Equol

Gut microbiome: meet Asaccharobacter celatus – the brain health bug

Retrieved on: 
Friday, February 9, 2024
Kikkoman, Brain, Soy milk, Fungus, Mouse, Ageing, Dementia, Archaea, Function (mathematics), Asaccharobacter, Exercise, Virus, Health, Deficit spending, Equol, Risk, Genetics, COVID, Diet, Infection, Environment, Cognitive deficit, Research, Bacteria, Forgetting, Head, Dietary supplement

Research over recent years also suggests our gut bacteria may have a role in helping us maintain our brain health as we age.

Key Points: 
  • Research over recent years also suggests our gut bacteria may have a role in helping us maintain our brain health as we age.
  • My own preliminary research suggests one gut bug in particular called Asaccharobacter celatus (A celatus) could be useful.

Cognitive impairment and dementia

  • Worryingly, this often progresses to more severe impairment of brain function known as dementia.
  • Dementia affects more than 55 million people around the world, and projections suggest this number will increase to 82 million by 2030.

How gut bacteria could help

  • The bacteria in our gut perform functions that benefit our overall health.
  • A celatus, along with certain other bacteria, is capable of producing a compound known as equol.
  • These bacteria make equol from a compound called daidzein, which is found in soy products including soy milk, tofu and tempeh.
  • In many cases, we can influence the make-up of our gut bacteria through our diet, and this appears to be true for A celatus.
  • Read more:
    Gut bacteria rewind ageing brain in mice

    However, other research has shown consumption of soy foods in the diet has no effect on cognitive function.

  • All this suggests that, alongside the bacteria, we already have in our gut microbiome, what we eat could be equally important.

My research

  • This relates to complex cognitive tasks we perform daily, including doing maths in our head, or reorganising the day’s tasks in our mind when something unexpectedly changes.
  • This research appears promising, but we need more evidence to confirm the potential benefits of both A celatus bacteria and soy foods in helping older people maintain their brain health as they age.
  • Each week we will look at a different microbe and bring you the most up-to-date research on them.
  • Nathan Nuzum currently works at University College Cork as part of APC Microbiome and receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the INSPIRE COFUND Marie Skłodowska Curie grant agreement No.
  • The unpublished/original work referred to in this article was conducted at Deakin University as part of Dr. Nathan Nuzum's PhD.
  • Dr. Nuzum's PhD supervisors for this work includes his primary supervisor Dr. Helen Macpherson, and his co-supervisors (in alphabetical order) Drs.

Hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog? Here's what we know about phytoestrogens for menopausal symptoms

Retrieved on: 
Monday, June 5, 2023
Review, Systematic review, Acupuncture, Headache, Food, Depression, Diet, Body composition, Arthralgia, Seed, Lignan, Phytoestrogen, Anxiety, Overalls, Weight loss, Clinical trial, Quality of life, Woman, Brain, Research, Vegetable, Meta-analysis, History, Herbal, Dementia, Dietary supplement, Soy milk, Time, Risk, Personal lubricant, Isoflavone, Menopause, Hypnosis, Meditation, Soybean, Health, Mental health, Equol, Cochrane, Safety, Breast cancer, Birth control, Medicinal plants, Pharmaceutical industry

Hot flushes and night sweats are the most common of these, affecting 75% of women and the symptom for which most women seek treatment.

Key Points: 
  • Hot flushes and night sweats are the most common of these, affecting 75% of women and the symptom for which most women seek treatment.
  • In Australia it is estimated more than one-third of women seek complementary or alternative medicines to manage menopausal symptoms.

What’s on the market?

    • They include everything from mind-body practices (hypnosis, cognitive behavioural therapy and meditation) to alternative medicine approaches (traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture) and natural products (herbal and dietary supplements).
    • There is some evidence to support the use of hypnosis and cognitive behaviour therapy for the treatment of hot flushes.
    • But there is less certainty around the benefit of other commonly used complementary and alternative medicines, particularly nutritional supplements.

What are phytoestrogens?

    • There are numerous types including isoflavones, coumestans and lignans.
    • In the latter category, extracts from soy and red clover yield isoflavones and flaxseed gives us lignans.

What does the evidence say?

    • Overall, evidence regarding the benefit of phytoestrogens for hot flushes is fairly mixed.
    • A Cochrane review synthesised study results and failed to find conclusive evidence phytoestrogens, in food or supplement form, reduced the frequency or severity of hot flushes or night sweats in perimenopausal or postmenopausal women.
    • Another recent study showed marked reductions in hot flushes in women following a low fat, vegan diet supplemented with daily soybeans.

Can phytoestrogens help the psychological symptoms of menopause?

    • Less research has explored whether phytoestrogens improve psychological symptoms of menopause, such as depression, anxiety and brain fog.
    • A recent systematic review and meta-analysis found phytoestrogens reduce depression in post- but not perimenopausal women.

The bottom line

    • If you do wish to see if they might work for you, start by including more phytoestrogen-rich foods in your diet.
    • Examples include tempeh, soybeans, tofu, miso, soy milk (from whole soybeans), oats, barley, quinoa, flaxseeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, chickpeas, lentils, red kidney beans and alfalfa.
    • Try including one to two serves per day for around three months and monitor symptoms.

Introducing EQUELLE®: A New Non-Hormonal Supplement for Menopause Symptom Relief†

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 11, 2019
Endocrine system, Menopause, Human development, Health, Menstrual cycle, Hot flash, Midwifery, Equol, Conjugated estrogens, Oophorectomy

"The exciting news is that there isnow a newnon-hormonal alternativefor women that improves boththe frequency of hot flashes and muscle aches associated with menopause."

Key Points: 
  • "The exciting news is that there isnow a newnon-hormonal alternativefor women that improves boththe frequency of hot flashes and muscle aches associated with menopause."
  • Menopause, a natural process that a woman's body experiences, can take up to seven years.
  • Once a woman has gone a whole year without a menstrual cycle, she has officially hit menopause.
  • A natural S-equol supplement alleviates hot flushes and other menopausal symptoms in equol non-producing postmenopausal Japanese women.