You lose the desire, the "niac", you feel like crying for no reason, you don't sleep at night but during the day you are exhausted. You no longer feel pleasure, even eating does not excite your taste buds. Finally, you consult your general practitioner who prescribes you an antidepressant to reduce the symptoms and help you overcome this gloomy period. Back home, you laboriously go to your pharmacist who gives you both the medication and the hope of getting better. Days go by and yes, chemically, your dark thoughts dissipate a bit but deep down, you don't take the problems in stride. Perhaps you are depressed or suffering from seasonal depression?
Article written by Dr. Thierry Schmitz.
Figures that make your head spin: 1 in 10 Belgians use antidepressants
According to the WHO (World Health Organization), depression affects nearly 300 million people worldwide. It is estimated that nearly 800,000 people commit suicide each year. The accumulation of different factors such as unemployment, bereavement, various traumas, but also chronic stress, or biological reasons affect depressed people in a more or less pronounced way. The completely distorted diet, the crazy diets, the phobia of fats and the consumption of sugar in all its forms are so many major elements favoring the descent into hell. This disease is a heavenly manna for the pharmaceutical industry that fills its pockets with green dollars. How many pills will be prescribed, even for a simple bout of the blues? How long will you have to take the treatment? Will these tablets change your life? Will you be the happiest man alive with this miracle solution? Once you've got your finger in the pie, it's almost impossible to get out of it. Not to mention the addiction caused by these drugs. The industry of the little pink pills is rubbing its hands: each patient brings in a lot of money and for a long time.
The situation is becoming worrisome. And yet, other solutions exist. It is hard to believe that by modifying our bacterial flora, many symptoms such as depression, mood swings, anxiety and stress can be significantly and permanently reduced. Everything is not played out in our heads but in our intestinal lumen. The little pill of happiness would no longer be chemical and unavoidable in case of prolonged gloom, sadness and chronic fatigue. Much more! You can be the actor of your happiness and master of your emotions.
You owe the miracle to the billions of bacteria in your intestine that make the rain and the weather in your brain. They have a new name. We no longer speak of probiotics but of "psychobiotics" because we now know, with certainty, that the key to serenity is buried in your pipes.
The impact on the immune system, on the development of allergies, intolerances, and even inflammation has been established for a long time. But the brain-gut axis, via the vagus nerve, which allows an immediate, simultaneous connection, has not yet revealed all its secrets. It is known that the two partners are constantly communicating with each other, that out of 10 messages, 9 are sent by the intestine. Incredible, isn't it? If this intestine is irritable and irritated, if it is too permeable, the messages will be either truncated or incomplete and can be a source of misunderstanding on both sides. Dysbiosis or imbalance of the commensal flora, resulting from a poor and deteriorated soil, favors depressive states and civilization diseases such as metabolic syndrome or neurodegenerative diseases.
When the infinitesimally small makes your life miserable
The track of bacterial activity and its impact on mood further extends the possibilities of research and understanding of the mechanisms.
Bacteria are known to affect the activity of neurotransmitters such as γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) or serotonin, which regulate mood. By slowing down the transmission of nerve signals, GABA promotes a state of mental relaxation. Low levels of GABA are correlated with depressive phases. Some bacteria such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus or certain strains of Bifidobacterium have the ability to positively modulate the activity of these neurotransmitters.
Serotonin (or the happiness hormone) is produced overwhelmingly in the gut if it is in good working order, which seems to be particularly compromised in people with depression. To modulate the permeability of the intestine, certain bacteria must "occupy" the field and prevent pathogenic intruders from entering the bloodstream, causing other immune and inflammatory catastrophes.
Secondly, the bacteria also seem to play a role in the stress response, i.e. the production of adrenaline and cortisol by the adrenal glands. Intense and prolonged stress is the bedrock of chronic inflammation, which in turn is widely implicated in depressive and anxiety states. Vicious circle, infernal but not fatal and inevitable. The combination of pro and prebiotics such as FOS (fructo-oligosaccharides) seems to play a favorable role in reducing stress and inflammatory states. They act in symbiosis as modulators of mood and brain functions.
Benefactor Association.
Pre and probiotics, undisputed allies of your well-being, will be of no use to you if your diet is poor, refined, bombarded with pesticides and full of additives. For an optimal synergy, your plate must be the support of your health and allow to restore a balance at the intestinal level. A holistic approach (diet - sleep - outdoor life) in lifestyle are the guarantors of a long, rich and happy life.
If you have depressive tendencies or have been diagnosed with depression, the phytotherapy complex that I designed combines pre and probiotics, with the right combination of bacteria and fiber needed to restore normal intestinal flora. On the one hand, beneficial bacteria inhibit the activity of pathogenic bacteria and on the other hand, prebiotics enhance the growth of bacteria and stimulate the renewal of the cells of the intestinal mucosa.