TIME – For years, mental health was seen as something that started and ended in the brain.
But an expanding field of research is revealing a key player in the story of our emotions: the gut. The trillions of bacteria that live in our digestive tract don’t just help break down food.
They appear to communicate directly with the brain, influencing everything from stress resilience to symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Scientists call this two-way relationship the gut–brain axis, and it’s rapidly reshaping how we think about mood and mental well-being.
That connection isn’t just theoretical. Studies have found that people with depression often have less microbial diversity, that probiotics may ease symptoms of anxiety, and that dietary shifts can alter mood-related brain chemistry within days.
“There is now more scientific proof than ever of a direct link between gut health and brain health,” says Dr. Karl Kwok, a gastroenterologist with Kaiser Permanente in Southern California. “The gut microbiome or other gut bacteria can absolutely impact neuronal function.”
The question scientists are now racing to answer is how far that influence goes—and how we might harness it to feel better, from the inside out.
The science of the gut–brain connection
If you’ve ever had butterflies in your stomach before a big presentation, you’ve felt the gut–brain connection in action. For decades, scientists assumed the gut simply followed the brain’s lead. But research now suggests that the trillions of microbes in our intestines may play a surprisingly active role in shaping our emotions and mental health.
“The communication lines between the gut microbiome and the brain seem to involve products of intestinal bacteria, including neurotransmitters,” says Dr. Roy Ziegelstein, a cardiologist and researcher on depression and cardiovascular disease at Johns Hopkins …
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