Yogurt and the brain

Today, most people know that eating yogurt is good for their stomach because of the beneficial live bacteria that's a major ingredient.  Now scientists have shown  that the bacteria in yogurt also affect Emotions and Behavior in a powerfully positive way.

An experiment was performed in which mice were placed in a bucket of water. Although mice can swim, they hate water and try desperately to get out of it.  The scientists split the mice into two groups: Half of the animals were treated with the various bacteria that are found in yogurt by being fed the germs and the other half were not.  When the untreated mice were dropped in the water, they swam around continuously for approximately four minutes, trying unsuccessfully to escape from the bucket and the water.  Then they "gave up", floating without moving (although they didn't drown).

The mice that had eaten the yogurt germs kept swimming beyond 4 minutes, and 5 minutes, and 6 minutes!  They would NOT give up. 

 How do we explain the difference in the two groups' BEHAVIOR?  There is no reason to think the mice in the untreated group just "got tired".  To put it in human terms, it seems like they became hopeless and were despairing after four minutes.  So they stopped trying.  But the bacteria group were like "Energizer bunnies" who kept Going and Going and Going!  They didn't seem stressed; they were resilient and "hopeful" and persisted in trying to swim out of the bucket.  It didn't matter that the task was impossible. 

The scientists even proved HOW the bacteria made the mice more determined: If the experimenters cut the vagus nerve (which runs from the stomach up to the brain) before the swim test, it didn't matter if the animals got the bacteria.  They still gave up after only four minutes of trying.  So the vagus is required to bring the helpful signal to the brain in order for the Reslience Persistence Effect to be seen. 

Hearing this story has affected MY behavior:   nowadays, I eat yogurt EVERY DAY!  We live in an unpredictable world where "speed bumps" and "roadblocks" could always be waiting around the next curve.  I want to be at my best every day, ready to face whatever surprising challenges could be coming.  And I want to be hopeful, and not even think about giving up when difficult problems arise. 

 So, unless someone has SEVERE MILK ALLERGY, I advise eating yogurt every day.  And, for those allergic people, there's a new food product on the market called "Co Co Yo", which is made from coconut fermented with the same bacteria germs that are in yogurt.  But it has no milk in its ingredients.