{"id":10902,"date":"2025-12-15T19:14:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T11:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=10902"},"modified":"2025-12-15T19:14:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T11:14:39","slug":"more-than-a-feeling-could-a-healthier-gut-improve-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/more-than-a-feeling-could-a-healthier-gut-improve-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"More than a feeling: Could a healthier gut improve mental health?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Nearly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/mental-disorders\">one in seven people live with a mental health disorder<\/a>, making it one of the world\u2019s most pressing health challenges. Yet despite available treatments, most people still lack access to effective care.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, researchers from the University of South Australia are exploring the connections between the gut and the brain to decipher their role in mental health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Examining the growing evidence that the gut and the brain are deeply connected, their review presents the strongest proof yet that changes in a person\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/body\/25201-gut-microbiome\">gut microbiome<\/a>&nbsp;can directly affect their brain chemistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s44220-025-00498-0\">review<\/a>&nbsp;found:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Strong causal evidence that gut microbes can change brain chemistry, stress responses and behaviours in animal models.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Disrupted gut patterns in conditions like depression and schizophrenia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Early trials of probiotics, diet changes, and faecal microbiota transplants improve mood and anxiety.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Psychiatric medications can change the microbiome, demonstrating the gut-brain connection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Lead author and PhD candidate, UniSA\u2019s Srinivas Kamath, says the gut could hold the key to improving mental health worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe gut\u2013brain connection is one of the most exciting frontiers in mental health research,\u201d says Kamath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe already know that the trillions of microbes in our digestive system talk to the brain through chemical and neural pathways, affecting our mood, stress levels and even cognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut the big question is whether changes in gut bacteria actually drive mental illness or mirror what\u2019s happening elsewhere in the body.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Globally,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/health-topics\/mental-health#tab=tab_2\">mental health disorders affect nearly 970 million people<\/a>, with depression and anxiety ranking among the leading causes of disability. Yet up&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/one-in-three-depression-patients-dont-respond-to-drugs-9976\">to one-third of patients do not respond<\/a>&nbsp;to current medications or therapies, highlighting the need for new and accessible treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a growing awareness that lifestyle factors such as diet, stress, and environment can shape both gut bacteria and mental wellbeing,\u201d says co-researcher Dr Paul Joyce.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf we can prove that gut bacteria play a direct role in mental illness, it could transform how we diagnose, treat, and even prevent these conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMicrobiome-based therapies such as probiotics, prebiotics or tailored diets may offer accessible, safer, low-cost and culturally adaptable options that complement existing care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers say future studies must track gut changes over time and include more diverse, larger populations, to better understand how diet, environment and culture shape the gut\u2013brain connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cClinical trials should move beyond small, short-term studies and instead test whether microbiome-based therapies can deliver lasting benefits, especially when combined with existing treatments,\u201d Dr Joyce says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBy unlocking the gut\u2019s role in mental health, we can develop practical, scalable tools for prevention and care, giving clinicians and patients new options to manage wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMental health doesn\u2019t start and end in the brain. It\u2019s a whole-body issue \u2013 and the gut may be the missing piece of the puzzle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trillions of microbes in our digestive system talk to the brain through chemical and neural pathways, affecting our mood, stress levels and even cognition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[801,2048,19,2218,848,1289,20],"class_list":["post-10902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsmakers","tag-diet","tag-good-life","tag-health","tag-high-life","tag-mental-health","tag-probiotics","tag-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10902"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10904,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10902\/revisions\/10904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}