This is a must listen for anyone into funky beers. Find out how the bacteria in our guts gets into our brains. Yes. Into our brains. http://www.radiolab.org/2012/apr/02/gut-feelings/ It starts off with Lactobacillus, used to make yogurt, several other foods, and of course certain beer styles. Lab mice given the bacteria were basically relaxed when placed into a very stressful situation. How? The vagus nerve that runs from the brain to the guts of these mice somehow transmitted a signal to relax; literally as if they were on Valium. Thanks to the gut bugs (bacteria)? Perhaps. When the vagus nerves were cut, the mice panicked as normal. Human test subjects were also given a ton of probiotics (Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium), and similar results were found. The subjects displayed much less anxiety compared to those who weren't on probiotics. What I was also surprised to hear is that 80% of the Serotonin (the stuff that makes us happy) in human bodies is not in our brain, but in our guts. They suggest that the bacteria somehow interacts with the surplus of Serotonin in our guts and helps push it to the brain, like a happy pump. Could this explain why so many of us gravitate towards the funk with glee? Thanks to Radiolab for a very interesting and informative episode, and Chris from Notch for pointing it out on Twitter.
Patient: Doc, its just not working, I just have this hopelessness and despair, I just want to give up on everything. Doc: Look, I'm gonna up your daily 375ml of Cantillon to 750ml, and I dunno, sometimes patients have weird reactions to the Cantillon, so I'd like to also couple this with some 3F Hommage on a semi-regular basis to see what happens. Patient: I feel better already, he, he, he.
