A brand new study in JAMA Psychiatry adds to the growing list of research showing what a dramatic role gut bacteria might play in our mental health.

Specifically, this study found that those with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and psychosis were more likely to have lower levels of the anti-inflammatory bacteria, faecalibacterium and coprococcus.

Meanwhile, they had higher levels of of the pro-inflammatory bacteria, Eggerthella.

The study’s first author, Viktoriya Nikolova, concluded, “we have found that there is a significant overlap between gut health and the prevalence of mental illness, specifically in relation to the predominance of certain proinflammatory bacteria compared to anti-inflammatory bacteria.”

Pretty amazing huh?

Now of course, our gut bacteria is influenced by what we eat, but this doesn’t solve the chicken-egg problem.

Are people with depression etc more likely to eat food that contributes to a poor gut microbiome? Are they more likely to go sleepless? To feel stress? All of those things can affect our gut microbiome.*

In other words, does the mental health disorder precede the development of bad gut health, or can “gut dysbiosis” actually contribute to the development of mental health disorders?

The answer is probably complicated, but theoretically, it seems the gut dysbiosis found in the article could, indeed, contribute to the development of new mental health disorders.

That’s because chronic-low grade inflammation has been linked to all kinds of mental health disorders, and thanks to the close relationship between the gut and the brain, what happens in the gut often doesn’t stay in the gut. And what happens in the brain often doesn’t stay in the brain.

There’s a bidirectionality to it.

Or as a 2019 study in Clinical and Experimental Immunology put it: “Rather than being distinct systems, there is compelling evidence for bidirectional communication between gut and brain, driven by neural, metabolic, endocrine and inflammatory mediators. An emerging concept is that depressive symptoms may be mechanistically linked to excess inflammation and dysregulation of the gut–brain axis.”

Now there are a few things to remember.

There’s a field of research and thought called “nutritional psychiatry” that is much more complicated than “you are what you eat” but is still largely based on something like “you are a lot of what you eat.”

Writing in Harvard Health, Dr. Eva Selhub notes:

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“Studies have compared “traditional” diets, like the Mediterranean diet and the traditional Japanese diet, to a typical “Western” diet and have shown that the risk of depression is 25% to 35% lower in those who eat a traditional diet. Scientists account for this difference because these traditional diets tend to be high in vegetables, fruits, unprocessed grains, and fish and seafood, and to contain only modest amounts of lean meats and dairy.

They are also void of processed and refined foods and sugars, which are staples of the “Western” dietary pattern. In addition, many of these unprocessed foods are fermented, and therefore act as natural probiotics.

This may sound implausible to you, but the notion that good bacteria not only influence what your gut digests and absorbs, but that they also affect the degree of inflammation throughout your body, as well as your mood and energy level, is gaining traction among researchers.”

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As we’ve talked about on this blog, more research is finding a link among our gut microbiome, chronic inflammation, and the development of neurodegenerative diseases.

For example, mental health disorders seem to raise the likelihood of an earlier onset of conditions like dementia and Parkinson’s, and some researchers are increasingly looking at the striking similarities between neurodegenerative diseases and depression.

But there are also tons of other things — beyond our gut microbiome — linked to our mental health. Our genetic predispositions, environment, childhood, trauma, etc., (Of course, all of those could have an effect on our microbiome but that’s another question for another day).

So, while it’s awesome to start eating in ways that reduce inflammation and promote gut health, don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t work.

There are factors playing a role far outside the realm of diet in mental health disorders.

Diet might help you. In fact, research suggests you’ve got a pretty good shot at feeling at least somewhat better on a healthier diet.

But if it doesn’t help, don’t feel discouraged that somehow your condition is beyond hope. There are lots of us who have tried healthy eating and come up, well, empty.

Nevertheless, this is a great study that shows a pretty substantial link between certain mental health outcomes and gut bacteria.

And it’s yet another wake-up call to a Christian church that is still painfully slow to acknowledge that much of the source of our mental pain comes from some medical and certainly not spiritual source.

*Here’s a good article on ways to improve your gut health.

Discover Magazine’s Timothy Meinch has a fantastic deep-dive into the world of deep breathing and its manifold health benefits.

Basically, you and I probably breathe much too quickly for our well-being.

Chronic stress can lead to shallow, quick breathing, and shallow breathing can lead to chronic stress.

And of course, we all know chronic stress can contribute to or even provoke just about every malady under the sun.

Here’s the money extract:

“If you pushed through to achieve that full exhale a moment ago, you might have noticed a prolonged, satisfying inhale immediately followed. Do it on repeat for a simple practice of deeper, slower breathing. In your body, this biologically signals “all is well” to the brain and a full cast of players. The heart rate slows; the vagus nerve engages, which is a vital component in the rest-and-restore parasympathetic nervous system; and the brain releases your feel-good serotonin and dopamine hormones.”

Meinch adds that “Various research has connected conscious breath work to treating symptoms of anxiety, sleep apnea, PTSD, chronic pain and depression.”

Read the whole thing. It’s excellent.

Now….

Healthline has a tremendous overview of “belly breathing” or “abdominal breathing.”

They point to research showing it can help with IBS, depression, anxiety, insomnia, blood pressure, heart rate, PTSD, and even your core muscle stability.

Interestingly, it can also help you avoid injuring certain muscles.

Here’s why — when you don’t use your diaphragm properly, you can develop conditions that cause the lungs to lose their elasticity.

Consequently, you unwittingly start using your chest, back, and neck muscles to help you breathe, and that puts unnecessary pressure on them.

Improper breathing can therefore lead to musculoskeletal problems, as well.

So what’s a shallow breather to do?

Healthline has steps for Diaphragm Breathing.

Basically.

-Lie in a comfortable position

-Relax

-Put your hand on your stomach and chest

-Breathe in through your nose for two seconds, and try to keep your chest still. Your stomach should be the doing the moving.

-Finally, “Purse your lips, press gently on your stomach, and exhale slowly for about two seconds.”

Then do it again. Try 10 minutes to start.

There are other breathing exercises you can try. Click here for them.

Now…….

A few things to mention.

You might struggle with some anxiety when you start.

When I try deep breathing, I tend to get anxious. I’m too self-aware, I wonder if I’m doing it right, I think I actually might breathe faster.

You might feel the same.

That’s why it’s important to give it more than just one or two tries. The longer you do it, the more relaxed you’ll be, doing it. And that’s the point.

Second, Brennan Manning once suggested deep breathing with the phrase, “Father, I belong to you.” Breathe in on “Father,” and exhale on, “I belong to you.” I’ve found profound comfort in deep breathing with that phrase.

It’s a surprise, then, that I don’t do it more often.

And that’s because it’s hard work. It’s hard work to take 10-20 minutes to lie on your bed, in the quiet, and just breathe.

But your body and mind will thank you.

[Photo: Cadaques, Spain, a coastal town in Spain that inspired Dali and numerous artists. If you want to try deep breathing, it would be nice to do it from a boat, just off the coast of Cadaques. But if that’s not possible, I suppose your bed will do].

Scientists have been musing about the possibility of the SSRI fluvoxamine (Luvox) to treat Covid-19 since last year, and if you want the full skinny on why, I wrote about it earlier this year.

Basically, fluvoxamine (and many other SSRI’s) seem good at reducing important inflammatory markers that go nuts when Covid goes nuts and produces the infamous ctyokine storm.

One of the most important, offending markers is interleukin-6, and fluvoxamine seems particularly good at suppressing IL-6.

That’s only part of the mechanism, but a crucial part, and for the past year, I’ve googled IL-6 for just about every medicine, supplement, and food I imbibe.

And yeah, turns out Luvox is the standout among SSRI’s (although other antidepressants also do a good job at reducing inflammation).

The Science Times:

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In a massive, randomized clinical trial performed with thousands of patients over the last six months, McMaster University tested eight different treatments for COVID-19 against a control group to explore what’s effective.

Out of tall eight treatments, one medication stood out-fluvoxamine. This is an antidepressant that the Food and Drug Administration has already to be “safe to use and cheap to produce as a generic drug.”

These new findings follow some promising results in small-scale trials published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2020. In those smaller studies, scientists discovered that fluvoxamine was strikingly good at decreasing hospitalization for COVID-19 patients, although small-scale trials can at times turn up spurious positive results. Therefore, those findings were evidently tempered by many caveats.

The study, titled “TOGETHER study” is quite larger, involving over 3,000 patients across the entire research, with 800 participants belonging to the fluvoxamine group, and backs the promising outcomes from those past studies.

Patients who received fluvoxamine within a few days from getting tested positive for COVID-19 were found to be 31 percent less likely to end up on a ventilator.

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End quote.

Now I’ve written a lot about how reluctant American Christians are these days to trust pharmaceutical companies.

The distrust is a sad, but real phenomenon, considering that these companies are populated by wonderful people, trying to cure diseases and make our lives better.

But, if you’re still distrustful, to hopefully put your mind at ease, this isn’t a “money-making” pharma opportunity, because fluvoxamine is a generic drug now.

And generics aren’t big money-makers.

That being said, always talk to your doctor before starting anything.

Luvox is a first-line medicinal treatment for OCD, so naturally I’ve tried it, and I had a poor reaction to it.

But it’s considered a very good, tolerable drug, and wouldn’t it be remarkable if it really were this effective against Covid?

Here’s a really good, thorough read on how fluvoxamine emerged as such a potentially potent treatment for Covid.

P.S. Elevated Il-6 has been implicated in numerous autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, due to its signal of chronic inflammation. It’s also been implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s and other bete-noires of the body.

Drugs can help treat elevated Il-6, and lifestyle choices affect it, as well.

Here’s a particularly good explainer of IL-6, including some good ways to reduce levels, based on great studies.

Key things: Get a good sleep, nutrient dense diet, get enough Vitamin D, take care of your teeth, exercise moderately, maintain normal body weight (no obesity or anorexia), reduce stress, and get enough Omega3’s.