Research into gut-mental health link suggests that what’s eating you could be what you’re eating

It turns out the path to better mental health might go through the stomach, according to new research.

Anxiety, depression and other mental maladies can be affected by the millions of different bacteria and microbes that live in the intestines, an internal ecosystem often referred to as the gut biome. And gut health can boost or bother mental health, researchers say.

“We know that long-term stress can have a severe impact on many aspects of health, including gut health. At the same time, poor gut health might make the psychological experience of stress more pronounced,” Dr. Tim Spector, an epidemiologist and science writer, told The Washington Times.

Dr. Spector has long studied and written about the links between stress and the gut biome, and he stresses that more long-term research needs to be done for scientists to fully grasp the connections and implications between them. But researchers have found surprising linkages “between psychological stress and an altered gut biome,” he said.

“At the extreme end of the spectrum, there is also evidence that the gut microbiome might play a role in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), possibly through its relationship with the immune system and, therefore, inflammation. There is evidence that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has a strong association with psychological stress, making stress mitigation an important part of managing the condition,” Dr. Spector said in an email.

Dr. Spector, who is a co-founder of the nutrition program ZOE, noted the causal connections between lifestyle choices and mental health.

“People with a mental health disorder are statistically more likely to have lifestyle factors linked to poor gut health, like drinking alcohol to excess or smoking tobacco. At the same time, there are plausible mechanisms by which an unbalanced microbiome can directly impact mood,” he said. “It’s likely that this is a two-way street.

Rachel Laurice has experienced gut-related mental health issues firsthand after enduring personal and career-related stress.

She described that despite advancing in her career, she was in a dark place mentally and physically.

A nutritionist and content creator, Ms. Laurice has documented her journey from anxiety and depression to well-being after making changes to her diet and credits her husband for introducing her to the new research.

“I think I realized through the process that the percentage of the influence my gut had was super high. And when I started prioritizing that, I was so much calmer. When I was at work, I was able to do things that I wasn’t able to do before. As simple as show up without anxiety, prepare, focus …” Ms. Laurice told The Times.

Her mental and physical transformation from anxiety-ridden to calm and focused inspired her to pursue nutrition studies and write a cookbook reflecting on her personal experience and professional knowledge to help others.

Along with a balanced diet, increasing her intake of fermented foods such as apple cider vinegar, kimchi and sauerkraut played a crucial role in the differences she noticed.

“These things made a tremendous difference almost right away, but it was smaller amounts with frequency, like doing it regularly that really made a big difference,” Ms. Laurice said.

Research into the gut biome-mental health connection is relatively new and is producing some interesting results, Dr. Spector said. He noted one study in which scientists transplanted the gut bacteria of a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder into a mouse.

“After the transplant, the animals adopted anxiety- and compulsive-like behaviors,” he said. “Of course, we have to interpret animal studies cautiously — there’s a huge gulf between you and a rodent — but the results are certainly intriguing.”

Dr. Spector emphasizes that eating healthy does not require an individual to give up gluten, cut carbs or start a “fad” diet.

Instead, he recommends ingesting a variety of plants and fermented foods, saying that following a gut-healthy diet should be a “joyful endeavor.”