bacteria had an exaggerated physical response to stress, releasing more hormone than mice that had a full complement of bacteria. However, this effect could be reduced in bacteria-free mice by repopulating their gut with Bifidobacterium infantis, one of the major symbiotic bacteria found in the gut. Cryan’s team built on this finding, showing that this effect could be reproduced even in healthy mice. “We took healthy mice and fed them Lactobacillus [another common gut bacteria), and we showed that these animals had a reduced stress response and reduced anxiety-related behaviours.”

When this bacteria was fed to mice it reduced stress and anxiety (image at link)

But why should bacteria in the gut affect the brain? There are several different ways that messages can be sent from one organ to the other. It can be hormones or immune cells via the bloodstream, or by impulses along the vagus nerve, which stretches from the brain to intertwine closely with the gut. Through these pathways, actions in one produce effects in the other.

So how might you go about altering your microbiome to do a spot of brain-hacking? Cryan’s team works on several fronts, investigating the potential to manage stress, pain, obesity and cognition through the gut. “We have unpublished data showing that probiotics can enhance learning in animal models,” he tells me. His team tested the effects of two strains of bacteria, finding that one improved cognition in mice. His team is now embarking on human trials, to see if healthy volunteers can have their cognitive abilities enhanced or modulated by tweaking the gut microbiome.

Another method of adjusting the bacterial profile of your gut is to undergo a transplant that involves taking faecal material from a donor’s intestine – often a close relative – and implanting into a recipient via enema infusion. This unorthodox treatment has been shown to successfully treat infections caused by pathogenic bacteria colonising the gut.

Brain boost

Thankfully, Cryan has a far more appetising method on offer. “Diet is perhaps the biggest factor in shaping the composition of the microbiome,” he says. A study by University College Cork researchers published in Nature in 2012 followed 200 elderly people over the course of two years, as they transitioned into different environments such as nursing homes. The researchers found that their subjects’ health – frailty, cognition, and immune system – all correlated with their microbiome. From bacterial population alone, researchers could tell if a patient was a long-stay patient in a nursing home, or short-stay, or living in the general community. These changes were a direct reflection of their diet in these different environments. “A diverse diet gives you a diverse microbiome that gives you a better health outcome,” says Cryan.

Beyond a healthy and varied diet, though, it still remains to be discovered whether certain food combinations could alter the microbiome to produce a cognitive boost. In fact, Cryan recommends that claims from probiotic supplements of brain-boosting ought to be taken with a pinch of salt for now. “Unless the studies have been done, one can assume they’re not going to have any effect on mental health,” he says. Still, he’s optimistic about the future. “The field right now is evolving very strongly and quickly. There’s a lot of important research to be done. It’s still early days.”

Hacking the brain often conjures up ideas of electrical hardware such as implants and trans-cranial stimulators. But it might be the case that a simple change in diet can shift your brain up a gear. The transhumanists and body hackers who believe that technology is the sole way to improve human ability would do well to pay as much attention to the living augmentation that already resides in their gut."

Post: #2

I'm not surprised. There's actually a huge number of neurons within the digestive system. Enough that some scientists have referred to it as a "second brain" of sorts.

Post: #3

Gut and mind are very connected. They are one in the same. Intestines look just like a brain if you think about it. Also 'gut feeling' and ever not been able to eat when stressed or after losing a loved one. Mind body shit is no joke sun.

Post: #4

This is pretty interesting the other day read a small article on gut bacteria and keeping thin.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/health....html?_r=0

Quote:The trillions of bacteria that live in the gut — helping digest foods, making some vitamins, making amino acids — may help determine if a person is fat or thin.

Dr. Jeffrey I. Gordon, left, and Vanessa K. Ridaura are two members of a scientific team whose research shows a connection between human gut bacteria and obesity.

The evidence is from a novel experiment involving mice and humans that is part of a growing fascination with gut bacteria and their role in health and diseases like irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease. In this case, the focus was on obesity. Researchers found pairs of human twins in which one was obese and the other lean. They transferred gut bacteria from these twins into mice and watched what happened. The mice with bacteria from fat twins grew fat; those that got bacteria from lean twins stayed lean.

Post: #5

Read, "The Brain Diet: The Connection Between Nutrition, Mental Health, And Intelligence ."

The gut is a second brain.

Fixing your gut for a lot of people cures anxiety and other mental disorders.

Post: #6

In many, many, many traditional societies, fermented, probiotics-rich foods are/were a daily part of the diet. This provided ample beneficial gut bacteria. With our heavy antibiotics use, chlorinated water straight from the tap, etc., etc., etc, most people's intestinal flora is in serious disarray... thus their brains are on some goofy shit.

I eat fermented foods at virtually every meal... ALL HOMEMADE.
Lately, we've been lots of kefir made from raw, unpasteurized goat milk and milk from Jersey cows. One of my chicks just made strawberry ice cream from fresh milk kefir, raw cream, raw honey and strawberries (she may have used other shit... not quite sure). She's making vanilla tomorrow. THIS IS SOME BEN & JERRRY'S LEVEL SHIT... probiotic-rich ice cream.
There's always some kraut/kim-chi fermenting at my place.

I am ON TOP of this optimized intestinal flora thing.

Post: #7

This is interesting. Never heard about this type of gut-brain connection before.

I took a strong (many strains) pro-biotic for around a month, but experienced no subjective benefits so did not get another months supply. May have to investigate further and maybe give them more of a chance.

Do members who use probiotics regularly feel that it is very dose dependent? Do you think that increasing the dose may provide benefits not available with a regular dose?

Post: #8

Of course, you can always get an underground fecal transplant to improve your gut bacteria. Apparently it solves some serious problems.

http://blogs.plos.org/publichealth/2013/...he-reason/

Post: #9

(02-24-2014 05:39 PM)Bad Hussar Wrote:  This is interesting. Never heard about this type of gut-brain connection before.

I took a strong (many strains) pro-biotic for around a month, but experienced no subjective benefits so did not get another months supply. May have to investigate further and maybe give them more of a chance.

Do members who use probiotics regularly feel that it is very dose dependent? Do you think that increasing the dose may provide benefits not available with a regular dose?

I use Raw Probiotics Ultimate Care, which contains 34 probiotic strains and has 100 billion organisms per serving (one capsule).
I recommend mega-dosing (upping the dosage) when it comes to getting one's intestinal flora in order after a course of antibiotics, if one drinks lots of chlorinated tap water, or after years of general abuse of your digestive system. That goes for whatever probiotic product you prefer. After that the suggested dosage should be fine.

Post: #10

Wait a second, am i understanding this right, you literally eat shit? Or do you use it like an enema?

Post: #11

Man up and drink the yellow water my friend.

Post: #12

(02-24-2014 05:52 PM)Mon Wrote:  

(02-24-2014 05:39 PM)Bad Hussar Wrote:  This is interesting. Never heard about this type of gut-brain connection before.

I took a strong (many strains) pro-biotic for around a month, but experienced no subjective benefits so did not get another months supply. May have to investigate further and maybe give them more of a chance.

Do members who use probiotics regularly feel that it is very dose dependent? Do you think that increasing the dose may provide benefits not available with a regular dose?

I use Raw Probiotics Ultimate Care, which contains 34 probiotic strains and has 100 billion organisms per serving (one capsule).
I recommend mega-dosing (upping the dosage) when it comes to getting one's intestinal flora in order after a course of antibiotics, if one drinks lots of chlorinated tap water, or after years of general abuse of your digestive system. That goes for whatever probiotic product you prefer. After that the suggested dosage should be fine.

Using a pill to replenish your gut bacteria is like going to MacDonald's to get your daily nutrition.

If it comes from a factory, it's been processed to hell and has a lot of other random ingredients and contaminants.

It's the nature of the alternative health industry that it has brainwashed people into believing pills = good. Even orthodox healthcare falls into this foolish train of thought regularly.

Whenever possible, avoid pills.

Fermented foods are better.

Post: #13

(02-24-2014 05:39 PM)Bad Hussar Wrote:  This is interesting. Never heard about this type of gut-brain connection before.

I took a strong (many strains) pro-biotic for around a month, but experienced no subjective benefits so did not get another months supply. May have to investigate further and maybe give them more of a chance.

Do members who use probiotics regularly feel that it is very dose dependent? Do you think that increasing the dose may provide benefits not available with a regular dose?

Well the probiotic capsules are just supplements.

Most of your bacteria supply should be coming from your diet (stuff like kefir, lassi, kimchi, sauerkraut, etc).

Post: #14

Was just listening to this episode of the Joe Rogan Experience and the chick he has on is talking about this very subject. You guys that are interested in this topic might find this podcast episode interesting.

Post: #15

Relevant thread: /thread-30482....ht=ferment
Fermented foods are a way better option than a pill - they cost no more than alternative foods if made at home, and have been consumed for millenia, and thus are validated by time and tradition. They also taste great, and can even make otherwise inedible foods (eg milk) tasty and nutritious.

I just got my hands on a kombucha culture, waiting for my first batch to be ready.

Post: #16

Your gut health is extremely important. I get gut feelings all the time about people and almost every time it has been spot on.

When I got my diet fixed up with more yoghurt and fermented foods I started feeling a ton better.

I even avoid alcohol now. I'll drink a beer every now and then, but getting drunk is something i avoid now.

Post: #17

(02-24-2014 05:02 PM)MidniteSpecial Wrote:  Gut and mind are very connected. They are one in the same.

For some people, literally.



   

Post: #18

(02-27-2014 12:13 PM)Basil Ransom Wrote:  Relevant thread: /thread-30482....ht=ferment
Fermented foods are a way better option than a pill - they cost no more than alternative foods if made at home, and have been consumed for millenia, and thus are validated by time and tradition. They also taste great, and can even make otherwise inedible foods (eg milk) tasty and nutritious.

I just got my hands on a kombucha culture, waiting for my first batch to be ready.

I agree. A diet with lots of fermented foods (preferably on a daily basis) is essential for gut health. I try to have some fermented food and/or drink with every meal. Kefir or yogurt in smoothie... cultured butter and/or kraut/kim-chi with meals, etc. They've been making fermented salad dressings at my place. Good shit.

My girls have been making Jun lately, using medicinal herbs and mushrooms. It's sorta like kombucha and really popular in Tibet.
I like it MUCH better than kombucha as Jun is made using raw honey instead of sugar. We've done tests at home and boiled the liquid out of store-bought kombuchas. There was lots of sugar left over, which allegedly is consumed during the process. of course, you can still taste the sugar in that shit.

This may not be as much an issue homemade kombucha, as you can let the process go for longer, thus consuming more of the sugar. Plus, you can use coconut palm sugar.

Post: #19

I ate fast food 2 nights in a row last week and felt like shit. Add drinking into the mix and I was done. Have been on a heavy fermented foods diet since returning from the DR last year, and I was all fuckered up. It got my digestive tract back to proper working order, and my brain cleared up as well. I just bought a big ass tub of of kimchi from Buford Highway Farmers Market for $9.99. Well worth not having to make it myself. It will last me a long time. I eat one serving every day or so, along with a small cup of kefir and/or Greek yogurt.

The other advice I can give from over a decade of experience is The Master Cleanse. It cleans everything out, and I recommend getting back on fermented foods to replace the pro bacteria. I've read for years about the necessity of an efficient digestive tract, and the importance of keeping out the toxins that will reintroduce into your system.

/thread-20660.html

The times when I feel healthiest in mind and body is during and after the fast, and when I drink less and have better access to fermented foods. Of course working out too, but as long as my gut is happy, everything else seems to fall in place.

I read The Miracle of Fasting by Paul Bragg 15 yrs ago, and have it next to me now. I'll post something about it in the KA&L so ya'll will think I'm smart and educated. Believes believes the body isn't ready to digest food first thing in the morning, so start off with a glass of water. This practice is accepted through health nuts and western med murderers. Follow with a glass of the lemonade fast for a week and see how you feel. Give your body time to wake up and take in food.

Post: #20

(02-24-2014 05:39 PM)Bad Hussar Wrote:  This is interesting. Never heard about this type of gut-brain connection before.

I took a strong (many strains) pro-biotic for around a month, but experienced no subjective benefits so did not get another months supply. May have to investigate further and maybe give them more of a chance.

Do members who use probiotics regularly feel that it is very dose dependent? Do you think that increasing the dose may provide benefits not available with a regular dose?

It's a 90 day process for some, plus many pro-biotics don't work because many don't set their gut with a Pre-pro-biotic. Your gut won't recognize the new organisms and will flush them, so you have to set up that response by setting up food that the new organisms (pro-biotics) will eat and survive on. It's a common mistake many make with pro-botic treatments, but it's a important step to start to see the benefits of pre-biotics in full.

Post: #21

(02-27-2014 03:22 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  I read The Miracle of Fasting by Paul Bragg 15 yrs ago, and have it next to me now. I'll post something about it in the KA&L so ya'll will think I'm smart and educated. Believes believes the body isn't ready to digest food first thing in the morning, so start off with a glass of water. This practice is accepted through health nuts and western med murderers. Follow with a glass of the lemonade fast for a week and see how you feel. Give your body time to wake up and take in food.

If he writes a book as well as he brews apple cider vinegar, I'm sold.

Post: #22

(02-27-2014 08:50 PM)kosko Wrote:  

(02-24-2014 05:39 PM)Bad Hussar Wrote:  This is interesting. Never heard about this type of gut-brain connection before.

I took a strong (many strains) pro-biotic for around a month, but experienced no subjective benefits so did not get another months supply. May have to investigate further and maybe give them more of a chance.

Do members who use probiotics regularly feel that it is very dose dependent? Do you think that increasing the dose may provide benefits not available with a regular dose?

It's a 90 day process for some, plus many pro-biotics don't work because many don't set their gut with a Pre-pro-biotic. Your gut won't recognize the new organisms and will flush them, so you have to set up that response by setting up food that the new organisms (pro-biotics) will eat and survive on. It's a common mistake many make with pro-botic treatments, but it's a important step to start to see the benefits of pre-biotics in full.

Bro-science recognised.

Post: #23

Sounds like resistant starch is very relevant to all of this.

Post: #24

(02-27-2014 11:51 PM)Thomas the Rhymer Wrote:  

(02-27-2014 08:50 PM)kosko Wrote:  

(02-24-2014 05:39 PM)Bad Hussar Wrote:  This is interesting. Never heard about this type of gut-brain connection before.

I took a strong (many strains) pro-biotic for around a month, but experienced no subjective benefits so did not get another months supply. May have to investigate further and maybe give them more of a chance.

Do members who use probiotics regularly feel that it is very dose dependent? Do you think that increasing the dose may provide benefits not available with a regular dose?

It's a 90 day process for some, plus many pro-biotics don't work because many don't set their gut with a Pre-pro-biotic. Your gut won't recognize the new organisms and will flush them, so you have to set up that response by setting up food that the new organisms (pro-biotics) will eat and survive on. It's a common mistake many make with pro-botic treatments, but it's a important step to start to see the benefits of pre-biotics in full.

Bro-science recognised.

So I should trust your word since your a MD... or the natural food store owner whom told me this whom has been doing this for 30 plus years?

He sells Pro-biotics because clueless soccer moms like to buy them and it makes him money. But when I asked about them and more info, he said unless your pairing them with a Pre its useless, and then went into a long discussion about the relationship between them, the non-digestive food factor, gut flora, etc, etc.

Pro-Biotics need food. Pro-biotic products aren't symbiotic and need some type of pre-biotic to live on and grow in your gut.

What most people do is just take the pro-biotic, or simply stop a symbiotic program when they start to "feel" better, which is usually after 3 weeks with lets say just Yogurt or Kefir. Its better to stay on it consistently to see the full benefits trough in other areas of the body since gut health is so closely linked to other parts of the body.

Honey is actually a good Pre-biotic I should mention also.

Post: #25

(02-28-2014 03:22 AM)kosko Wrote:  

(02-27-2014 11:51 PM)Thomas the Rhymer Wrote:  

(02-27-2014 08:50 PM)kosko Wrote:  

(02-24-2014 05:39 PM)Bad Hussar Wrote:  This is interesting. Never heard about this type of gut-brain connection before.

I took a strong (many strains) pro-biotic for around a month, but experienced no subjective benefits so did not get another months supply. May have to investigate further and maybe give them more of a chance.

Do members who use probiotics regularly feel that it is very dose dependent? Do you think that increasing the dose may provide benefits not available with a regular dose?

It's a 90 day process for some, plus many pro-biotics don't work because many don't set their gut with a Pre-pro-biotic. Your gut won't recognize the new organisms and will flush them, so you have to set up that response by setting up food that the new organisms (pro-biotics) will eat and survive on. It's a common mistake many make with pro-botic treatments, but it's a important step to start to see the benefits of pre-biotics in full.

Bro-science recognised.

So I should trust your word since your a MD... or the natural food store owner whom told me this whom has been doing this for 30 plus years?

He sells Pro-biotics because clueless soccer moms like to buy them and it makes him money. But when I asked about them and more info, he said unless your pairing them with a Pre its useless, and then went into a long discussion about the relationship between them, the non-digestive food factor, gut flora, etc, etc.

Pro-Biotics need food. Pro-biotic products aren't symbiotic and need some type of pre-biotic to live on and grow in your gut.

What most people do is just take the pro-biotic, or simply stop a symbiotic program when they start to "feel" better, which is usually after 3 weeks with lets say just Yogurt or Kefir. Its better to stay on it consistently to see the full benefits trough in other areas of the body since gut health is so closely linked to other parts of the body.

Honey is actually a good Pre-biotic I should mention also.

I understand that you are very set in your opinions based on our previous arguments about amygdalin, so I'm not going to try to convince you of anything, but for the benefit of the forum I'm going to put down my own opinion of the matter and then forum members can decide for themselves what they think about our two contrasting opinions.

Firstly, both prebiotic and probiotic research studies have consistently been awful, especially the prebiotic research. This is a poorly regulated industry where there are strong financial incentives given to the researchers involved to fudge the numbers. The research is generally funded by prebiotic and probiotic companies themselves (or by their parent companies, which more often than not are Big Pharma companies) and no company wants to give money to a researcher who is going to turn around and say, "Actually, your stuff doesn't work..."

Now some research has been taken up by academic institutions and in the absence of a direct conflict of interest some interesting findings have been discovered, basically that some probiotics can influence gut functioning, especially in terms of reducing gut inflammation. Specifically, the two strains that seem to have the greatest benefit:
Saccharomyces Boulardii
Lactobacillus Reuteri

Which leads me to another issue: a 'probiotic' is a bizarre term. It's bacteria, plain and simple, bacteria that are normal inhabitants and safe inhabitants of the gut that do not normally cause problems and often stimulate health. But to label bacteria as 'probiotic' is to me something of a marketing ploy, although the term is 50 years old or so I shouldn't be too hard on it.

There is little evidence to support any other probiotic strain, so these 9-strain pills that I see in the pharmacy don't make sense to me. They might work, but why pay for something so unproven? Sure, the companies that make them claim they work, but let's face it: everyone's trying to hustle in this dog-eat-dog world, and the truth is not an obstacle to a driven salesperson.

As for prebiotics - in essence, these are carbohydrates which humans cannot digest. In layman terms, it's called 'fibre'. There is a lot of evidence that suggests fibre is important in reducing gut inflammation. Why the alternative healthcare industry decided to market 'fibre' as 'prebiotic' is beyond me, although marketing studies have shown that using pseudo-scientific terms greatly boosts sales of health products. So perhaps the changed the word to make it more sciencey. So yes, fibre is good for you. I won't dispute that. Whether it has any direct link with probiotic efficacy as Kosko claims, of that I'm sceptical. But I won't deny the health effects of fibre.

Which brings me to my final conclusion: why on earth should anyone rely on a supplement company (which is more often than not the daughter of a Big Pharma company) to get bacteria and fibre?

To get bacteria, eat fermented foods. I like sour milk, myself.

To get fibre, eat unpeeled fresh fruits and vegetables. I found that unpeeled carrots have done wonders for my digestive system (I had to take a month long course of anti-retrovirals after a needle stick injury, and the drugs nuked my digestive tract, and the raw carrots are the only thing that helps).

Traditionally, African communities have also eaten mud, which is probably a rich source of bacteria and fibre in and of itself. I'd probably try mud before I try the faeces method mentioned earlier in the thread, although faecal transplants have clearly worked wonders in some patients.

That said, there is evidence that inflammatory gut disorders are due to a malfunction appendix, and the French and the Japanese are pioneering appendectomy as a treatment for inflamed bowel. I'm excitedly awaiting the results of their research, though it make take years to come out. The theory: in the absence of bacteria to fight, the appendix goes into overdrive and end up inflaming the entire bowel. So this may be the best option in future, as opposed to faecal transplant. But that's another topic, I suppose, let me stop rambling.