The-9-most-promising-#psychobiotics-for-#anxiety by Jordan Fallis

If you have chronic anxiety, there are ways to manage and reverse it, like I have.And psychobiotics are one way to do that.Psychobiotics are probiotics and prebiotics that can improve your mental health by changing the mixture of bacteria in your gut (46-47).It is estimated that 100 trillion bacteria, and 500 to 1,000 species of bacteria, live in the human gut. These gut bacteria, collectively known as the gut microbiome, help with digestion. But an increasing amount of research suggests that they also communicate with your brain through the microbiome-gut-brain axis, affecting your thoughts, feelings and behaviour (48-49).

A dysfunctional gut microbiome has been linked to a number of psychiatric conditions, including anxiety.In fact, anxiety and gut health are very tightly linked.Research shows that people who have digestive disorders are more likely to have anxiety, and those with anxiety have higher rates of gastrointestinal disease (50-52).And studies show that when digestive disorders improve, anxiety improves as well (53).Unfortunately, a lot of people have poor gut health today because of the widespread use of antibiotics, medications, herbicides, stress, infections, poor diet, etc.But don’t worry. You can improve your gut health and anxiety at the same time with the use of psychobiotics.Studies show that psychobiotics can improve anxiety by (54-55):

• Stimulating the vagus nerve
• Producing neurotransmitters, such as GABA and serotonin
• Reducing stress hormone levels
• Reducing inflammation, one of the major underlying causes of mental illness
• Increasing BDNF levels
• Crowding out pathogenic bacteria
• Increasing nutrient production and absorption

http://www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/the-9-most-promising-psychobiotics-for-anxiety