Originally Posted by zanpar321 (Post 1106166)

The Gut appears to be very important to brain health!
Mental illnesses of the gut

A growing realisation that the nervous system in our gut is not just responsible for digestion (see main story) is partly fuelled by discoveries that this “second brain” is implicated in a wide variety of brain disorders. In Parkinson’s disease, for example, the problems with movement and muscle control are caused by a loss of dopamine-producing cells in the brain. However, Heiko Braak at the University of Frankfurt, Germany, has found that the protein clumps that do the damage, called Lewy bodies, also show up in dopamine-producing neurons in the gut. In fact, judging by the distribution of Lewy bodies in people who died of Parkinson’s, Braak thinks it actually starts in the gut, as the result of an environmental trigger such as a virus, and then spreads to the brain via the vagus nerve.

http://neurosciencestuff.tumblr.com/...r-second-brain

Originally Posted by GerryW (Post 1106208)

Researchers are developing probiotics for specific purposes using particular strains of bacteria. For example, there is ProbioMood by Pure Encapsulations. or HMF Neuro capsules by Genestra.

I expect that as they sort out the gut's microbiota they will find even more beneficial strains including some that might be useful to the PWP.

Originally Posted by lurkingforacure (Post 1106211)

Gerry, have you tried either of these?

Originally Posted by johnt (Post 1106265)

To get a list of what we've tried in one place, let me point to Post 49 in this thread. There I wrote:

"The reports of fecal transplants led me to investigate probiotic yogurt as a possibly safer alternative. I made this myself in large quantities, 6 pints at a time. This seemed to give me a small benefit. But I have since backed off because I was putting on too much weight."

I used lactobacillus acidophilus.

John

Originally Posted by lab rat (Post 1111780)

Abstract:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25476529