494 Nitrates and Mania [22 Oct 2018]

A connection between nitrates in processed meats and mania has been accidentally discovered. Mania is a psychiatric disorder associated with hyperactivity, euphoria and insomnia. The link appears to be the effect of nitrates on gut bacteria.

I have previously written about the connections between gut bacteria and brain function [#320 Our Gut Microbiome & Our Brain; #422 The Brain-Gut Axis; #425 Autism and Gut Bacteria].

The nitrate connection was discovered in a study by Johns Hopkins published this July in Molecular Psychiatry. The study of more than 1000 people found that those hospitalized for an episode of mania were 3.5 times more likely to have eaten nitrate-cured meats prior to hospitalization. This finding was statistically significant. No association with other foods or other psychiatric disorders were found.

Animal studies were conducted to follow up on this association. Rats fed the equivalent of a human eating a wiener or one stick of beef jerky daily developed hyperactivity and sleep disorders within two weeks. The control group, fed the same food but nitrate free exhibited normal behavior. Differences were found in the bacteria living in their intestines, and in molecular pathways known to be implicated in bipolar disorder. It would appear that the nitrates change the gut microbiome which affects brain function triggering mania in susceptible individuals.

The same research group had published a study in 2017 with the finding that a probiotic supplement reduced the incidence of delusions and hallucinations in schizophrenic patients. They were also less likely to be rehospitalized following a manic episode. The study was too small to recommend it as a treatment just yet, but it does provide more evidence for the influence of the gut microbiome on mental health.

One of the researchers, Emily Severance, assistant professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, wrote:

The mental health field is in desperate need of new treatments for psychiatric disorders… The tiny living organisms that make up the human microbiome and the overwhelming evidence for a gut-brain axis together represent a new frontier for schizophrenia research.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

484 Our Complex Gut [13 August 2018]

In grade school health we were taught that our digestive system was a fairly simple “food processing machine” comprised of a handful of organs. Food entered at one end, a variety of digestive juices were added along the way, nutrients were extracted, and the leftover waste expelled out the other end. Scientists are just now discovering how complex our digestive system really is.

Dr. Emeran Mayer in his 2016 book “The Mind-Gut Connection – how the hidden conversation in our bodies impacts our mood, our choices, and our overall health” shares what cutting-edge science has learned about the connections between our gut, our brain, and our microbiome. This adds to previous articles I wrote about the brain-gut axis: #320 in May 2015 and #422 in May 2017.

First, the gut has its own nervous system, sometimes called the “second brain”. The enteric nervous system (ENS), as it is properly named, rivals the spinal cord for number of nerve cells – some 50-100 million. The ENS makes the gut the largest sensory organ of the body – covering an area the size of a basketball court.

The gut contains more immune cells than in all the rest of the body. There is a good reason for this – the gut is exposed to more pathogenic microbes than any other system. It can identify and destroy a pathogenic species out of the approximately 1,000 species that may exist in our gut.

The gut contains more endocrine cells than in all the other endocrine glands put together – adrenals, thyroid, pituitary, etc. The gut produces and stores 95% of the body’s serotonin, the neurotransmitter that controls our mood, sleep, appetite, and pain sensitivity.

Then there is the microbiome. Technological advances in DNA testing over the past few decades has allowed us to identify the thousands of microbial species that typically inhabit our body. There are about as many microbial cells in and on our body as there are human cells (if you include the red blood cells). By weight our microbiome is more massive than our brain. And since there are over 1,000 species, their collective genes outnumber our own a hundred fold.

These gut systems communicate with the brain in different ways. The large vagus nerve directly connects the gut and the brain. The hormones and neurotransmitters produced by the cells in the gut wall, and the metabolites produced by the microbes, can travel by the bloodstream to the brain. Mayer calls this complex three-way communication system the “Gut-Microbiome-Brain Axis”.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner. Find this article on my website for links to sources and further reading.

422 The Brain-Gut Axis [29 May 2017]

Last week we looked at how our gut microbiome affects our immune system. This week we’ll discuss how it affects our brain, mood and memory. I last wrote about this topic two years ago [#320]. The network of neurons and chemical pathways connecting the digestive tract and the central nervous system is called the Brain-Gut Axis.

The brain uses this axis to monitor the digestive tract for hunger, stress, and the presence of pathogens; and to control aspects of it, including transit speed, production of mucous lining the colon, and the secretion of stomach acid, bile and pancreatic enzymes. But the signaling goes both ways – the condition of the digestive tract, including the bacteria living in it, also influences the brain.

Justin and Erica Sonnenburg in their 2015 book The Good Gut devote a chapter to this connection and share findings from some of their animal experiments. Lab mice specially raised to have a bacteria-free gut lacked the caution that helps wild mice avoid predators, and scored lower in memory tests than mice with normal gut microbes. Other experiments showed that transplanting gut bacteria from anxious mice to calm mice increased their anxiety (and vice versa) along with measurable changes in their brain biochemistry.

One way that the gut bacteria influence the nervous system is by the chemicals they produce which get absorbed into the bloodstream. Some of these chemicals have a beneficial effect like the short chain fatty acids mentioned last week. An estimated 90% of our serotonin, the “feel-good” neurotransmitter, is produced in our gut with the help of certain bacteria. Other bacteria-produced chemicals are toxic and have undesirable effects. An example is EPS, which was found to be greatly elevated in mice with autistic-like behavior; the behavior improved when different bacteria were introduced which normalized the EPS levels.

Research holds the promise of modifying our microbiome in the treatment of not only inflammation related chronic diseases like MS and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), but also mood disorders like stress, anxiety, depression, and even neurological conditions like autism, ADHD, OCD, and schizophrenia. This is one field of research that I plan to keep an eye on. More next week.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

421 Fiber and Auto-Immune Disease [22 May 2017]

We’ve always known that dietary fiber is important for regular bowel movements. In a few previous articles [#140 November 2011 and #276 July 2014] I wrote about the benefits of soluble and insoluble fiber to balance blood sugar and maintain a healthy weight. Now scientists have discovered a link between dietary fiber, our immune system, and auto-immune diseases. How does that work?

Rhonda Patrick, in December 2015, interviewed Drs. Justin & Erica Sonnenburg who run a lab at Stanford University looking at “the profound impact gut bacteria has on our entire body” (Justin). They found that dietary fiber is essential for a healthy microbiome, described as “an incredibly complex and dynamic ecosystem of microbes” (Erica). In this 40 minute interview (which I encourage you to watch for yourself) Drs. Sonnenburg describe the connections between gut bacteria and our body's immune system.

The average American eats 10-15 grams of fiber daily, short of the government recommended 30-35g, and far short of the 100-150g consumed by traditional hunter-gatherer populations (who have a much greater diversity in their gut microbiomes and a significantly lower incidence of auto-immune disease).

The microbes in the colon rely on complex carbohydrates (fiber) for food, metabolizing it into short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and other beneficial compounds. These SCFAs then feed the epithelial cells of the colon wall. SCFAs also increase the T regulatory cells which have an anti-inflammatory effect, calming the immune system. When fiber is lacking, the microbes attack the mucus lining of the colon and in turn are attacked by the immune cells in the intestinal wall, creating an inflammatory effect. Without adequate T regulatory cells, this can lead to auto-immune conditions like allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and MS.

Many of these auto-immune diseases have previously been linked to gut microbiome disruptions – this provides a likely explanation. Taking this further, heart disease, metabolic disorders, some cancers, and even aging are all increased by inflammation so could also be reduced with a healthy gut microbiome.

So how to improve our gut microbiome? Feed them a variety of complex carbs from fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. The more types of fiber, the more diverse the bacterial populations they will support; fiber supplements often have only one or two sources. Use probiotic supplements and foods (like yogurt, sauerkraut and fermented vegetables) to help repopulate the gut following a round of antibiotics or whenever you suspect it needs a boost.

For more information on this topic, see the Sonnenburgs' book The Good Gut - Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood and Your Long-term Health or visit their Facebook page.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

320 Our Gut Microbiome & Our Brain [25 May 2015]

Last fall (#287 & #288) I discussed how our gut microbiome (the bacteria in our intestines) affect our health in many ways, and how it in turn is affected by our diet and lifestyle choices.

In his new 2015 book Brain Maker, the Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect your Brain – For Life, neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter expands on this idea with new research into the relationship between our microbiome and our brain health. The book discusses the gut microbiome’s effect on: inflammation; mood disorders like depression; diabetes and obesity; and neurological disorders like autism, ADHD, Parkinson’s, MS and Alzheimer’s.

These bacteria living in our digestive tract make up 99% of the DNA in our bodies, and affect our health in several ways:
• manufacture neurochemicals like dopamine and serotonin, and vitamins like B12;
• maintain the integrity of the gut lining preventing “leaky gut syndrome”; and
• control switches that can turn our own genes on or off.

Leaky gut and inflammation seems to be the keys to the common brain disorders mentioned above. Gut permeability can be measured by measuring levels of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antibodies – higher blood levels indicate a leaky gut. Strong correlations have been found between LPS levels and many of these chronic disorders, including diabetes. Correlation of course doesn’t necessarily mean causation, but Dr. Perlmutter made some interesting observations after correcting gut flora with fecal transplants (see #243) in a few case studies: Carlos, a 43 year old man with MS who could barely walk with two canes, could now walk unaided; and Jason, a 10 year old boy with severe autism showed remarkable improvements.

While our own DNA has changed little in thousands of years, we can change the 99% of the DNA in our bodies that are found in the gut microbiome in a matter of days – and in so doing significantly reduce our risk for these neurological conditions – simply by changing our diets. More about this in a future article.

Sources: Dr. Perlmutter interview (1 hour)

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.