Microscopic organisms in the bowels produce chemicals that enable myriad physiological processes. Medical research is only now figuring out the intricate symbiosis of the body and the thousands of bacteria species that inhabit it.
By Dona Suri
IT’S TRUE !
We always knew it and now medical research is backing us up … CHOCOLATE MAKES US FEEL GOOD !
Dark chocolate is full of polyphenols which gut bacteria just love; they gobble them up and turn them into neurotransmitters and bioactive metabolites. According to researchers (neurologists Susan Westfall and Giulio Maria Pasinetti) at the Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, New York, these neurotransmitters cross the intestinal barrier and reach the brain where they give a clear message “Switch off the stress; dial down the cortisol and revv up the endomorphins and serotonin. Cheer up!”
Of course, Westfall and Passinetti say it in doctor-ese: “The gut microbiota manages the bioaccessibility of phenolic metabolites from dietary polyphenols whose multiple beneficial properties have known therapeutic efficacy against depression.”
Confession: this happy news about chocolate is greatly over-simplified.
For an in-depth scientific look at the remarkable properties of chocolate, check out Dark chocolate: An overview of its biological activity, processing, and fortification approaches. This is a research paper published in Current Review of Food Science
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9589144/
In fact, findings about chocolate are just a microscopic corner of a very big and very complicated area of research into the way microscopic organisms enable the workings of the body through the chemicals they produce. Even a quick glimpse into this topic is enough to awaken a sense of amazement at the warp-speed development of medical knowledge.
Advances in technology and high-speed, big data analysis have enabled medical researchers to gain deeper understanding, ask new questions and test new theories. Thanks to these advances, doctors are becoming aware that our gut and brain communicate and this messaging is made possible by the bacteria inhabiting our intestines — our microbiome.
For a highly informative and accurate overview of this topic, see Introduction to the Human Gut Microbiota by Elizabeth Thursby and Nathalie Juge, in Biochemical Journal, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5433529/
Microbiome and microbiota are relatively new terms. Both words refer to multi-species assemblages in which micro-organisms interact with each other in a contiguous environment. Primarily, the focus is on gut bacteria. Medical science has known about gut bacteria for decades; initially, it was thought that these organisms are simply part of the digestive process.
Recent research findings suggest that gut bacteria play a much wider and more varied role.
In fact, the results of some studies are so exciting that wishful thinking tends to take over and give gut bacteria a reputation for “super-powers”.
Here’s the position, as of today:
Yes, medical science knows a lot more about the role of gut bacteria today than it knew ten years ago.
Yes, dietary fiber promotes bacterial growth.
Yes, foods with live bacteria nudge your interior flora and fauna toward a richer, more diverse population. (Diverse is good.)
Yes, rapidly accumulating evidence tells us that gut bacteria not only aid digestion, but are involved in cardio-vascular health, remove toxins that damage the kidneys, protect the liver by deconjugating bile acids, modulate insulin sensitivity/resistance, prompt specialized immune cells to produce antiviral proteins and affect certain brain responses.
Yes, gut bacteria protect against pathogens and strengthen gut integrity.
Yes, when gut bacteria are disturbed or out of balance (dysbiosis), the door is opened for disease … physical and mental.
But a bacterium (singular form of bacteria) is just a microscopic, single-celled, squiggly thing. How can it do anything, either good or bad?
That’s exactly what researchers would like to find out. The precise metabolic processes of bacteria are not yet fully understood… which means that the study of what bacteria take in and what they give off is a very hot topic attracting thousands of scientists and millions of dollars in research funding.
One thing is for sure: gut bacteria are constantly producing thousands of chemicals that act as neurotransmitters. The job of these transmitters is to carry a nerve’s message from one nerve cell to the next cell. If every one of your neurotransmitters suddenly blinks off, then, in computer terms, your system has crashed. Basically, you’re dead.
Too high of a level or too low of a level of some specific neurotransmitters results in specific health problems.
Medications work by increasing or decreasing the amount of or the action of neurotransmitters. These chemicals reach the brain through the bloodstream, or chemical signals from brain are picked up by the gut cells through the enteric nervous system. Scientists know of at least 100 neurotransmitters and suspect there are many others that have yet to be discovered. They can be grouped into four classes based on their chemical nature. Let’s look at just one of them:
Most people have heard of SEROTONIN. It’s in the monoamine class. These particular neurotransmitters regulate consciousness, cognition, attention and emotion. Many disorders of your nervous system involve abnormalities of monoamine neurotransmitters, and many drugs that people commonly take affect these neurotransmitters.
Serotonin is the feel good stuff that keeps you focused, happy and calm. If you’re feeling romantic, you can thank both serotonin and dopamine (another monoamine). Serotonin speeds up digestion, affects your appetite and a sudden flood of it makes you feel nauseous. Melatonin is the hormone that helps you get a good night’s sleep; the body can’t make melatonin without serotonin. When you get a cut, blood platelets release serotonin which causes tiny blood vessels to narrow, thereby stopping bleeding. If serotonin is excessive, the result is osteoporosis and bones that break easily.
What do gut bacteria have to do with serotonin?
They manufacture about 95 percent of it.
