Your gut bacteria are important, they hold influence on functions all over your body, and have been linked to everything from heart health, to mood, to immune function and inflammation, and more. Now, certain (lack of) bacteria may be indicative of PTSD.
Trauma from childhood may be more likely to cause PTSD later in life, but any trauma can trigger it. A study compared people who, after a traumatic event, either did, or did not, develop PTSD. Those who had PTSD were lacking three specific types of gut bacteria, Actinobacteria, Lentisphaerae, and Verrucomicrobia. Working through PTSD symptoms helped restore at least one type of bacteria.
Those bacteria are also associated with immune health, and without them the body experiences more inflammation (PTSD is also associated with increased inflammation).
Stress influences the gut, but the bacteria in your gut may also change how you handle stress. It’s a “chicken or the egg” problem until more research is done, but it’s an easy and safe assumption that taking care of your gut bacteria may help. (And it can’t hurt).
Your gut bacteria are intertwined with other aspects of your health, but what makes them powerful is that they can be slow to change for the better. Wondering why a month of dieting lead to yo-yo-ing? It can take a year to change your gut bacteria, and in the meantime, the bad bacteria (or unbalanced proportions) may mess with efforts to exercise and eat well. But it’s exercise, sleep, good nutrition, and practicing good stress-busting habits that make the change—but you have to persevere.
Make the struggle easier with extra support from probiotics. Probiotics are known good bacteria that restore, rebalance, and support the good bacteria in your stomach. A good probiotic carries a large variety of bacteria. Try Flora MGR for extra gut support.
How do you make health changes? Leave a comment!
