The Gary Null Show - 10-26-26

HEALTH NEWS     1. Fermented tea kombucha shows promise in reducing depression-like behaviors, animal study reveals 2. Brief self-care meditation delivers body confidence boost, study shows 3. Researchers Discover What Reading for Pleasure May Be Doing to Your Brain 4. Popular sports supplement may help shield the brain from damage linked to gut inflammation 5. The Gut-Muscle Connection: Fermented Foods May Influence Muscles Via Gut, Review Says       Fermented tea kombucha shows promise in reducing depression-like behaviors, animal study reveals University of Minnesota, October 20 2026 (Natural News)     - - Researchers found kombucha consumption linked to fewer depression-like behaviors in mice across different diets.   - - The fermented tea altered gut bacteria composition, affecting pathways involved in tryptophan metabolism and serotonin production.   - - Behavioral benefits varied by diet type, with Western-diet mice showing additional anxiety reduction and brain chemistry changes.   - Mice on standard diets experienced increased short-chain fatty acids, supporting gut barrier function.   Brief self-care meditation delivers body confidence boost, study shows La Trobe University (Australia), October 18 2026 (Eurekalert) A three-week online self-compassion meditation program can produce improvements in body appreciation and positive wellbeing, while reducing body dissatisfaction.   Australian adults who completed the self-compassion meditation training reported significantly increased body appreciation, positive wellbeing and lower self-judgement. The benefits were still evident six weeks after the program concluded and frequency of practice alone did not drive the size of change.   The randomised controlled trial, published in the journal *Mindfulness*, involved 227 people, aged 18 to 39 years. Participants in the intervention group undertook 20 minutes of daily self-compassion, while those in the control group remained on the waitlist.  Many body image interventions focus directly on appearance concerns, but the study found that simply encouraging people to treat themselves with greater kindness and understanding can improve how they feel about their bodies.  Fostering self-compassion, which encourages individuals to respond to personal difficulties with greater kindness and mindful awareness rather than harsh self-criticism, may be key to enhancing body appreciation rather than mindfulness practice alone.    Researchers Discover What Reading for Pleasure May Be Doing to Your Brain University of Cambridge, October 19, 2026 (Scitech Daily) Reading for pleasure may do far more than provide entertainment. A scientific review published in *Psychological Medicine* links the habit to better mental health, stronger cognitive abilities, and a lower risk of dementia. Research also suggests that reading is associated with measurable differences in brain structure, although scientists are still investigating whether reading directly causes these changes. Researchers from the University of Cambridge examined evidence spanning childhood through old age. Their findings suggest that reading for enjoyment, whether alone or with others, may support brain health in several ways, with some benefits potentially appearing after just a few minutes. Reading may also provide psychological benefits throughout adulthood. Surveys associate reading for enjoyment with lower stress, greater relaxation, stronger empathy, and more openness to different perspectives. In one survey, nearly two in five adults (38%) identified reading as their preferred way to unwind. A neuroscience study reported that just five minutes of reading fiction could reduce stress by up to 20%. The potential benefits of reading extend into later life, when preserving memory and thinking abilities becomes increasingly important. In a study of nearly 5,500 adults aged 55 and older, participants who frequently engaged in mentally stimulating activities, including reading, were significantly less likely to develop cognitive impairment during five years of follow-up.   Popular sports supplement may help shield the brain from damage linked to gut inflammation Universidad de Sevilla (Spain), October 15 2026 (Medical Xpress) The gut-brain axis is a two-way biochemical hotline, with messages zipping back and forth all day long. When the gut is chronically inflamed, inflammatory signals travel through the body to the brain and trigger neuroinflammation. The hippocampus, which governs memory, learning and mood, is especially vulnerable, so its disruption can affect how you think, remember and feel.   A recent study published in *Brain, Behaviour, and Immunity* investigated how chronic ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease, impacts the brain and whether oral intake of creatine, a popular supplement in sports nutrition, can protect against brain damage. The researchers chemically induced chronic colitis in rats and observed their recovery with or without creatine. The creatine group received the supplement in drinking water, starting 10 days before colitis induction and continuing throughout the experiment. In rats given daily oral creatine, hippocampal creatine concentrations increased by 20%–30%, reaching normal levels in both sexes. In males, creatine prevented structural neuron loss, stopped electrical membrane leaks and normalized the neuron firing threshold.     The Gut-Muscle Connection: Fermented Foods May Influence Muscles Via Gut, Review Says Teagasc Food Research Centre & University College York (Ireland), October 19 2026 (Natural News)      A review published in the journal *Communications Biology* examines whether microbes in fermented foods influence muscle through the gut-muscle axis, which the paper describes as a two-way chemical communication network between the digestive tract and skeletal muscle. According to the paper, gut bacteria release byproducts that travel through the bloodstream and may influence muscle tissue, while exercise sends signals back that can alter the gut. The review describes this bidirectional network as the gut-muscle axis, or GMA. Skeletal muscle has a profound influence on metabolic health, functional capacity, and resilience across the lifespan, the review states \[2].   The clinical stakes center on sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle, which is linked to frailty and loss of independence. Muscle also helps control blood sugar. The review cites a study linking one gut bacterium to muscle strength in people and lower levels of that bacterium in older adults. In mouse findings described in the review, front-leg grip strength improved, and muscle fibers changed when the bacterium was administered   Protein and exercise remain the established defenses, though older muscles respond less to protein. The review notes that beyond dietary protein and physical activity, the gut microbiome may have the capacity to impact skeletal muscle mass and function.   Fermented foods deliver these compounds directly, and some contain live microbes that interact with existing gut bacteria, according to the authors. The review states that fermentation modifies the nutritional and microbial characteristics of dietary protein in ways that may influence microbial metabolite production.