LGG and The Gut–Brain Axis: How the Gut Talks to the Mind
Mental health is an important area of medicine, and one that’s constantly evolving, and we can all relate to the need for maintaining a healthy mental state. We know that things that happen around us, or to us, external things in other words, can have a real impact on our mental health, making us happier or sometimes less so. But what about what comes from within? What impact can that have?
In recent years, scientists have discovered that the gut and the brain are deeply connected by a communication pathway that’s become known as the gut–brain axis. Through this network, bacteria in the digestive tract can influence how we feel, think, and respond to stress. Bacteria can produce all sorts of different chemicals. Some of them are neurotransmitters or their building blocks, and some are short chain fatty acids known to have an impact on the brain. The ability of our gut microbiome to impact our mental health is almost limitless and cannot be overstated! So, with this in mind, researchers asked the question, can LGG impact the brain through the gut? It would make sense given what we know about how bacteria can impact the brain and therefore mental wellbeing. LGG has such a huge body of scientific backing behind it that in researching the impact of gut bacteria on our mental state, it seems like the best place to start.
This is an emerging and very exciting area of research into this powerful microbe. By studying how supplementing with LGG can impact the brain, scientists have started to closely look at how this bacterium might be able to support cognitive function and wellbeing, especially in more vulnerable populations such as the elderly or mentally impaired, who need the help the most.
Most of this research has been conducted in just the last six years, so it’s all very recent, but as we would expect it has been conducted to randomised control trial standards, ensuring that the tests were fair, and the results were unbiased. The results of these studies are something we at BetterGuts are very excited about…
A New Frontier of Research
The connection between gut bacteria and the brain is one of the fastest-growing areas in human health science, and LGG has been at the centre of many of the most interesting discoveries.
In one study adults taking LGG daily were found to experience improvements in cognitive impairment, along with measurable changes in their gut microbiome and immune markers, not to mention a decrease in inflammatory markers.
Other research has explored the link between the gut and ADHD, and how LGG may impact this condition in children.
This promising new area of research suggests that perhaps LGG has a very real role to play in the management of the gut-brain axis and could constitute a beneficial option in natural approaches to boosting cognition and caring for our brains.
Let’s take a look at these studies in more detail and see what they found.
Memory and Cognitive Function
In a recent double blind control study, older adults aged between 52 and 75 years old, with objective “cognitive impairment”, took LGG, and showed a larger improvement in total cognition score than the impaired placebo group, with higher scoring in learning and memory tests.
Researchers found that participants taking LGG also had lower levels of inflammatory markers in their blood, as well as a greater abundance in certain species of microbe in the gut. Both of these criteria have been linked to cognitive performance in the past, suggesting that LGG may have a role to play in benefiting cognition.
This is a very promising result! Cognitively impaired adults in their older age can start to lose their memory, with a real result of cognitive decline. The suggestion that LGG may be able to mitigate that is encouraging to say the least!
Gut–Brain Communication in Action
While researchers are still uncovering the exact mechanisms, the emerging picture is that LGG interacts with the body in several ways that may help maintain a healthy gut–brain connection. By supporting a balanced gut microbiome, which in turn influences mood and cognition, LGG may well indirectly impact the brain. It also reduces systemic inflammation, which can interfere with brain signalling, thus helping to mitigate mental health issues.
Improving gut barrier function, which helps maintain stable communication between the gut and the nervous system, is also an area that LGG has been heavily studied in, with very positive results.
Whilst these are early findings, the strong positive results are encouraging, and suggest that this powerful microbe may well have a role to play in supporting our brains as we age.
LGG and ADHD - An Emerging Science
One still emerging but very interesting area of research is the effects of LGG is how it can affect ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder). A recent double blind RCT has explored the effects that LGG supplementation may have on the symptoms and severity of ADHD in 32 children, specifically children aged between 4 – 17 years old.
These children were asked to rate their quality of life after 3 months of taking either LGG or a placebo, using the Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory measuring system. This is a self-report system developed by Dr James W. Varni that measures physical, social, emotional, and school functioning, and is very highly respected in the world of paediatric psychology as a benchmark in quality-of-life measurement.
The results this study turned up were striking: the participants in the study showed a significant improvement in Quality of Life, an improvement that was not reported by observers, but by the participants themselves!
These are early results, with this being a pilot study, and the study revolved around the participants themselves reporting how they felt their quality of life had been changed in the context of their ADHD, but the results are very encouraging. The use of a respected metric in quality of life, as well as a clear improvement in the LGG group, suggests that this may be a very promising area of research! The authors of the study themselves recommended a longer follow up trial with a larger group to help us explore these exciting findings, demonstrating that whilst it may be too early to start announcing that LGG is the solution, it’s definitely shown a very positive impact in the research we have so far and merits further study.
So how can this affect me then?
Although the gut–brain axis field is still relatively new, the quality and consistency of the research on LGG has made it one of the most closely followed bacterial strains in this area.
In just the last few years, studies have shown measurable improvements in a few areas such as memory and attention, cognitive impairment, a reduction in inflammatory markers, and a measurable increase in quality of life for ADHD children.
Mental health and the medicine involved is an ever evolving area, and presents real challenges for medical researchers. Many medications aimed at having an impact on mental faculties may sometimes also come with side effects, and so it’s important to note that with LGG, there were no recorded side effects or safety concerns of any description!
While this area of science is still emerging, the results from recent human studies are consistently positive, showing that LGG can help the body maintain a healthy, communicative link between the gut and the mind.
It’s a field that’s evolving rapidly, with new research and studies conducted all the time, and if the research that’s already been done is anything to go by, the future will bring more encouraging insight into the amazing things this microbe can really do.
References (the science) – Don’t just take our word for it:
- Sanborn, V., Azcarate-Peril, M.A. & Gunstad, J. (2020) Randomized clinical trial examining the effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG on cognitive functioning in older adults. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 16, 2765–2777. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7671471
- Aljumaah, M.R., et al. (2022) The gut microbiome, mild cognitive impairment, and probiotics: a randomized controlled trial. Clinical Nutrition, 41(12), 2690–2700. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36228569
19. Bajaj, J.S., Heuman, D.M., Hylemon, P.B., et al. (2014) ‘Randomized clinical trial: Lactobacillus GG modulates gut microbiome, metabolome and endotoxemia in patients with cirrhosis’, Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 39(10), pp. 1113–1125. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3989370/
- Lew, L.C., Hor, Y.Y., Yusoff, N.A.A., et al. (2019) Probiotic supplementation improves cognitive and psychological performance in healthy elderly subjects. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 11, 129. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2019.00129
21. Kumperscak, H.G., Gricar, A., Ülen, I. & Micetic-Turk, D. (2020) ‘A pilot randomized control trial with the probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) in ADHD: Children and adolescents report better health-related quality of life’, Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11:181. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00181/full
