🍄 6 Things To Learn Before Breakfast: THE CULTURAL MOOD

Hello, we’re Alice and we are always in a state of wander. We are increasingly taking control of our body mood states. The more data and information we have, the more likely it is that we get a better solution for specific conditions. With data, experts can find precise ways to manage our day. Today, the conversation is around:
Can we apply mood management? 
Can we really become more productive? 
Can we be happier? 
Can we be kinder? 
Can we be whatever we want to be?

Findings from a large human study found that both gut microbiome composition and diversity were related to differences in personality, including sociability and neuroticism. There has been growing research linking the gut microbiome to the brain and behavior, known as the microbiome–gut–brain axis. Another interesting finding related to social behavior was that people with larger social networks tended to have a more diverse gut microbiome, which is often associated with better gut health and general health. If your brand taps into social connections, you are capable of shaping the cultural mood.

💡 Dr. Katerina Johnson of Oxford University’s Department of Experimental Psychology has been researching the science of that ‘gut feeling’—the relationship between the bacteria living in the gut (the gut microbiome) and behavioral traits. The full paper 'Gut microbiome composition and diversity are related to human personality traits' can be read in the journal Human Microbiome.

❤️ “What if our gut bacteria really do guide us to act with a sense of purpose? As it turns out…the molecule behind a meaningful life may well be hypothalamic mastermind oxytocin. Best recognized as the ‘love hormone,’ oxytocin also has roles in childbirth, parenting, and spirituality. Furthermore, oxytocin imparts an otherworldly sense of connectedness with the universe. This transcendental aspect of oxytocin raises the intriguing possibility of a deeply enriched human experience on the other side of microbes. If our ultimate goal is a physically healthy and purposeful life, then our microbial passengers and oxytocin are important partners in our journey.
— Susan Erdman, Principal Research Scientist and Assistant Director in the Division of Comparative Medicine at MIT

🧠 The revolutionary new science of psychobiotics is proving that a healthy gut means a healthy mind—and that we can change our mood and improve our life by nurturing our microbiome. Recent studies suggests that the microbiome not only affects our mood but also how we think, feel, and behave. A team led by Dr. John Cryan has shown that many species of the gut microbiome promote the production of serotonin – the chemical that makes us feel good – representing a key link between gut microbes and mental wellbeing. Dr. John Cryan first used the term “psychobiome” to describe microbe-based treatments for mental conditions. At their lab, Cryan and colleagues think the amino acid tryptophan, which some gut bacteria produce, could be a causal link. Microbes or the body's own cells can convert tryptophan into serotonin, a neurotransmitter implicated in depression and other psychiatric disorders.

🧠 The burgeoning field of nutritional psychiatry is finding there are many correlations between not only what you ingest, how you feel, and how you ultimately behave, but also the kinds of bacteria that live in your gut. In fact, only about 10% of the chemical serotonin—the “happy hormone”—is actually made in the brain. This is the chemical that SSRI antidepressants are designed to amplify. The remaining 90% is made in the digestive tract…the gut. Gut microbes influence how we digest and metabolize the precursors of important neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which are linked to mental health function, motivation, and feelings of well-being. We are just on the cusp of realizing the opportunities offered by CRISPR technology to open up a new generation of precision-based ingredients. In his labs at North Carolina State, Dr. Barrangou focuses on the characterization of CRISPR-Cas systems and their applications in bacteria and probiotic function. These include genotyping and genome editing to understand and enhance health-promoting functions of interest.

🍄 What was considered to be the psychotropic gift of Mother Earth in the 1960s, has evolved to become a glamorous fungi with magically scientific healing-enhancing properties. Fungi Perfecti and founder Paul Stamets, mycologist and author of six books on mushroom cultivation and identification, offer the finest mushroom supplements available today.

🪴 Ancient Chinese medicine unlocks new possibilities for cancer treatment. More than 20 years ago, Yale pharmacology professor Yung-Chi Cheng, a leader in drug development for cancer had a radical idea: What if he could unlock the therapeutic potential of ancient Chinese medicines for treating cancer? What if he could design botanical drugs that would make traditional cancer treatments work better? No one had done it before. The Food and Drug Administration didn’t even have a process in place for approving multi-ingredient botanical drugs. Fellow researchers and drug development experts advised him to change course. Developing botanical drugs was too complicated, they said, too risky. But the idea had taken hold, and Cheng, the Henry Bronson Professor of Pharmacology at Yale School of Medicine, was not going to let it go. Chinese medicine works by taking advantage of multiple chemicals, but also the capability of different organs in metabolizing these chemicals. It’s a totally new paradigm and the results will speak for themselves.

“Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said. 'One can't believe impossible things.' I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen.'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day.
Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things
before breakfast.”
― Lewis Carroll 

Craving more?

🍄 AudioDose Alice on Sonic Mushrooms: listen to Fellow Travelers
🎧 Alice podcast: Microbes & The Love Hormone with Dr. Susan Erdman
📘 Alice books: Thriving with Microbes: The unseen intelligence within and around us.

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Invite your friends to this mad tea party and let's see how many things we can learn before breakfast.

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