The Gut-Brain Connection

A jar of honey with a dipper beside a laboratory flask and a certification ribbon seal

What MGO 250+ actually means, and how to check it

MGO 250+ means 250 milligrams of methylglyoxal per kilogram of honey, verified by laboratory analysis. It sits at roughly UMF 10+, and it is one of the few numbers in...

What MGO 250+ actually means, and how to check it

MGO 250+ means 250 milligrams of methylglyoxal per kilogram of honey, verified by laboratory analysis. It sits at roughly UMF 10+, and it is one of the few numbers in...

Saffron crocus flowers with three crimson stigmas, a golden halo behind them

Saffron and children: what the research covers,...

Saffron has been eaten for three thousand years and studied in more than twenty randomised trials. One standardised extract carries eleven placebo-controlled trials, including the only one in teenagers. The...

Saffron and children: what the research covers,...

Saffron has been eaten for three thousand years and studied in more than twenty randomised trials. One standardised extract carries eleven placebo-controlled trials, including the only one in teenagers. The...

A divided children's plate holding a small beige meal, one red cherry sitting apart from it

Vitamin C, restricted eating and children: what...

In one Australian children's hospital review, 31 per cent of the children tested had low vitamin C, and 65 per cent of those had restricted eating. That is an argument...

Vitamin C, restricted eating and children: what...

In one Australian children's hospital review, 31 per cent of the children tested had low vitamin C, and 65 per cent of those had restricted eating. That is an argument...

Five petri dishes in a row: four hold near-identical sage bacterial colonies, the fifth sits apart in amber

Probiotics and autistic children: what the tria...

The most cited trial was negative on all three primary outcomes. The blinded faecal transplant trial missed too. What probiotics do and do not change in autistic children, read from...

Probiotics and autistic children: what the tria...

The most cited trial was negative on all three primary outcomes. The blinded faecal transplant trial missed too. What probiotics do and do not change in autistic children, read from...

Editorial illustration: a human brain in profile on the left with three highlighted regions, gut bacteria on the right, and fine lines connecting the two

Gut bacteria and brain chemistry: the first hum...

Sixty-one women, brain scans and stool samples. What the 2026 Molecular Psychiatry paper found about GABA, glutamate and the gut, and the four things it cannot tell you.

Gut bacteria and brain chemistry: the first hum...

Sixty-one women, brain scans and stool samples. What the 2026 Molecular Psychiatry paper found about GABA, glutamate and the gut, and the four things it cannot tell you.

A saffron crocus flower on the right, with an abstract wave line running across the frame from turbulent to settled

Saffron in perimenopause and after: the 12-week...

Two randomised, placebo-controlled trials of a saffron extract in women in perimenopause and in women aged 50 to 70.

Saffron in perimenopause and after: the 12-week...

Two randomised, placebo-controlled trials of a saffron extract in women in perimenopause and in women aged 50 to 70.

Saffron threads scattered across a deep indigo night sky with a crescent moon low on a warm amber horizon

Saffron and sleep: the two 28-day trials

Two randomised, placebo-controlled trials of a saffron extract in adults with poor sleep, and what they did and did not measure.

Saffron and sleep: the two 28-day trials

Two randomised, placebo-controlled trials of a saffron extract in adults with poor sleep, and what they did and did not measure.

Four botanical specimens on a deep indigo ground: tart cherries, a chamomile flower, a lemon balm leaf and a passionflower bloom

The evening herbs: tart cherry, chamomile, lemo...

Four traditional evening plants and the small trials behind each, including the two child studies that used a lemon balm blend.

The evening herbs: tart cherry, chamomile, lemo...

Four traditional evening plants and the small trials behind each, including the two child studies that used a lemon balm blend.

Honeycomb hexagons on the left dissolving into microscopic gut bacteria on the right, with a single Leptospermum manuka flower in the centre

Honey, Manuka and the gut: what MGO means and w...

The MGO grade explained, why Australian Manuka is Manuka, and the honest state of the prebiotic evidence.

Honey, Manuka and the gut: what MGO means and w...

The MGO grade explained, why Australian Manuka is Manuka, and the honest state of the prebiotic evidence.

An abstract network of nodes and pathways in varied colours and irregular connections, suggesting many different ways of being wired

Research on neurodivergent kids: what the gut m...

The birth cohorts, the twin study, the machine-learning signature and the first small trials, read plainly for parents of autistic and ADHD kids.

Research on neurodivergent kids: what the gut m...

The birth cohorts, the twin study, the machine-learning signature and the first small trials, read plainly for parents of autistic and ADHD kids.

Five circular specimen portraits in a row, each showing a bacterium of a different shape: a long rod, a short rod, a chain of spheres, a curved rod and a branched form

Five probiotic species and the research behind ...

Lactobacillus helveticus, L. rhamnosus, L. plantarum, Bifidobacterium breve and L. brevis: the studies, the strains they used, and why strain matters.

Five probiotic species and the research behind ...

Lactobacillus helveticus, L. rhamnosus, L. plantarum, Bifidobacterium breve and L. brevis: the studies, the strains they used, and why strain matters.

Diagram: a human head in profile joined to a stylised intestine by one long branching nerve line, representing the vagus nerve

How the gut talks to the brain: the gut-brain a...

The vagus nerve, serotonin made in the gut, and the bacteria that join the conversation. What is established, what is animal work, and what is still open.

How the gut talks to the brain: the gut-brain a...

The vagus nerve, serotonin made in the gut, and the bacteria that join the conversation. What is established, what is animal work, and what is still open.