A MOOD-BOOSTING PROBIOTIC
Perhaps the most interesting thing I learnt on this gut-health journey is that the microbiome has about a 10 to 15 per cent influence on our mood, and as much as 95 per cent of serotonin comes from the stomach. Researchers believe that by changing the balance of your gut bacteria, you change the messages it sends to the brain, thereby changing your mood. So when I had the opportunity to test Activated Probiotics’ Biome Lift, a probiotic supplement that promised to improve my mood and my sleep, I jumped at the chance. Two days after taking it, not only was I creepy-level calm, the hum of anxiety that I’ve known for as long as I can remember was gone. It was like someone had turned off a fridge I hadn’t even realised was running.
It turns out the bacterium Bifidobacterium longum, a key ingredient in Biome Lift, has been shown to help with mild anxiety. While research into probiotic-as-medication is in very early stages, Activated
Probiotics’ founder, Blair Norfolk, tells me the outlook is promising. His company creates clinically proven, strain-specific probiotics that are designed to treat conditions such as acne, mood and diet deficiencies.
“Being able not just to prevent but actually reduce some symptoms through probiotic supplements was science fiction up until about 12 months ago,” he says. Still, probiotics aren’t magic pills, but as long as you have a healthy gut and approval from your GP, you can experiment with generic or strainspecific probiotics all you like.
Communication between the gut and the brain goes the other way, too, in a system known as the gut-brain axis. Dr Simon Knowles is a psychogastroenterologist and the founder of MindOverGut. “It’s very hard for people to tell whether someone’s symptoms are associated with a gastrointestinal condition or a psychological one,” he explains. “I suggest trying stress management techniques like mindfulness and meditation to signal to your brain that the fight-flight response is no longer needed.”
If you’re concerned about your mood, book your gut in for a session on the therapist’s couch, see your GP or call Lifeline on 13 11 14.