Originally published at: Concussions can cause changes in gut bacteria | Boing Boing
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Is there anything that doesn’t fuck up our gut bacteria… 
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I have a strong gut feeling.
@anon61221983 Yes, it’s Whiskey 
, nectar of the Sailors, not the gods.
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This is wild, as I keep reading about evidence that gut bacteria have an influence on mental functioning (mood, cognitive abilities, etc.)… so apparently the link is two-way, to some degree at least. It’s often said that we’re more bacterial than mammalian (given the relative cell counts), and while those bacteria may not control our brain, it seems like our gut is effectively a part of it.
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The gut-brain axis is now something much more openly talked about in medical circles involved in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) research. Inflammation in the gut caused by IBD, can be reflected in the brain, perhaps as inflammation too. What is not yet clear is whether there is cause and effect here (i.e. gut inflammation induces brain inflammation) or whether there is some other linkage. As a long-term IBD sufferer, I may use this as my 'get-out-of-jail card for being a grumpy old git. “I’m grumpy 'cos of my IBD and there’s nothing I can do about it, so there.”
More seriously, while the effects of IBD on mental health are insufficiently studied or taken account of, it may not simply be that having IBD is a depressing experience, but that it is literally affecting one’s brain in that way.
Has my almost life-long IBD indirectly - or directly - impacted my ‘character’ and behaviour? Indeed, was something in my brain what changed my gut microbiome and induced IBD?
More research, please.
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Beer, in moderation.
The available scientific literature reviewed in this manuscript supports that a complex interaction between polyphenols and gut microbiota could play a significant role on the healthy benefits that moderate beer consumption seems to provide. However, extensive experimental research is needed to confirm this hypothesis and to elucidate more details of this interaction. In fact, along this line, the recently available study by Hernández-Quiroz et al. (2019) has proposed this hypothesis to discuss their results [91]. Until now, beer is considered to be a popular refreshing beverage, but little attention has been given to the role that its bioactive components could exert on health, mainly the diverse polyphenols components. This review and other research reports showed that further investigations are needed, focusing on the causes of the health implications associated to xanthohumol and other derivatives from hop polyphenols, since the published results seems very promising. More research is also needed on the role of the more abundant polyphenols present in the beer, such as ferulic acid, to get a better knowledge on their interaction with gut microbiota.
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I really want to see more research on the brain and gut microbiome too. How does the gut bacteria affect mood and mental illness? Would fecal transplants help provide relief for ppl with mental illness? Even some basic stuff like, do ppl with depression also suffer from IBS more than ppl without mood issues? What about anxiety?
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So not wine, then?
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Just for the avoidance of any doubt, IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) are quite different and must not be confused or conflated. (ETA, indeed, some patients have been diagnosed with and suffer with both!)
As far as I can tell from the papers I’ve read, nobody is yet linking gut inflammation and brain inflammation directly to IBS, whereas they are with IBD.
It is possible that IBS does have gut microbiome links (causes or effects is hard to say) but in many cases it is a specific food sensitivity or intolerance that gives rise to IBS. Having done so it may well result in a disrupted gut microbiome. It should also be said that faecal matter transplantation (FMT - also Faecal Microbiota Transplantation) may benefit some IBS sufferers.
As it happens I am currently looking at a paper about FMT for treating recurrent C.difficile infections, compared to antibiotics and indications are positive. And there are studies that suggest (and others tht do not) that C.difficile infection can sometimes be something that gives rise to IBS.
Basically, it’s complicated!
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It’s definitely an active field of research as it relates to Autism Spectrum Disorder. Years ago I saw a presentation given by Temple Grandin on the subject and there’s been a lot of papers published since then.
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And this…
There’s also another relationship between Crohn’s and Colitis and mental health – it’s called the Brain-Gut axis. There’s evidence of a direct two-way link between the gut and the brain. The term Brain-Gut axis refers to this direct link between mental and physical health in conditions such as Crohn’s and Colitis.
Anxiety or depression can lead to new gut symptoms. Equally, experiencing symptoms in your gut has been linked to developing new psychological symptoms. The inflammation in your gut which causes some of the symptoms of Crohn’s or Colitis can also directly affect how you feel.
The good thing is that keeping gut inflammation under control may directly help to improve your mental health. This makes it even more important to keep looking after yourself and find a treatment that works for you. Early evidence also suggests that some medicines used to treat mental health problems such as antidepressants may have a positive effect on improving gut inflammation.
Taken from here (scroll down to the gut-brain axis section):
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