The Gut Brain Connection -What I learned from food poisoning

Food poisoning is one of the worst things that can happen to you. I experienced it in May 2023. But I learned something from it. Shouldn’t we learn from the bad experiences as well as the good ones? Besides the obvious learnings such as “make sure you have adult pullups in your bathroom closet,” there are other learnings, and one took me by surprise. It has to do with how our gut bugs help our brain work better. I got rid of my depression by starting probiotics.

Let me explain.

How to Treat Food Poisoning

After my doctor told me I had salmonella poisoning I had to take a round of antibiotics.  I hate taking antibiotics as I understand how it wipes out my good gut-flora.  I considered trying to recover in other, more holistic ways.  I considered taking massive doses of vitamin C (20 grams a day maybe?) but that would require gulping down lots of pills and it was already difficult to keep up with the electrolyte requirements from the food poisoning.  I found it difficult just to swallow.

I figured there must be other ways to treat bacterial food poisoning. I wanted to search the internet, but the unrelenting runs to the bathroom did not give me time to even THINK, let alone sit at the computer.

So I diligently gulped down my Azithromycin antibiotic, all five days’ worth. The good doctor also gave me Lomotil which slowed my bowels down so I was not losing so much fluid. Finally on day eight I felt good enough to start eating some yogurt and kefir.

Is Yogurt ok After Food Poisoning?

Yogurt and kefir are great and they have good bacteria for the gut, which is what you need after a round of antibiotics. But after a couple of days, I felt like I needed more. The bacterial infection had completely emptied my GI tract and I wanted to fill it up with really good things. Yes, I was also eating bone broth soups and soft cooked veggies and sauerkraut (per the GAPS protocol for gut healing) but I also wanted to stock up on the right kind of probiotic bacteria.

Are Probiotics Good for Diarrhea?

Informed Health looked at research from the Cochrane Collaboration and found that “The research showed that probiotics help: They shortened the illness by one day on average.”  One day doesn’t seem like much but when you are suffering I suppose it is worth a try.

I went to my local Natural Grocers and found a really potent probiotic called Urgent Care by Solaray. It has 100 billion CFU’s (colony forming units) in each capsule and has to be kept in the fridge. That’s a lot of bugs. What is a Colony Forming Unit? A colony-forming unit is a number that tells you how many of the beneficial flora that you get in a capsule. The “beneficial flora” is the good bacteria.

According to 1MD Nutrition website, if your probiotic supplies 10-15 million CFU’s that is a good quality product. I guess I am an over achiever as I picked a probiotic with 100 billion CFU’s.

The 1MD Nutrition website also says your probiotic should have at least these 4 bacterial strains-

♦ Bacillus coagulans: These are spore-forming probiotics that can survive your stomach acid and become active in the gut. They quickly increase the population of the bacteria in your gut and increase the production of short-chain fatty acids. These compounds help to maintain the gut wall.

♦ Lactobacillus gasseri: This bacterium is naturally found in your body, but because of poor diet and antibiotics their numbers are often depleted. These are particularly useful at keeping harmful bacteria numbers reduced, and they work to promote weight loss.

♦ Bifidobacterium bifidum: This strain lives in your large intestine and develops when you are an infant. This strain helps to inhibit harmful strains and also works to support your immune system function. By increasing the production of essential vitamins in the gut, this strain also helps to prevent digestive issues, such as diarrhea and constipation.

♦ Bifidobacterium longum: This strain helps to produce acetic acid in the gut, which reduces the growth of harmful molds and yeasts. This strain is essential for gut health as it reduces inflammation and allows the balance to be restored to the gut microbiome.

My Solaray Urgent Care had 24 strains but was missing the first one on the above list. Regardless, I started the Urgent Care probiotic.

And something surprising happened after just 48 hours.

My “low grade” depression went away. I have had low grade depression over the past 6-8 months. I don’t know where it came from. It was just there. Every day I would feel a bit down and depressed. But after just 48 hours on the probiotic, it was gone. And it has stayed gone since I started the probiotic.

I Proved the Gut Brain Connection!

Low grade depression (or any depression) feels terrible. It is difficult to get rid of. After taking just two of the Urgent Care probiotics, I felt markedly better.

I knew the probiotic would help my gut but I had no idea that it would have such an impact on my brain. Previously, I had tried to get rid of my depression by “thinking good thoughts.” I tried to exercise, and I tried eating better. But nothing really worked. I even considered going to a shrink but I quickly put that out of my mind. I did not want the drugs that a psychiatrist would prescribe.

Research tells us that there is a connection between our gut and our brain. It is called the microbiota-gut-brain (MGB) axis. It appears that there is two-way communication between our GI track and our brain.

In one particular study– “A high-dose probiotic supplement led to significant improvements in mood among people with depression, highlighting the importance of gut health for optimal mental health.”

In another randomized controlled trial, high doses of probiotics decreased depression in the probiotics group.  Nature

So, which one of those billions of bugs is doing the good work?  There is one particular bacterium that seems to be at least partially responsible for improvements in mood. That is Lactobacillus.

What is Lactobacillus? It is found in fermented dairy foods such as cheeses, and yogurts. It is also added to fermented vegetables such as pickles and sauerkraut, and can be found in sourdough breads. These foods provide our gut with Lactobacillus. This is why fermented and aged foods are good for us.

Lactobacillus has also been found to produce a neurotransmitter named gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the body, which inhibits excessive neuronal firing, helping to induce a natural state of calm.

Now, I am not advocating for everyone to run out and purchase a high dose probiotic without first considering a potential down-side. If you jump right in and start consuming these high dose probiotics, you should realize that you might feel worse for a short time. But that is a good thing. The good gut-bugs might be causing the bad gut-bugs to die off. That is called a Herx reaction. Go HERE and HERE for more info.

The key is to go slowly to give your body time to get used to the new bacteria and allow your body to adjust. Fortunately I did not have any discomfort when I started my probiotic.

“The human body is like a fine orchestra. The conductor (like the mind) leads the band…but if one or two instruments are off-key, the music is bad … the instruments and conductor must all be on key.” (Anonymous)

I would say, help your conductor and orchestra be “on key.” Look for your state of calm. Consider consuming more fermented foods or at the very least, add in a daily probiotic.

In summary, I had no idea that I was solving my depression problem when I started to work on my gut problem. What a pleasant surprise!

Always talk to your health professional before starting anything new.  This information is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any condition and is intended only for entertainment. I welcome your comments