Do probiotics improve brain function?

Can you improve your mood just by making healthy eating choices? There’s some evidence that improving your gut health by consuming probiotics can help improve brain function and combat anxiety and depression.

Researchers have speculated that inflammation of an imbalanced gastrointestinal (GI) tract may lead to development of symptoms throughout the body, including the brain. How is it all connected?

The head and the gut are connected by the enteric nervous system, which lines the GI tract from esophagus to rectum. The two-way communication between the GI tract and the central nervous system is called biochemical signaling.

Studies have shown that adding probiotics to your diet and improving your gut health may have an impact on the processing of information sent from the gut to the brain.

“A small 2013 study reported in the journal Gastroenterology found that women who ate yogurt with a mix of probiotics, twice a day for four weeks, were calmer when exposed to images of angry and frightened faces compared with a control group. MRIs also found that the yogurt group had lower activity in the insula, the brain area that processes internal body sensations like those emanating from the gut.” ~ Harvard Health Publishing

Nothing is known for sure. That said, your body chemistry, your gut health, and your brain function are unique to you.

By adding a variety of probiotic-rich foods like kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, and kefir water to your diet, you can experience firsthand whether the benefits that begin in your gut will extend to brain functions like mood.