The gut-brain axis
Another bullish category is probiotics, and in March researchers from Danone and UCLA reported findings from the first human clinical trial to show chronic intake of a fermented milk product with probiotics can alter brain activity.
We’re at the tip of the iceberg on the potential of positively influencing the gut microflora for human health. It’s a factoid that is used frequently, but, on a cell count basis, we’re 10% human and 90% human. And the most recent data from the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) indicated that over 10,000 microbial species occupy the human ecosystem.
Not only that, HMP researchers also reported that this plethora of microbes contribute more genes responsible for human survival than humans contribute. They do more for us than we do!
It shouldn’t be a surprise then that daily consumption of a fermented milk product containing five different probiotic strains may affect the parts of the brain linked to emotion and sensation.
The UCLA-Danone findings were published in Gastroenterology (doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2013.02.043) and welcomed by Prof Glenn Gibson, a world-renowned expert in pre- and probiotics at the University of Reading in the UK. He told us: "There is evidence that the gut to brain axis exists, with positive and negative potential outcomes. However, modulating it like this is a big step forward."
Please click here to read: 'A big step forward': Probiotics may alter brain activity in healthy people, says Danone/UCLA data