Allrecipes – April-May 2019

Researchers believe that changes in

your gut bacteria may play a role in

anxiety and depression. The intestine

has its own nervous system and even

its own serotonin.

Your gut and brain communicate (it’s called

the brain-gut axis, or cross talk), which

may be why your stomach flutters when

you have to speak in public, or why you get

stomachaches when you’re upset.

A recent review of 10 studies on using

probiotics to treat depression and anxiety

had mixed results, but there was enough

there to encourage further research. Who

knows—maybe someday we’ll be drowning

our sorrows in a (probiotic) drink.

Consuming probiotics while you’re on antibiotics

can counteract negative side effects that one in three

people experience with antibiotics.

And some research shows that probiotics may also help treat diarrhea and

constipation. It’s because your gut is full of all kinds of bacteria, some of

which keep you healthy, and others that can make you sick. As with any turf

war, the good guys need to outnumber the bad. When you take antibiotics,

have certain infections, or suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, the bad

guys grow, your balance gets out of whack, and then your gut suffers the

unpleasant consequences. That’s where probiotics can help by increasing

the number of good bacteria.

While there’s no specific daily probiotic recommendation yet, most research

says to aim for 1 billion to 10 billion live bacteria cultures per day (about 1 cup

of yogurt or kefir) to keep your gut healthy.

It looks like probiotics

could be good for

your skin as well as

your gut. In one study,

when people applied a

cream with a probiotic

common in yogurt, their

ceramides—the key to

healthy, moisturized skin—

increased significantly.

Other studies have found

that imbalances in the

gut microbiome are

common in people with

skin disorders (think acne

or eczema). In one study,

when participants drank

probiotics such as kefir,

their acne improved over

12 weeks. More research

is needed to determine

how much and what

specific probiotics are

beneficial to skin, though.

a ticket to

better skin?

happy brain

ALLRECIPES.COM 89 APRIL/MAY 2019

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

Food for Thought

GOOD FOR YOU