Introducing our Gut Health Canvas
In this series, we dive into the links between the gut and various aspects of our mental and physical health.
Mental Health: Anxiety Management

Can your gut make you anxious?
- Research shows that the gut microbiome of people with social anxiety disorders (SAD) is different from that of healthy individuals.
- 🐭 A PNAS study reports that when gut microbes from healthy people and people with SAD were transferred into mice, the mice with a SAD microbiome transplant developed an increased fear response and showed lasting differences in the gut microbiome.
- This finding suggests that our gut composition has the potential to cause behavioral effects, such as fear and anxiety. It is fascinating that intestinal microorganisms can affect higher cognitive functions, such as mental balance.
👨 Research done in humans
🐭 Research done in mice
Sources:
Ritz et al. 2023
The Guardian 2023