The link between our food, gut microbiome and depression - The Washington Post

The gut microbiome — the collective genome of trillions of bacteria that live in the intestinal tract that are created largely by what we eat and drink — appears to influence our mood and mind-set.

In one noteworthy study, entitled “Transferring the Blues,” bacteria-free rats given fecal samples from humans diagnosed with major depression became anxious and disinterested in pleasurable activities.

Interestingly, this same decrease has been spotted in microbiome studies of traumatic brain injury and obesity, both of which are tied to depression, supporting the notion that this species of bacteria has something to do with this mood disorder.

“Causation isn’t a one-way street,” said Jack Gilbert, who directs the Microbiome and Metagenomics Center at the University of California at San Diego, and was not involved with the new study.

For instance, it appears that comfort eating after a stressful event can change the microbial community in our intestines, which in turn exacerbates depressed feelings.

The use of probiotics to prevent and treat depression could become more of an exact science, leading eventually to effective alternatives to antidepressants, which, Gilbert points out, still carry a stigma in many communities.