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Facts that Remind You Not to Take Life Too Seriously
By Lisa Franchi on naturaltherapyforall.com
Every day, we are faced with gazillions of stress (yes, it’s just an exaggeration but sometimes that’s how most people feel). From the moment we wake up until the time we go back to bed, we are vulnerable to a host of stressors – from that alarm clock we didn’t hear ringing to the hour-long traffic on our way to work, the missed coffee break, and the annoying, difficult folks we meet from time to time.
So before you give in to the anxiety your stressors bring, it can be helpful to remind yourself of the following life facts that will give you reasons to slow down, be more carefree, and live life less seriously:
Love and relationships are all that matter.
Many studies have been done to figure out what exactly gives us happiness. And all of them point to this: positive social relationship. A lot of people spend the rest of their life trying to earn money. But at the end of their journey, they realise that it’s not money, fame or fortune that make them truly happy. So slow it down. Take that vacation leave you’ve been meaning. Go home early tonight and spend more time with your family. By the time you get old, you are not going to reflect on the time you spent at work, but the family dinners, romantic dates, great vacations, and other special events you’ve shared with your friends and loved ones.
Life is short.
Time is a finite resource. Aside from the fact that we only have one life to live, we’ll never know when we’re going to leave this world, so please – cherish and enjoy all the things that make up life. Do what you need to do to live a happy and fulfilled life. Pursue your passion and give more time to those that matter most to you.
Worrying isn’t productive.
Many people stress themselves about things that are insignificant. If you spend your whole day fussing about how hard the task you’re working on, you are less likely to succeed on it. Worrying is counterproductive. Plus, it makes you more stressed, which in turn, affects your happiness level. So take a step back and laugh at yourself. Loosen up. Let your creativity soar. You can’t come up with a great idea when you are stressed and anxious.
Things aren’t always the way we think they are.
Lastly, remind yourself that your problems are not as difficult as you think they are. You’re not the only person in this world that’s going through something. EVERY ONE IS. The only thing that really matters is enjoying your life as much as you can and helping other people do the same.
How Gut Bacteria affects Brain Health
By Rebecca Lewis on naturaltherapyforall.com
The human gut is often referred to as the “second brain”. It houses the microbiome – the collection of bacteria living in the gastrointestinal tract which plays a complex and critical role in the health of its host. The microbiome interacts with and influences organ systems throughout the body, including, as research is revealing, the brain. This discovery has led to a surge of interest in potential gut-based treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders and a new class of studies investigating how the gut and its microbiome affect both healthy and diseased brains.
The microbiome consists of a startlingly massive number of organisms. Nobody knows exactly how many or what type of microbes there might be in and on our bodies, but estimates suggest there may be anywhere from three to 100 times more bacteria in the gut than cells in the human body. The Human Microbiome Project, co-ordinated by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), seeks to create a comprehensive database of the bacteria residing throughout the gastrointestinal tract and to catalogue their properties.
The lives of the bacteria in our gut are intimately entwined with our immune, endocrine and nervous systems. The relationship goes both ways: the microbiome influences the function of these systems, which in turn alter the activity and composition of the bacterial community. We are starting to unravel this complexity and gain insight into how gut bacteria interface with the rest of the body and, in particular, how they affect the brain.
In one experiment, researchers transplanted the human microbiome into germ-free mice (animals that have no gut bacteria) in order to study it in a controlled setting. They found that, simply by changing the carbohydrate and fat content of the mice’s food, they could alter basic cellular functions and gene expression in the microbiome.
Depression is not the only psychiatric disorder in which the microbiome may play a role. Research in rodents, as well as a few preliminary studies in humans, indicates that the state of our resident microbes is tied to our anxiety levels.
Germ-free mice, for example, appear to be less anxious than normal mice on behavioural tests of anxiety, whereas mice infected with pathogenic bacteria behave more anxiously. Interestingly, there seems to be a window during development when the presence of a microbiome leads to normal levels of anxiety in adulthood: germ-free mice that were exposed to microbiome bacteria at three weeks of age subsequently behaved like normal mice, whereas those exposed at ten weeks of age continued to be less anxious than normal animals. Like the data on microbiome-immune interactions, these findings highlight the critical role gut bacteria play early in life.
This research also reveals the complexity of the relationship between the microbiome and psychological state. Although the general trend is that fewer bacteria mean lower anxiety levels, it is not just the number but the identity of the bacterial species that determine how gut dynamics interact with mental state.
For example, adding beneficial bacteria through probiotic treatment may reduce elevated anxiety levels caused by inflammation and infection. A key factor in this relationship is stress and the way the body responds to it.
Source of this article: How gut bacteria ensure a healthy brain – and could play a role in treating depression
The microbiome consists of a startlingly massive number of organisms. Nobody knows exactly how many or what type of microbes there might be in and on our bodies, but estimates suggest there may be anywhere from three to 100 times more bacteria in the gut than cells in the human body. The Human Microbiome Project, co-ordinated by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), seeks to create a comprehensive database of the bacteria residing throughout the gastrointestinal tract and to catalogue their properties.
The lives of the bacteria in our gut are intimately entwined with our immune, endocrine and nervous systems. The relationship goes both ways: the microbiome influences the function of these systems, which in turn alter the activity and composition of the bacterial community. We are starting to unravel this complexity and gain insight into how gut bacteria interface with the rest of the body and, in particular, how they affect the brain.
In one experiment, researchers transplanted the human microbiome into germ-free mice (animals that have no gut bacteria) in order to study it in a controlled setting. They found that, simply by changing the carbohydrate and fat content of the mice’s food, they could alter basic cellular functions and gene expression in the microbiome.
Depression is not the only psychiatric disorder in which the microbiome may play a role. Research in rodents, as well as a few preliminary studies in humans, indicates that the state of our resident microbes is tied to our anxiety levels.
Germ-free mice, for example, appear to be less anxious than normal mice on behavioural tests of anxiety, whereas mice infected with pathogenic bacteria behave more anxiously. Interestingly, there seems to be a window during development when the presence of a microbiome leads to normal levels of anxiety in adulthood: germ-free mice that were exposed to microbiome bacteria at three weeks of age subsequently behaved like normal mice, whereas those exposed at ten weeks of age continued to be less anxious than normal animals. Like the data on microbiome-immune interactions, these findings highlight the critical role gut bacteria play early in life.
This research also reveals the complexity of the relationship between the microbiome and psychological state. Although the general trend is that fewer bacteria mean lower anxiety levels, it is not just the number but the identity of the bacterial species that determine how gut dynamics interact with mental state.
For example, adding beneficial bacteria through probiotic treatment may reduce elevated anxiety levels caused by inflammation and infection. A key factor in this relationship is stress and the way the body responds to it.
Source of this article: How gut bacteria ensure a healthy brain – and could play a role in treating depression