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10 Ways to Cultivate Good

Gut Bacteria and Reduce


Depression
By Therese Borchard

10-Ways-to-Cultivate-Good-Gut-Bacteria-and-ReduceDepression-722x406We are all born with genes that


predispose us to all kinds of things in my case, most of the
psychiatric illnesses listed in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition). And while
we have some control over the way our genes express
themselves or turn on a new science called epigenetics
we are more or less stuck with our human genome. But we are
by no means permanently attached to a diagnosis of Major
Depression Disorder (if that is what Mom and Dad kindly
handed down).

Nope.
Each of us also has a complex collection of bacteria living in
our guts our distinct microbiome that also has genes.
And THOSE genes we can maneuver in any way we want. In
their book The Good Gut: Taking Control of Your Weight, Your
Mood, and Your Long-Term Health, Stanford University
scientists Justin and Erica Sonnenburg write:
Since there is much we can do to shape the environment
within our guts, we have control over our microbiota and can
compensate for the lack of control we have over our human
genome. Our microbiome contains one hundred times more
genes than our human genome, so in fact there is about 99
percent of associated genetic material that we have the
potential to mold in ways that are beneficial to us.
If you doubt the connection between your mood and the
critters in your gut, you must read Peter Andrey Smiths
recent piece in the New York Times called Can the Bacteria in
Your Gut Explain Your Mood? Not to ruin the suspense, but
considering all the optimistic studies Smith includes, the
answer is a resounding YES.
Of course, Im sold on the research because, in the last 18
months, I have conducted my own gut experiment:
eliminating sugar, gluten, dairy, and caffeine; drinking at least
one kale smoothie a day; breaking up with my favorite
pastime of swimming (chlorine kills good bacteria); taking
probiotics and coconut oil; and working with a gastrointestinal
doctor on reversing SIBO (small intestine bacteria overgrowth)
and treating inflammatory bowel disease. The result is that I
havent had death thoughts in many months, and Ive been

able to wean off two of my psych meds. Since I have spent a


considerable chunk of my free time reading up on gut health
as of late, I thought I would summarize for you some ways you
can cultivate good bacteria, which translates to a more stable,
more resilient mood.

1. Cut Out Sugar and Processed Foods


Findings from a new study at Oregon State University found
that a diet high in sugar caused changes in the gut bacteria of
mice, impairing the mices ability to adjust to changing
situations, called cognitive flexibility. The change in gut
bacteria also negatively affected the mices long-term and
short-term memory.
In this study, which was just published in the journal
Neuroscience, the performance of mice on various tests of
mental and physical function began to drop just four weeks
after being fed a diet high in fat and sugar. Monosaccharides,
the simplest carbohydrates containing a single molecule of
glucose and fructose (a piece of Wonder bread), disrupt a
healthy microbial balance because they are digested very
easily by us and absorbed into our small intestine without any
help from our microbes. That leaves our gut bugs hungry, with
nothing to munch on, so they begin nibbling on the mucus
lining of our intestines which is meant to be a strong barrier
between the gut and the rest of the body. When the wall of the
intestine is permeated, particles of food enter the
bloodstream, and our immune system alerts our brain and
other organs to the attack, causing inflammation in various
parts of our body. Sugar also feeds organisms like Candida
Albican, a kind of fungus that grows in the gut and attacks the
intestine wall. These stringy-looking dudes need carbon-based
compounds (sugars) to multiply like Gremlins, and when they

do, people will start asking you if youre pregnant and youll
feel like you need to up your antidepressant dose.

2. Eat More Plants and Dietary Fiber


Almost every gut expert Ive read says that changing our diet
is the best and most direct route we have for transforming our
gut bacteria. They differ on whether or not to include fruits or
grains (David Perlmutter, MD, for example, is against grains
and says to limit fruit, while the Sonnenburgs promote grains
like brown rice and fruit); however, the opinions are
unequivocal on eating more plants especially green leafy
vegetables.
By eating more plants, we achieve and maintain microbiota
diversity which is going to lead to a clearer mind and
happier disposition. Just as sugar is processed too easily and
therefore starves our microbes, dietary fiber, or MACs
(microbiota accessible carbohydrates) a term the
Sonnenburgs use throughout their book give our little guys
plenty to feast on. Consuming plenty of MACs (the
Sonnenburgs suggest eating 33 to 39 grams of dietary fiber a
day) will not only keep our intestinal lining intact, but it will
also help us sustain a more varied collection of bacteria, which
is paramount to good health.

3. Limit Antibiotics
My dad died at age 56 of pneumonia. Therefore, I know we
cant afford not to use antibiotics at certain points in our lives.
But regular antibiotic use kills the diverse community of our
microbiota, and therefore wreaks more health hazards than
we could have ever imagined when penicillin was first
discovered. Broad-spectrum antibiotics dont discern between
whats beneficial for our health and whats not: they hold rifles

and start firing at whatever comes into their view some of


the collateral damage being strains of bacteria we need to
fight other infections. American children are typically
prescribed one course of antibiotics a year. The Sonneburgs
claim that amount is enough to permanently change
childrens microbiota and affect their long-term health. I
believe that one of the things that has contributed to my
depression in the last four years and what set off the
inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that I now have is being
flooded with antibiotics when my appendix ruptured in 2011.
A person with a healthy microbiota might have fared just fine.
However, I went into surgery with a compromised gut, so its
understandable why my symptoms of depression and anxiety
would persist despite trying multiple medications.

4. Get Dirty
Our obsession with sanitization is making us sick. Ironic? The
Sonnenburgs cite a May 2013 study published in the journal
Pediatrics that found that children whose parents cleaned
their dirty pacifier by sucking on it instead of boiling it in
water were less likely to have eczema than the kids of the
sanitization freaks. Two years ago, a team of scientists
discovered why children who grow up in homes with a dog
have a lower risk of developing allergies and asthma they
help diversify the microbiome community, of course. The
study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences shows that dog ownership is associated with a kind
of house dust that exposes us to important strains of bacteria,
like Lactobacillus. I believe it, based on the substantial dust
and hairballs that used to grace every corner of our home
when we had two Lab-Chow dogs. Soil, especially, has
wonderful healing elements that we need. Gardening or
weeding can serve as a way of boosting our immune systems.

Most of the gut experts say we ought to be picky about the


household cleaners we use to disinfect our homes. Most of
them are like antibiotics: they obliterate everything, which
includes some of the helpful bacteria we need to stay sane.
The Sonnenburgs suggest using less toxic cleaners such as
vinegar, castile soap, and lemon juice. Limiting our exposure
to such chemicals as chlorine can help protect our health as
well. If youre a swimmer with gut issues, like I was, you might
want to think about swapping the activity with a more
microbiome-promoting exercise such as yoga. And avoid
antibacterial soaps and alcohol-based sanitizers if you can.

5. Take a Probiotic
In December 2013, Sarkis Mazmanian, PhD, a microbiologist
at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, led a
study where he discovered that mice with some features of
autism had much lower levels of a common gut bacterium
called Bacteroides fragilis than did normal mice. They were
stressed, antisocial, and had the same gastrointestinal
symptoms often found in autism. Interestingly enough, when
the scientists fed the mice B. fragilis (in a probiotic), they
reversed their symptoms. In an April 2015 study in the journal
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, researchers in the Netherlands
provided a multispecies probiotic to 20 healthy individuals
without mood disorders for a four-week period, and a placebo
to 20 other participants. According to the abstract:
Compared to participants who received the placebo
intervention, participants who received the four-week
multispecies probiotics intervention showed a significantly
reduced overall cognitive reactivity to sad mood, which was
largely accounted for by reduced rumination and aggressive
thoughts.

But which probiotic do you take? Even the selection at Trader


Joes is dizzying. Every expert Ive read has been hesitant to
throw out specific brands and types, because every persons
microbiome is unique and benefits from different strains of
bacteria. Dr. Perlmutter encourages people to seek probiotics
that contain the following species: Lactobacillus plantarum,
Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus brevis,
Bifidobacterium lactis (B. animalis), and Bifidobacterium
longum. I think its important to consider shelf life and not get
a brand that is required to be refrigerated, because I tend not
to trust the manufacturers on making sure the bottle was
below a certain temperature before getting to me.

6. Try Fermented Foods


Fermented food is the best kind of probiotic you can feed your
gut, because it typically provides a broad combination of
bacteria so chances are greater that youll get a useful
bacteria. Fermentation is by no means a new health
movement. People were fermenting food more than 8,000
years ago. In fact, only recently since the invention of the
refrigerator have we not placed a priority on consuming
fermented foods, which may be part of the reason we have
less of a diversity of gut bugs than we used to. One of the
easiest, most common fermented products is yogurt (but
make sure it is unsweetened). Other examples are kefir,
kimchee, sauerkraut, pickles, and kombucha tea. Note: Be
careful about alcohol content in some fermented drinks. I
didnt realize that certain kombucha teas and kefir can have a
higher alcoholic percentage than beer a problem for a
recovering alcoholic.

7. Lower Stress
When you feel stressed, your body will discharge natural
steroids and adrenaline, and your immune system will release

inflammatory cytokines. This happens whether the threat is


real (a bear is approaching your tent in the woods) or not (you
cant stop obsessing about all of your work deadlines). If you
tend to be stressed all the time, your immune response never
stops sending inflammation messages to all parts of your
body your gut bugs included. The microbiome helps keep
our immune system in check. The pair (intestinal bacteria and
our immune response) work very closely together to make
sure that foreign agents are evacuated as soon as possible,
and that we respond to disease more quickly than the IRS
responds to our questions about tax returns. However, chronic
immune response weakens the health of our guts, just as an
unbalanced microbiome causes all kinds of immune diseases
(autoimmune disorders, Crohns disease, ulcerative colitis,
inflammatory bowel disease). So part of healing your gut or
at least keeping your microbiome vital and diverse is
learning how to chill out.

8. Get Consistent Sleep


This is interesting. Cytokines or inflammatory messengers
have circadian cycles that are dictated by our gut critters.
In his book Brain Maker, Perlmutter explains:
When cortisol levels go up in the morning, the gut bacteria
inhibit production of cytokines, and this shift defines the
transition between non-REM and REM sleep. Hence, disruption
of the gut bacteria can have significant negative effects on
sleep and circadian rhythms. Balance the gut, break through
insomnia.
The opposite is also true. We balance our guts by practicing
good sleep hygiene and getting as close to eight hours of
sleep a night as we can. A May 2014 study published in the

journal PLOS ONE demonstrated that circadian


disorganization can impact intestinal microbiota which may
have implications for inflammatory diseases.

9. Sweat
Our gut bugs just dont like for us to be lazy; they are much
happier when we get an aerobic workout. A team of scientists
from the University College Cork in Ireland studied the poop of
40 professional rugby players. The results showed that the
athletes microbiomes were far more diverse than those of
two control groups of normal people. In a May 2013 control
study published in the journal PLOS ONE, 40 rats were
assigned to one of four experimental groups: two with free
access to exercise, and two with no access to exercise. A
significant increase in the number of the bacteria
Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and B. coccoidesE. rectale
group was found in the micriobiota of rats with access to
exercise. In other studies, as well, it appears that exercise
induces changes in the gut microbiota that are different than,
say, diet. Several physiological changes that result from
exercise, such as increasing intestinal transit time (or flow
rate) through the gut, influencing metabolism, and altering
immune function, are known to affect the microbiota, the
Sonnenburgs explain in their book.

10. Consume Less Red Meat and Animal


Products
In an April 2013 study published in the journal Nature, Harvard
scientists had a group of nine volunteers go on two extreme
diets. First, they ate all meat and cheese. Breakfast consisted
of eggs and bacon, lunch was ribs, and for dinner they ate
salami and prosciutto with different kinds of cheese. They had
pork rinds for snacks. After a break, they began a fiber-rich
diet in which all of their foods came from plants. The scientists

tracked the changes in the volunteers microbiomes, and


within two days of eating the animal diet, the bacteria species
in the gut changed. They produced more of the microbe
Bilophila, which has been found to cause inflammation and
intestinal diseases in mice. According to the researchers, after
about three days on the diet, the volunteers behavior began
to be affected by the change in microbiota. The microbiota of
omnivores, compared to that of vegetarians and vegans,
produces more of a chemical that is associated with heart
disease, explain the Sonnenburgs. That compound,
trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), is a product of the microbiota
metabolizing a chemical abundant in red meat.
Join the discussion Improving Gut Health = Improving
Depression on ProjectBeyondBlue.com, the depression
community.

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