Coronavirus pandemic has affected all of us and majority has experienced some sort of mental health problems.

In Hong Kong, for instance, 70 % of citizens have shown signs of depression and more than half suffer from sleep deprivation:(

Depression is a complex disease.Synergy Care team together with our Italian scientists have focused on latest discoveries connecting  depression with gut brain axis .In 2020/2021 Gut - brain axis has been one of the most discussed topics in the health care industry. 

To better understand this connection we need to know that our brain talks to our gut and vice versa. This is a two way communication even we can even say a form of conversation.gut microbiota (all organisms like bacteria and fungi that resides in our guts) talk to our brain cells using different pathways/languages : neural, hormonal, immune and metabolic.

Let’s have a closer look at one of these pathways ; scientists have proven that over 80% of a very important hormone serotonin is produced in the guts with the help of healthy microbes. Serotonin is a so-called happy hormone that stabilises our mood, feeling of well being and sleep quality. So the right amount of healthy bacteria is critical for the production of one of the most important hormones; as it is serotonin for our mental health. So that was one of the mechanisms of how gut bacteria talk to our brain and now let’s focus for a moment on how our brain communicates with our gut:

Here comes into play so omnipresent during Coronavirus pandemic chronic stress factor. While acute or short-term stress can have protective and beneficial effects chronic stress can cause long-term problems for our mental health, heart and blood vessels. Among other factors, stress activates a part of the brain called the hypothalamus which starts a chain reaction in our body that eventually releases a stress hormone called cortisol. This hormone in turn alters our gut microbiota bacteria and causes an imbalance of good and bad bacteria in the gut / dysbiosis . Too big amount of bad bacteria can cause digestive symptoms like diarrhea, constipation, bad breath and underproduction of our above-mentioned happy hormone serotonin.Too small amount of serotonin can cause such issues as depression and anxiety. So as we can see gut bacteria and brain are tightly connected.

A diversified, balanced and healthy gut microbiota is a foundation to a good mental health .Fortunately we do have influence on having a healthy microbiota. We can do that through : right diet ( rich in different vegetables, legumes , beans, fruits and fermented foods) , regular exercise, stress management and latest  breakthrough - special strains of probiotics called psychobiotics.

Psychobiotics is a term used for live bacteria that, when ingested in appropriate amounts, might confer a mental health benefit by affecting microbiota of the host.

Newdirran Bifizen our clinical psychobiotic showed in European  studies :

✔ Improvement of sleep quality

✔ Fewer episodes of depressive mood

✔ Reduction in irritability

✔ Less fatigue

Contrary to many existing antidepressants  Bifizen has not shown and side effects.