An interesting function of gut bacteria, is that they release metabolites, toxins, and neurohormones that can alter our mood. We now know that gut bacteria can upregulate stress responsiveness and increase the risk for depression.
As seen, digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome commonly correlate with mood disorders and both mostly reflect a dysfunctional composition of gut bacteria, viruses, and fungi (the gut microbiota) and related chronic systemic inflammation.
Manipulating the microbiota is therefore a very promising and effective therapeutic strategy for improving mood and gastrointestinal symptoms.
We live in a high stress world, where food consumed reflects a typical western diet. This is detrimental to the abundance of particular microbes residing the microbiome, promoting gut bacterial imbalances (dysbiosis) and low microbial diversity.
Exploring the composition of the microbiome therefore gives great insight into the microbes related to mood dysfunction and allows for manipulation of these microbes to improve mood disorders.
