Can a healthy gut help with depression? Yes

We are all born with genes that predispose us to all kinds of things. And while we have some control over the way our genes express themselves or “turn on” — a new science called epigenetics — we are more or less stuck with our human genome. But we are by no means permanently attached to a diagnosis of Major Depression Disorder (if that is what Mom and Dad kindly handed down). Nope. 1. Cut Out Sugar and Processed Foods

Findings from a new study at Oregon State University found that a diet high in sugar caused changes in the gut bacteria of mice, impairing the mice’s ability to adjust to changing situations, called "cognitive flexibility." The change in gut bacteria also negatively affected the mice's long-term and short-term memory. 2. Eat More Plants and Dietary Fiber hanging our diet is the best and most direct route we have for transforming our gut bacteria. They differ on whether or not to include fruits or grains (David Perlmutter, MD, for example, is against grains and says to limit fruit, while the Sonnenburgs promote grains like brown rice and fruit); however, the opinions are unequivocal on eating more plants — especially green leafy vegetables. 3. Limit Antibiotics We can’t afford not to use antibiotics at certain points in our lives. But regular antibiotic use kills the diverse community of our microbiota, and therefore wreaks more health hazards than we could have ever imagined when penicillin was first discovered. Broad-spectrum antibiotics don’t discern between what’s beneficial for our health and what’s not: they hold rifles and start firing at whatever comes into their view — some of the collateral damage being strains of bacteria we need to fight other infections. American children are typically prescribed one course of antibiotics a year. The Sonneburgs claim that amount is enough to permanently change children’s microbiota and affect their long-term health. 4. Get Dirty

Our obsession with sanitization is making us sick. Ironic? The Sonnenburgs cite a May 2013 study published in the journal Pediatrics that found that children whose parents cleaned their dirty pacifier by sucking on it instead of boiling it in water were less likely to have eczema than the kids of the sanitization freaks. Two years ago, a team of scientists discovered why children who grow up in homes with a dog have a lower risk of developing allergies and asthma — they help diversify the microbiome community, of course. 5. Take a Probiotic In December 2013, Sarkis Mazmanian, PhD, a microbiologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, led a study where he discovered that mice with some features of autism had much lower levels of a common gut bacterium called Bacteroides fragilis than did normal mice. They were stressed, antisocial, and had the same gastrointestinal symptoms often found in autism. Interestingly enough, when the scientists fed the mice B. fragilis (in a probiotic), they reversed their symptoms. 6. Try Fermented Foods Fermented food is the best kind of probiotic you can feed your gut, because it typically provides a broad combination of bacteria — so chances are greater that you’ll get a useful bacteria. Fermentation is by no means a new health movement. People were fermenting food more than 8,000 years ago. In fact, only recently — since the invention of the refrigerator — have we not placed a priority on consuming fermented foods, which may be part of the reason we have less of a diversity of gut bugs than we used to. One of the easiest, most common fermented products is yogurt (but make sure it is unsweetened). Other examples are kefir, kimchee, sauerkraut, pickles, and kombucha tea. Note: Be careful about alcohol content in some fermented drinks. I didn't realize that certain kombucha teas and kefir can have a higher alcoholic percentage than beer — a problem for a recovering alcoholic. 7. Lower Stress When you feel stressed, your body will discharge natural steroids and adrenaline, and your immune system will release inflammatory cytokines. This happens whether the threat is real (a bear is approaching your tent in the woods) or not (you can’t stop obsessing about all of your work deadlines). If you tend to be stressed all the time, your immune response never stops sending inflammation messages to all parts of your body — your gut bugs included. The microbiome helps keep our immune system in check. The pair (intestinal bacteria and our immune response) work very closely together to make sure that foreign agents are evacuated as soon as possible, and that we respond to disease more quickly than the IRS responds to our questions about tax returns. However, chronic immune response weakens the health of our guts, just as an unbalanced microbiome causes all kinds of immune diseases (autoimmune disorders, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disease). So part of healing your gut — or at least keeping your microbiome vital and diverse — is learning how to chill out. 8. Get Consistent Sleep This is interesting. Cytokines — or inflammatory messengers — have circadian cycles that are dictated by our gut critters. In his book Brain Maker, Perlmutter explains: When cortisol levels go up in the morning, the gut bacteria inhibit production of cytokines, and this shift defines the transition between non-REM and REM sleep. Hence, disruption of the gut bacteria can have significant negative effects on sleep and circadian rhythms. Balance the gut, break through insomnia. The opposite is also true. We balance our guts by practicing good sleep hygiene and getting as close to eight hours of sleep a night as we can. 9. Sweat Our gut bugs just don't like for us to be lazy; they are much happier when we get an aerobic workout. A team of scientists from the University College Cork in Ireland studied the poop of 40 professional rugby players. The results showed that the athletes’ microbiomes were far more diverse than those of two control groups of normal people. 10. Consume Less Red Meat and Animal Products In an April 2013 study published in the journal Nature, Harvard scientists had a group of nine volunteers go on two extreme diets. First, they ate all meat and cheese. Breakfast consisted of eggs and bacon, lunch was ribs, and for dinner they ate salami and prosciutto with different kinds of cheese. They had pork rinds for snacks. After a break, they began a fiber-rich diet in which all of their foods came from plants. The scientists tracked the changes in the volunteers’ microbiomes, and within two days of eating the animal diet, the bacteria species in the gut changed. A few small consistent steps are sustainable start there! Stay healthy and follow me at www.nicoledomuret.com Pray, hope, don't worry. - St. Padre Pio