"Written by the leading researchers in the field, this information-rich guide to improving your mood explains how gut health drives psychological well-being, and how depression and anxiety can be relieved by adjusting your intestinal bacteria. This groundbreaking book explains the revolutionary new science of psychobiotics and the discovery that your brain health and state of mind are intimately connected to your microbiome, that four-pound population of microbes living inside your intestines. Leading medical researchers John F. Cryan and Ted Dinan, working with veteran journalist Scott C. Anderson, explain how common mental health problems, particularly depression and anxiety, can be improved by caring for the intestinal microbiome. Science is proving that a healthy gut means a healthy mind--and this book details the steps you can take to change your mood and improve your life by nurturing your microbiome"--

"This cutting-edge book reveals how a healthy gut can drive psychological well-being, improve your mood, and combat common diseases including depression, anxiety, obesity, heart disease--even autism and Alzheimer's--all by nurturing your microbiome. Welcome to psychobiotics, the revolutionary new scientific field that treats the common ailments of our time. Leading medical researchers John F. Cryan and Ted Dinan, together with veteran journalist Scott C. Anderson, explain the operations of the all-critical gut-brain axis, revealing how overall well-being depends on a healthy population of intestinal bacteria. For the first time, Cryan and Dinan--who coined the term "psychobiotics"--introduce the microbes essential to brain health and explain how changes in lifestyle and diet can keep them thriving. With useful charts naming bacteria species and laboratory-tested psychobiotic products, along with disease-by-disease accounts of the role a healthy gut plays in prevention and treatment, this comprehensive guide illuminates the essential steps you need to improve your life--all by maintaining a healthy gut"--