It’s well known that there are as many microbes in our intestines as there are cells that make up our bodies.
It makes sense that the balance and distribution of microbes in our intestines affects our digestive health, and vice versa.
Research has increasingly shown that the microbiome, as the collection of microbes is called, should be considered as another organ in our bodies, one that needs to be healthy as much as any other organ, and can contribute to many non-digestive disease processes, such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and more.
In addition to the variety of physical illnesses it can lead to, the microbiome can contribute to mental and emotional conditions like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
But this recent study takes the cake…
A team of European researchers devised a study to explore how the makeup of the microbiome influences human behavior. They set up two groups of experimental subjects who were matched except that one group was given supplemental probiotics to enhance their microbiomes, and prebiotics (things that help probiotics grow.)
The participants were invited to take part in a behavioral game before and after receiving the supplementation. This “Ultimatum Game” was devised to measure the participants’ social behavior related to generosity and sensitivity to injustice.
The study results showed that while the placebo group who did not receive the supplements were unchanged in their behavior between before and after tests, the participants who received the supplements became “less rational and more human, [and] more sensitive to social considerations,” according to the head researcher.
Interestingly, those participants who, at the beginning of the study, had the greatest imbalance in their microbiomes, experienced both the largest improvements in their microbiomes, and, after taking the supplements, demonstrated the greatest increases in generosity and sensitivity to injustice.
So, even what we typically think about as someone’s personality might be partially determined by the makeup of that person’s microbiome and the health of that person’s digestive tract.
Gut feelings, indeed.
For help with your microbiome or your personality, give us a call.
