The importance of gut health for your mind

The gut transports and digests food to provide nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes to the body. It contains other organs, such as the liver, with important functions. A double-fold lining of the abdominal cavity holds the intestine to the abdominal wall, holds all other internal organs in place, and prevents the gastrointestinal tract and other organs from twisting.

However, the gut might be an even more complex organ than previously thought. The gut is seeded with microbiota right after birth. Although the composition of the gut microbiome is influenced by both host genetics and environmental factors, it can be remodeled throughout life. The microbial community's formation depends on environmental factors such as dietary nutrients, fiber, antibiotic use, gastrointestinal disease, and the host's genetic background. Fecal transplants from obese to lean mice have also triggered well-recognizable neurologic complications of obesity in the receiver animals. There are indications that the same relationship is valid in humans as well.

Alterations in the intestinal microbiota show a clear link to metabolic diseases [type-2 diabetes], autoimmune arthritis, and psychiatric disorders. Obese subjects also show deficits in memory, learning, and executive functions. Epidemiological studies also indicate that obesity is associated with a higher risk of developing depression and anxiety, and vice versa. Obesity-associated microbiota may contribute to endocrine, neurochemical, and inflammatory alterations. Understanding the full set of metabolites will open new insights into how changes in the gut microbiome affect systemic metabolism and its alterations in diabetes and obesity. 

Gut microbes play a role in human physiology by synthesizing vitamins and digesting complex compounds such as polysaccharides, drugs, and other substances. The gut microbiota mediates the effects of environmental pressures (e.g., diet, lifestyle) on human physiology. For example, over 800 different peptides appear to affect brain function in various ways, suggesting cross-talk among energy metabolism, mood, and cognitive function. Gut microbes also play a role in immune cell development and protect from colonization by pathogenic bacteria.

In mice, the Ketogenic Diet (high levels of fat and low levels of carbohydrates) has shown positive cognitive outcomes in epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and autism patients. Detailed studies have shown that the gut microbiome improved and that blood glucose levels and body weight decreased. The most exciting finding has been the reduction of amyloid-beta, a known hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, in the brain. Other studies have found that consuming raw foods may also be beneficial for mental health.

Bacteria in your gut (the microbiome) are more important than you ever suspected. This gives new meaning to the old adage, you are what you eat. Read more...

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Copyright © 2018 by Eva Deli

Working memory is based on the brain's energy cycle

Although the brain can store a whole lifetime of knowledge in its trillions of connections, the number of items that humans can actively hold in their conscious awareness at once is limited, on average, to four or five things. Short-term memory is limited to the duration of active attention; once focus shifts elsewhere, items are stored elsewhere or forgotten. Working memory is short-lived, and immediate intuition and linguistic processing. Cognitive capacity is limited, causing a low threshold for working memory. 

Why is working memory so limited? Sensory information transforms into the language of oscillations in the limbic brain and flows to activate the sensory cortex. The sensory flow, particularly new or surprising information, reaches the associative areas, which triggers conscious decision-making. Changes in memory load break down cognitive capacity. When large chunks of novel information overburden the frontal cortex, timely processing breaks down. Excessive information load changes the normal rhythm of oscillations, causing short-term memory degradation. Patients with neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia, are even more sensitive. They experience memory disturbances even when challenged by a small number of items. 

Read the source article:

Overtaxed Working Memory Knocks the Brain Out of Sync

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Copyright © 2017 by Eva Deli

Antibiotic treatment can make virus infection more dangerous

Antibiotics are drugs used in the treatment and prevention of bacterial infections. They may either kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses such as the common cold or influenza. Antiviral drugs or antivirals can be used to treat or inhibit virus infections.
Recent work has shown that antibiotics can impair the development of antiviral T cell responses, which occurs as soon as 3 days after taking the drug in an oral form.


Although the outcome of flavivirus infection can vary from asymptomatic to lethal, environmental factors can significantly modulate the severity of the disease. Treatment with oral antibiotics can greatly deplete the gut microbiota and impair the development of optimal T cell responses. This leads to increased infection and immunopathology. The changes in the overall structure of the gut bacterial community can occur after only three days of treatment. This indicates that damages to the gut microbiota may increase susceptibility to virus infections. Combined antibiotic treatment dramatically reduced virus infection survival rate in mice.

Read the whole article 
Oral Antibiotic Treatment of Mice Exacerbates the Disease Severity of Multiple Flavivirus Infections

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Larissa B. Thackray et al., 2018 Cell Reports

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Copyright © 2017 by Eva Deli

Cognitive Manipulation by parasites

Parasite-host interactions have been honed over millions of years of evolution, achieving astonishing and sometimes unsettling precision. The range of parasites capable of manipulating behavior spans viruses, insects, and even worms. In some of the most intriguing cases, the parasite influences the host brain's neuronal circuits to control its cognitive functions. To maintain long-term behavioral manipulation, the parasite must secrete compounds that can alter gene expression with lasting effects. This allows parasites to hijack the host's decision-making and behavior. Mind-altering manipulation can occur in nearly all animals. However, the phenomenon is often studied in insects because of their simple nervous systems and goal-directed behavior. For example, when presented with two very similar concentrations of the same odor, fruit flies take longer to decide, which can lead to errors. 

Suicide manipulation: 

Fungal infection manipulates insect behavior. The fungus (Ophiocordyceps unilateralis) infects ants and feeds on their innards. It produces chemicals that alter the ants' navigation, compelling them to leave their nests and seek out a plant in a humid area to climb to its top. The ant then clamps its mandibles around a leaf or leaf stem—a behavior never seen in uninfected ants. The fungus consumes the ant's brain until it produces spores, killing the host. These spores burst and spread from the top of the tree to infect other ants, starting a new cycle.

 

In another example of parasitic infection, the liver fluke in the genus Fasciola hijacks the ant's navigation by migrating to its head and settling near a cerebral ganglion. Unlike normal behavior, the infected ant climbs to the tip of a grass blade to be eaten by a grazing animal. The mature fluke expels eggs through the digestive system, infecting more ants.

 

Yet another case involves a hairworm that requires water for reproduction. The hairworm infects crickets and other terrestrial insects, developing inside their bodies. When mature, it causes the insect to seek out water. When the insect falls into the water, the parasite emerges to reproduce.

Offspring Care:

Although solitary insects do not provide care or protection to their offspring, one of the parasites' most fascinating behaviors is to coerce a host into caring for the parasite's young. Developmental symbiosis occurs when individuals of one species cannot reach maturity without help from another species. For example, a wasp sting injects eggs into a caterpillar. The wasp larvae mature by feeding on the host and emerge after two weeks. However, one or two larvae remain inside the caterpillar. These siblings activate the caterpillar's muscles to violently move its upper body back and forth. This behavior protects the pupae by deterring predators.

The caterpillar's aggressive guarding behavior can also occur in other insects without parasites. For example, a single wasp larva develops inside a ladybug, spinning a cocoon between its legs. The ladybug is still alive, but its nervous system triggers twitching and convoluted movements, which keep the wasp pupa safe from potential predators. It is thought that the parasite co-infects with a virus, which induces severe neuropathy and immune responses that cause the motor twitches. 

Another example is the butterfly Maculinea arion, whose larvae mimic the scent of a particular ant species, prompting its members to carry them into their nests and care for them as their own. The sophistication and effectiveness of parasite infection might have inspired the simulation hypothesis. 

An even more surprising twist, larvae of the European blister beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus) mimic the scent of flowers to lure bees. These lavae find a ride on the unsuspecting bees to their nest and eat the eggs they find there.

 

Infections in People

The fungal pathogen Candida auris can cause bloodstream infections that can be fatal in 60% of cases. Toxoplasma infection can be linked to mood disorders and mental health issues, including schizophrenia and behavioral changes, such as promoting risky behaviors.

Watch a fascinating video: In Praise of Parasites

https://youtu.be/eOCiIgYQaFo

Discover more about consciousness by ordering my book, "Emotional Reasoning: Insight into the Conscious Experience."

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Amazon Books

From the Publisher

Copyright © 2018 by Eva Deli

Consumption of raw fruits and vegetables might be beneficial for mental health

The old saying, “You are what you eat,” might need an update: your mind is shaped by what you eat. A new study found that raw fruit and vegetable intake predicted reduced depressive symptoms and was associated with higher positive mood, life satisfaction, and flourishing. The top 10 natural foods supporting mental health were carrots, bananas, apples, dark leafy greens like spinach, grapefruit, lettuce, citrus fruits, fresh berries, cucumbers, and kiwifruit.

The study investigated the differential associations between the intake of raw fruits and vegetables and processed (cooked or canned) fruits and vegetables, and mental health in young adults. Fruits and vegetables contain a variety of micronutrients critical to physical and psychological function. Antioxidants such as vitamin C and carotenoids might protect the body against oxidative stress. Water-soluble vitamins (vitamin C and B vitamins), and certain minerals (calcium, magnesium, and zinc), are essential for optimal cognitive and emotional functioning. Cooking and processing fruits and vegetables diminish their nutrient levels, limiting the availability of critical vitamins and other nutrients needed for optimal emotional functioning.

The significant influence of food on our brain health underscores the importance of dietary considerations. For example, calorie restriction improves blood supply to the brain. The Ketogenic Diet (high levels of fat and low levels of carbohydrates) improves the condition of epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and autism patients. Detailed studies have shown that reduced blood glucose levels and lower body weight might have resulted from the gut's improved microbiome. The Paleo diet, caveman diet, or stone-age diet might protect from Alzheimer's disease. The diet appears to reduce amyloid-beta accumulation in the brain, a known hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. 

Picture credit: Fruit market by Diderot

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Intake of Raw Fruits and Vegetables Is Associated With Better Mental Health Than Intake of Processed Fruits and Vegetables

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Copyright © 2017 by Eva Deli

Adopt a growth mindset by striving toward flexibility

From the Stone Age to the industrial revolution life conditions for the overwhelming majority of people were miserable; they suffered from a seasonal shortage of food, adverse temperatures, threats, and lack of proper housing. Social history, the pomp, the conquest, and the culture rode on the backs of oppressed classes. Religion was the mental comfort and deep-seated hope that gave meaning to life amid the grueling drudgery. 

Things cannot be more different at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In most parts of the world, food, clothing, and housing is a natural part of the human condition. In big, overstuffed, middle-class homes, out of season clothes are discarded like garbage. At the time when we achieved never experienced prosperity, we are faced with an epidemic of addictions, alienation, crime, and abuse. Trying to understand the root causes of this seismic social change we need to analyze several factors that had transformed society. Compared to the rigid, impassable class division of yesteryear, social mobility is open to anyone with the drive to succeed. The news is full of examples of tech billionaires and executives who started from modest beginnings. However, the comparison with the proverbial Johnsons can make every member of the society left behind at one time or another. The news, social media, and the internet can serve as a constant reminder of our failure in the rat race. To justify our perceived ineptness, we manufacture imaginary and impassable obstacles to success; theories of unfairness, conspiracies, such as far right or far left political oppression, government or alien manipulations and excess to ‘connections,’ as excuses for inaction.

Spending time on these emotionally demanding fantasies drains mental energies. It wastes not only precious time, but derails attention from personal well-being and career goals. The technological developments, financial complexities, and social changes demand meaningful decision making at every level. Maneuvering the stormy waters of change requires grooming our intellectual quotients. Occupation with gossip and unfounded fantasies leaves one stuck, while society is progressing at a breakneck pace. Being left behind by a progressing society creates increasing anxiety, which can easily culminate in depression, addictions and acts of desperation. We are the first generation to have the ability to analyze how our emotions influence our behavior. Certain aspects of our emotional inheritance can destroy the upcoming generation’s ability to succeed. The rigid mindset of the class system must be replaced by a strong belief in the ability of the self to initiate change.

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Picture credit: Mother and child by Eva Deli

Copyright © 2017 by Eva Deli

Upcoming book on emotion regulation

Our relationships, personal and professional lives, depend on our ability to create and maintain emotional balance. Due to the close correlation between physiological states and the brain's neural activities, emotional intelligence is essential in personal and professional success.  

Neuroscience found that negative emotions have greater energy needs, which turns them tiring. The resulting insecurity prompts defensive behavior, such as criticism and attacks. Putting others down is like a drug that generates an instant, although fleeting, feeling of joy. Toxic relationships degrade confidence, cause emotional, mental problems, and social deficits in numerous neurological and psychiatric disorders. 

Negative emotions also activate adverse regulatory functions. For example, vigilance damages the immune function. Chronic inflammation has been associated with a host of health problems and even early death. The malfunctioning hormonal pathways can damage the immune system. Some of the diseases implicate the immune system are cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, digestive, skin problems, cardiovascular disease, bone loss, and others. Permanent stress may affect immune cells in the brain, modifying cellular networks at the core of brain behavior.

In the past, technological advancements, such as the steam engine, which dramatically transformed society, also necessitated a mental transformation. The approaching and unprecedented technological progress will require social and psychological changes as well. Are you going to reap the benefits of being positioned at the front of this paradigm shift? My book, "The Power of Joy," gives you tools to optimize mental operations in ways to inspire success, happiness, and achievement. Following just one of the book's practices will help you perform better and achieve more with less effort. 

My straightforward handbook, The Power of Joy, gives you the tools and advice you need to become the best version of yourself.

                                                             
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