You want to hear about a messed-up study? Of course you do.
Here’s how scientists measure the will to live: Separate a young rat from his mother, throw him in a pool of water with no exit, and see how long it takes him to stop optimistically swimming in circles and start sadly treading water as he waits for the inevitable sink to the bottom. It’s a test to measure how long it takes to give up on life.
Don’t worry, the rat lives through it. We’re only bringing this up because in one such experiment in 2010, scientists found if the rat had been consuming probiotics, it was less likely to suffer from that anxiety and despair after being separated from its mother and tossed to its watery doom
That’s right: Probiotics—the so-called “good” bacteria that are often found in yogurt and help with digestion—might increase our will to live.
Bring on the Bacteria
One of the most exciting and revolutionary topics in health right now is also one of the least sexy: We’re talking about the bacteria that live in our digestive tracts—what science types often call the gut microbiome. Our bodies play host to trillions of these critters, and they make up a mini-ecosystem that helps us break down the food we eat and absorb its nutrients. At least, that’s all we thought the microbiome did.
Recent research has shown, however, that our belly bacteria have an incredible impact on everything from fat loss to inflammation levels and perhaps even our susceptibility to depression and anxiety
Diversify Your Infest-ments
Let’s start with the fat loss. Your gut bacteria has a huge effect on your insulin sensitivity, which controls the way your body responds to carbohydrates—specifically how likely it is to turn them into fat
So how can you manipulate your microbiome into helping you burn more fat? Diversity.
“You’ve got trillions of bacteria that help you digest food,” says Brad Pilon, a nutrition consultant and lead researcher on Flat Belly Forever, a weight-loss system that cuts body fat by optimizing your gut bugs. “But when you don’t have enough kinds of bacteria in there, it can contribute to a lot of issues with your health, and there’s a real correlation with low gut diversity and obesity.”
In one quirky (if, again, kind of messed up) study, scientists pulled the gut bacteria out of obese mice and put ‘em into the bellies of regular mice. Having the gut bacteria of obese mice increased the healthy mice’s body fat even though their diet didn’t change
Your Mind’s in the Gut
That brings us back to our water-logged rodent pal from the beginning and how probiotics can make rats (and even humans) less anxious: the so-called gut-brain axis.
The fact that the brain and belly are linked isn’t surprising. (After all, indigestion is a fairly well-known side effect of stress.) But we’re now learning that connection is a two-way street: The mind can affect the gut, and the gut can affect the mind.
Here’s a good example: In 2011, British scientists gave probiotics to both rats and human subjects. After a month, they noted a significant decrease in both the rats’ anxiety-like symptoms and in the humans’ levels of anger, distress, hostility, and depression
“Some people think this is a little out there,” Pilon says. “But after all, we accept that your kidneys affect brain function, and there’s evidence the liver might be involved with multiple sclerosis. If you start viewing the microbiome as another organ, it makes a lot of sense.”
The Takeaway
We weren’t kidding when we said practically every facet of your health is affected by an invisible alien ecosystem in your gut that you’ve probably never given much thought to. It’s kind of crazy, but it’s also important: At a time where there are rising rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes across America, we need to start thinking more about the microbiome and the role it can play in managing those health issues. Luckily, tending to your gut bugs doesn’t have to be complicated: Eat fermented foods, sleep a lot, fill up on fiber, and maintain a healthy weight. Your belly and your brain will thank you.
