This is intriguing because the one thing people with RLS and Parkinson’s disease is low dopamine. I wonder if taking these probiotics could help increase dopamine.
“This has sparked the idea that we might be able to improve the symptoms if we change the microbiome through diet or other ways … People with Parkinson’s have less of a specific type of bacteria that produces lactic acid.
These bacteria play a role in the processes that produce dopamine and affect the intestine’s ability to absorb. According to the study, people with PD did not have less bacteriophages than people without PD, but people with Parkinson’s were found to have an increased number of a specific kind of bacteriophage called the lytic-phase bacteriophage.”
I did some research and found that these probiotics produce lactic acid. The most common lactic acid producing supplement are Bifidobacterium sp, Saccharomyces boulardii, and some other microbes have been proposed as and are used as probiotic strains, i.e. live microorganisms as food supplement in order to benefit health.
I don’t think they increase dopamine BUT they definitely help to heal the gut and allow absorption of minerals (&meds) that otherwise leak and don’t get to the bloodstream and brain.
My daughter has recurrent anaemia and probiotics have helped her enormously.
Good probiotics like symprove and VSL3 are very expensive though.
Thanks for sharing as it’s a very intriguing and interesting area which needs more research by medical professionals.
Hi , worth a try i suppose. But RLS we have enough dopamine, its just it doesnt reach where its suppose to, our transporters are at fault.
Research is at last catching up with 'the second brain', but slowly. There is a huge variety of organisms in the gut, many of which are reduced or destroyed by modern life, including antibiotics and toxins of every sort, from drugs to poor food to the air we breathe.
We all know how we feel after a course of antibiotics - a result of the wholesale destruction of the gut flora that mediate all the 'brain' chemicals that we need so urgently.
The problem is restoring the flora, in all their complexity, in a world that insists on destructive chemical cleanliness to an appalling degree.
I believe that you are right, that it will become automatic to restore gut-health for numerous diseases, but the medical profession is about twenty years out of date and resistant to what they may still see as 'fringe'.
Supplements only supply a few organisms, but each brand is different, so one must 'graze' a lot of them to get any result. And of course we should eat fermented foods as our ancestors did, and play in the dirt and grow our own vegetables. And go into the sun without sunscreen.
Thank you for this, Parminter. I'm glad to see that researchers are really digging into this area to see what some of the gut/brain connections may be.
For years a Ketogenic Diet has been associated with decreased seizures in epileptic patients - but they never knew how this was happening. A recent (brilliantly designed) study showed the mechanism, a change in the microbiome. Curious for RLS is the connection with Gabapentin, a treatment for both seizures and RLS. Here is a link to the study identifying the mechanism of seizure control. For myself, I've taken probiotics "forever" and discontinuing use (but retaining daily fermented foods, kimchi, yogurt, etc) has helped my digestive issues, but nothing for RLS or insomnia. genengnews.com/topics/omics...
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