We have a diverse and complex ecosystem in our guts. There’s no reason to believe the mind-gut connection doesn’t go both ways. Tend your garden.
Probiotics: Exploring the Gut-Mind Connection
Long-Term Goal
A long-term goal is to determine whether eating probiotic products or taking probiotic supplements regularly can change the balance of bacteria in the gut and alter emotional response to stress and other negative stimuli, Tillisch says.
John Petrini, MD, a gastroenterologist at the Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara, Calif., says the findings suggest that there is "some kind of interaction" between bacteria in the gut, activity in the brain, and emotions, but that the work is "very preliminary."
A shortcoming of the study is that the researchers looked at activity in areas of the brain that they hypothesized would be involved in such an interaction, Petrini says. "There could be other [areas of the brain] that are more important."
"I wouldn’t run out and buy a lot of yogurt in hopes of becoming less emotional or less stressed," he tells WebMD.
The study was funded by Danone Research, makers of Dannon Yogurt.