Nicholas, I'm only talking about my experience and what I've read, but I find a fully functioning microbiome (and you may have noticed me mentioning that I eat a LOT of fermentable fiber to make that so) is a constant ally against against all forms of stress. emotional, digestive, and bacterial. Since I upped my fermentable fiber intake, I've never been sick (just under 2 yrs now) sleep better. poop better, and just don't let things get me down. I think the way I've participated in the discussions on this forum attest to that too. I don't have any of the yeast/fungus overgrowth symptoms my entire pre fiber life was plagued by. I've no doubt that I still have pathogenic populations hiding in biofilms though. Apparently they can do so for up to ten years. Let them wait.Nicholas said:funny timing mt. dreams & Stuart....today it dawned on me that i may have a correlation in my body with serotonin (or bad bacteria) and my stress levels. this has always been pretty consistent that when i get super stressed, i get really bloated, retain water, etc. I have almost the same exact symptoms when i am starved. Do we know if it's that they multiply under certain conditions or just that they cause disruption?
We know already that the state of your microbiota affect your mood in myriad ways. I honestly feel like my microbiome is now shouldering the burden that used to have to be dealt with just by my brain.
That's about as unscientific as I can get.
YMMV.