The topic of endotoxin/LPS, 5-HT and gut dysbiosis is a recurring one in the bioenergetic sphere and there is hardly a chronic (and acute – i.e. flu, COVID-19) disease that has not been at least partially linked to our gut bacteria overproducing endotoxin, which then acts on the gut lining – enterochromaffin cells (EC) – to trigger 5-HT, histamine and nitric oxide (NO) production, leading to GI and subsequently systemic inflammation and diseases. As such, keeping the gut bacteria (microbiome) under control with antibiotics, insoluble fiber, charcoal, etc is one of the main mechanisms for improving health in the bioenergetic sphere. Another important aspect in the bionergetic view is that one should consume foods that are easily digestible so that they are absorbs easily and early in the GI tract (stomach and upper small intestine) and do not reach the colon where they would feed the microbiome. There is also a focus on not consuming substances that physically or chemically irritate the intestine (e.g. silica, talc, titanium dioxide, gums, vegetable rennet, etc) since irritation (even without presence of food) would also trigger the same serotonin-histamine-NO-inflammation cascade.
Well, the study below demonstrates why keeping the microbiome in check may be a top priority. It shows that human gut bacteria, at least in babies, produces very high amounts of 5-HT independently of the EC in the gut. In fact, about half of the bacterial species contained in the microbiome (both animal and human) apparently produce 5-HT on their own. That bacterial-derived 5-HT has the role of an immunosuppressant for the baby to dampen allergic reactions. Aside from elucidating an additional major source of 5-HT int the human organism, the study also suggests that “exogenous” serotonin is also bioactive, which is something most doctors still refuse to believe. Namely, medicine has focused mostly on the 5-HT produced by the EC in the gut since they claim that mostly such 5-HT enters the circulation and is of systemic importance. Since the externally (bacterially) produced 5-HT in this study most certainly produced systemic (immune) effects, I think it is pretty clear that exogenous 5-HT matters. That corroborates Ray’s views that one should be careful when consuming foods naturally high in 5-HT such as kiwis, dates, and (unripe) bananas.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciimmunol.adj4775
https://www.the-scientist.com/gut-serotonin-curbs-the-developing-immune-system-72265
“…The infant gut is packed with a medley of molecules that dictate development during a critical time in a newborns’ life. But how these molecules interact with and influence immune cells early in life isn’t fully understood. Now, in a study published in Science Signaling, a team of scientists revealed how one molecule produced in the gut, the neurotransmitter serotonin, activates a subset of T cells and dampens the immune system.1 The authors linked gut-derived serotonin to the creation of tolerance against allergens, suggesting that the pathway may play a role in the development of conditions such as asthma and food allergies.”
“…However, when Zeng and her team profiled the metabolites in the gut of neonatal mice, they found that the neonatal intestine had an unexpectedly high amount of the neurotransmitter serotonin. But the serotonin was not coming from the enterochromaffin cells, the cells that produce serotonin in adults, but rather from the gut’s resident bacteria. When they isolated bacteria from both neonatal mice and healthy human infants they found that around half of the microbes in their samples produced serotonin.”
