The Gut-Brain Axis

The mind allows people to make diet and lifestyle changes to create positive physical outcomes, but research is showing things work the other way, too: Gut microbiota influence the mind.

Elizabeth Cooper, technical advisor at ADM Protexin, shared burgeoning research on the gut-brain axis.

• Studies have shown a clear association between changes in gut microbiota and cognitive behavior, wrote Mélanie G. Gareau of University of California, San Diego in a 2014 paper published in Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. Gareau stated that findings suggest “there exists a certain flexibility within the gut-brain-microbiota axis, well into adulthood and after completion of developmental stages thought to be the critical time for mediating potential changes.”

• Researchers from Kashan University of Medical Sciences in Iran published the results of a randomized, double-blind clinical trial in 2016 in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. Study participants with Alzheimer’s disease drank either milk or probiotic milk containing four bacterial strains for 12 weeks. Participants took a mini-mental state examination, which tests for cognitive impairment, before and after the 12 weeks. Members of the group that took the probiotics achieved a greater improvement in test scores than the control group.

• In 2022, in Psychological Medicine, University of Oxford researchers published findings from a randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled clinical trial on probiotics and the gut-brain axis. The study’s participants, who showed symptoms of mild to moderate depression, took the 14 bacterial strains in Bio-Kult Original or took a placebo for four weeks. Participants who consumed the probiotic had overall depression scores that were reduced by 50% from baseline, while their concentration had improved significantly, and they had shown changes in emotional processing.

Research indicates that fiber helps rid the body of toxins, said Elizabeth Cooper, technical advisor at ADM Protexin, which produces the Bio-Kult probiotic product line. Studies also show fiber is associated with a lower risk of diverticular disease, which is when pouches form in the digestive tract, Cooper said. When the pouches become inflamed, the condition is known as diverticulitis.

Cooper pointed out that the American and British Gut Projects have linked the consumption of a high diversity of plant foods— 30 different plants eaten each week—with greater microbiome diversity. Epidemiologist Tim Spector of King’s College London, who is involved in the project across the pond, told BBC Science Focus that doubling your fiber intake can help improve gut health.

The Promise of Probiotics

By supporting a healthy gut microbiome, fermented foods with beneficial bacteria like sauerkraut and kimchi are a boon to physical health, Cooper said.

The probiotics market, including supplements, is growing and expected to continue expanding, Cooper said, citing data from Fortune Business Insights, Coherent Market Insights and Markets and Markets. Probiotic supplements are largely propelling the growth of the digestive health supplement category, according to Mordor Intelligence, which states in a report that within probiotics, “the major consumption is observed among millennials.”

Cooper said probiotic supplements like those in Bio-Kult products “exert a beneficial effect in the intestines as they move through the gut, creating an environment more favorable to the growth of our own resident beneficial bacteria, allowing them to replenish and thrive.”

Multiple bacterial strains in Bio-Kult products, specifically, “have been tested and shown in vitro to have transient colonizing capabilities, meaning they may remain in the gut for longer than others,” Cooper said. Additionally, she said microorganisms of the bacterial strain Bacillus subtilis PXN 21 could create a protective biofilm around themselves. That film can stick to the lining of the digestive tract.

Bio-Kult strains have also been shown to

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As fiber encourages healthy bacterial growth in the gut, the reverse is also true, Cooper said, citing a study published in Gut Microbes by researchers from King’s College London, Nottingham City Hospital and the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre. “Beneficial species also ferment fiber to produce short-chain fatty acids, which feed the cells lining the gut, helping them to repair and renew,” she said.

Probiotic supplementation can also be customized, Cooper said, with some companies taking and analyzing stool samples and issuing questionnaires to formulate specific strains and dosages. “More and more people are realizing that ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ when it comes to our health, and as such, personalized probiotic and prebiotic products are gaining significant interest,” Cooper said.

Taking Action With Antacids

Antacids are used to treat heartburn, a condition that can result from diet choices as well as other factors, such as smoking and taking certain medications, according to Cleveland Clinic.

In 2022, brothers Lucas and Noah Kraft launched Wonderbelly and the flagship product Wonderbelly Antacid. Lucas suffers from gastroesophageal reflux disease, heartburn and upset stomach from bulimia. Lucas, who developed bulimia as a teenager, has quit binging and purging, but he continues to take antacids to treat ongoing digestive problems.

In a Wonderbelly blog post, Lucas wrote that he was inspired to create a new antacid after he became worried about antacid ingredients, such as N-Nitrosodimethylamine, a probable human carcinogen that the Food and Drug Administration recalled in 2020.

Wonderbelly formulated its antacids with calcium carbonate, the same active ingredient as many other antacids on the market, but which are vegan and animal test-free, non-GMO, Clean Label Project Certified and free of talc, dyes, gluten, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners and parabens.

“Those are things that really show that there’s intention and mindfulness behind the ingredients that we’re choosing, and it’s not just based on what is cheapest or what would look best,” Lucas said.

Lifelab Health also took a natural approach to antacids with its NuRelief line, which features calcium carbonate antacid tabs with no artificial colors or flavors. “Instead, we did organic aloe as one ingredient, which is also soothing and has a lot of benefits for gut health,” Machin said. In addition, NuRelief Natural Antacid tabs contain fennel, which he said freshens the breath and aids digestion.

The NuRelief line also includes a Gas Relief Liquid containing simethicone as the active ingredient, minus dyes and sugars. “It actually tastes like piña colada,” Machin said. “It really helps people who have difficulty swallowing pills, which is a lot of the older demographic.”

As for Wonderbelly’s consumers, the core group is 25 to 39 years old and leans female, Noah said. Many of Wonderbelly’s customers discovered the brand during pregnancy. As Noah shared, studies have found that about 75% of pregnant women suffer from heartburn.

Wonderbelly’s selection of clean ingredients resonates with pregnant women, Lucas said. “It’s also going to affect another body as well,” he said. “So, their choices around ingredients have a little bit more importance than maybe it did before.”

Multiple members of the Wonderbelly team are either mothers or pregnant, Noah said, so the brothers aren’t making or passing on assumptions about the demographic. “We surround ourselves by chance and by notion to make sure that we are actually working with people who can walk us through the experience to make sure that we are very much catering to that constituency in a way that’s organic and not presumptive,” he said.

The business came up with four antacid flavors, strawberry milkshake, lemon sorbet, watermelon mint and the Targetexclusive fruity cereal, to help the medicine go down, but also to be aspirational in the category, Lucas said. “When it comes to taste, it was really important to us because I wanted it to be something that you look forward to beyond just relieving the symptom—[for] the actual experience to be enjoyable and flavorful,” Lucas said.

To educate people about other ways to achieve digestive relief, Wonderbelly posted a blog on its website about mindful eating. Lucas said he has found the practice to be more sustainable than strict, exclusionary dieting.

Addressing the numerous demographics with various digestive issues, experts agree that options exist to help, and catering to the demand for specific product formulations can provide consumers more peace of body and mind. dsn

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