Which foods are going to boost my mood?
Everyone has that specific comfort food that they go to, right?
But this isn't really about, ‘Oh, I'm happy because I’ve got ice cream’ versus
‘I’m sad because I don't have ice cream’. It's much deeper than that.
This is about the bacteria in our bellies, and that's called the gut microbiome.
Scientists say that more half our body is not actually made up of human cells,
but made of microbes.
I mean, I'm talking bacteria, viruses, fungi.
So if you think about it, we're actually more microbe than human.
But before you get too alarmed, remember, we think of bacteria as a bad thing.
However, there's good bacteria too and it's the balance of this good bacteria
versus bad bacteria that has these scientists so excited.
Now, we're only at the very, very beginning
of understanding the role bacteria plays in our bodies,
but it's already transforming the way we think about diseases
like Parkinson's, allergies and even mental health.
And this takes us to Ireland, where scientists are at the forefront of exploring
the connection between our mental health and the food that we put in our guts.
Here in the intestines we have these trillions of microbes
and what we're trying to do is
try to understand how our diet is affecting the composition of these microbes
to influence what's going on in the brain.
The large intestine is like a big fermenter,
producing hundreds or perhaps thousands of molecules,
many of which get into the bloodstream
and are capable of communicating with the brain.
Research shows that healthy gut bacteria can actually produce neurotransmitters
and these are the small chemicals that send messages in our brain
and our nervous system.
We use the term ‘psychobiotic’ to describe bacteria
which have a positive mental health benefit.
So this raised an intriguing question.
Can a diet, which increases healthy gut bacteria,
actually improve our mental health?
Can what I put in my gut, actually make me happier?
So to test this out, we recruited eight healthy volunteers,
with the help of nutritional expert Dr Kirsten Berding Harold.
Steve and Sean both suffer from stress and anxiety, and also eat unhealthily.
At the moment, I do eat a lot of takeaway, very fast food.
A lot of sugar, sugary foods.
Like for my breakfast this morning, I would have had Nutella and toast.
The volunteers are split into two groups.
Steve is in the control group and will continue a regular diet,
whereas Sean is in the experimental group and will be put on a psychobiotic diet.
This is the diet with the gut bacteria linked to good mental health.
This diet consists of two main types of foods - prebiotics and probiotics.
And these come from foods rich in fibre and fermented foods.
Am I allowed to eat a takeaway, one night a week or something like that?
So we want you to stay away from the fast food.
OK.
We want you to eat healthy homemade food.
Takeaway kills your bacteria.
So you should stay away from those during the month.
They followed these diets for four weeks,
but not before Steve and Sean give stool samples
so we can measure their gut bacteria.
And then they’re given a mood questionnaire
so we can assess their wellbeing.
Then for the next four weeks, half our group will eat normally
and half of them will switch to a psychobiotic diet.
I would have never eaten whole wheat pasta before.
I've never eaten any seeds before, never mind putting them into into a dish,
so it’s definitely a change for me, but it's a good change.
And then it's time to hear the results.
First, the bacteria in their gut.
We took a poo sample to look at what was going on in the microbiome,
and we found that there was a remarkable change, even in such a short period of time,
in the composition of the microbiome.
We don't see that in the control diet, unfortunately.
Within four weeks of a psychobiotic diet,
it's already led to a better mix of healthy bacteria in our volunteers’ gut.
More good bacteria, less bad.
So the question is, how is this affecting their mental health?
What we find very clearly is that those on the psychobiotic diet have much less stress
compared to those on the control diet.
Excitingly, the mood questionnaires showed that our volunteers on the psychobiotic diet
felt significantly less stress.
And as a further measure of their mental state,
we're actually having their response to stress tested
and their response fell by about 31% on average.
Although this was a very small study, the results are consistent with others,
and this demonstrates a clear link between the specific foods we eat
and our mental health.
However, that doesn't mean this is an easy diet to follow.
OK…
So let's look deeper into, what is a psychobiotic diet?
And which foods will boost my mood?
Prebiotic foods are foods that are rich in fibre
and known to help feed healthy gut bacteria.
So we're talking about whole grains, onions, leeks and berries.
Probiotics are foods full of healthy bacteria.
So we're talking about fermented foods such as kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha, kimchi,
as well as probiotic yogurts.
And fortunately, we have three of them here.
We got some kefir, some kimchi, and some kombucha.
And I haven't actually tried these, so here's to hoping these are good on my taste buds
as they are to my gut health.
Well, here's hoping...
I feel like some of this may take some getting used too.
Delicious...
That hits the spot. My gut feels better already.
Oh my God. Nah, you have to try this. You have to try this.
Honestly, I can just about deal with the kimchi. The two drinks are terrible.
The key thing to remember here is
our understanding of the gut microbiome and its link to mental health,
like many things, is still in its infancy.
So make sure you're looking out for new research coming soon.
And this doesn't mean you can never again have your favourite fast food or cheap meal,
but just remember, looking after your gut bacteria is good for not only your body, but your mind as well.
My reaction says it all.
Let's get some more of this.
Nah, no thanks.
No thanks.
Oh man. Your go.