2026年8月26日 / 美国东部时间上午7:05 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
我一直对“食物即良药”的理念，以及饮食对我们长期健康的重要作用抱有浓厚兴趣。在最新一期《健康生活》节目中，我与布里格姆妇女医院兼哈佛医学院助理教授劳拉·考克斯博士进行了对话。
考克斯是肠道微生物组及其对神经健康意义的专家。
她解释道，肠道微生物组是“生活在我们肠道内的数万亿微生物细胞”，并将其描述为一个“支持我们健康的微生物群落”——它能合成维生素、训练人体免疫系统，甚至帮助我们抵御病原体。
考克斯表示，肠道微生物组可以通过改变我们的免疫系统和新陈代谢来影响大脑。
她的研究还聚焦于肠道健康与阿尔茨海默病、帕金森病等神经退行性疾病之间的关联。
以下是我们对话的部分要点——您可以在YouTube上观看完整节目，或在任意 podcast 平台收听：
GLP-1受体激动剂能否帮助预防阿尔茨海默病？
考克斯指出，研究人员正进一步了解用于治疗糖尿病或肥胖症的GLP-1类药物对我们肠道健康的影响。
“GLP-1受体激动剂可以作用于肠屏障，改变部分免疫相互作用，从而影响肠道微生物组，”考克斯解释道，并补充说这类药物还能“直接作用于大脑”。
研究人员常将阿尔茨海默病称为“3型糖尿病”，因为它与胰岛素抵抗存在关联。
“因此GLP-1受体激动剂可能在预防阿尔茨海默病方面具有直接的保护作用，”考克斯说，“不过在疾病晚期，这类药物似乎并未显现效果，此时干预可能为时已晚。但在疾病极早期，或许存在一条疾病预防的路径。”
帕金森病、肠道与便秘之间的潜在关联
考克斯表示，肠道炎症是肠道微生物组影响某些神经系统疾病（如帕金森病）的“主要途径”。
“帕金森病是现有证据表明肠道微生物组参与其中最多的疾病之一，”考克斯说。
她提到，神经系统疾病有着“不同的特征”，研究发现“便秘症状可能在帕金森病发病前20年就已出现”。
考克斯指出，α-突触核蛋白——一种引发帕金森病的错误折叠蛋白质——有时会在肠道中产生，并通过迷走神经向上扩散。迷走神经是传递大脑、心脏和消化系统之间信号的神经。
据考克斯介绍，研究表明切断迷走神经（一种名为迷走神经切断术的外科手术）可以降低患帕金森病的风险。
帕金森病患者还可能出现与炎症性肠病相似的“肠道炎症特征”，这是因为体内一种名为脂钙蛋白和钙卫蛋白的蛋白质含量过高，考克斯解释道。
“我们对帕金森病的了解之一是，它通常由遗传风险加上环境风险共同引发，”考克斯说，“我们知道引发帕金森病的途径有很多，其他一些环境毒素也可能导致该病。我们认为肠道微生物组是其中一个非常重要的途径。”
早晚母乳含有的激素不同
考克斯称，在怀孕期间，母亲的肠道微生物组会发生变化，变得与婴儿的微生物组相似。
“她体内会出现更多我称之为‘婴儿细菌’的物质，”考克斯说，这些细菌包括酸奶中的乳酸菌和双歧杆菌。
考克斯表示，研究表明在母乳喂养期间，母亲能够响应婴儿不断变化的微生物组需求。
“有一些研究表明，母亲可以对婴儿做出反应，如果她察觉到炎症，就能发出不同的信号，”考克斯说，“我们知道母乳含有多种不同成分，用以滋养婴儿的肠道微生物组。”
此外，最新研究显示，母亲早晨分泌的母乳与傍晚分泌的母乳成分不同，前者含有更高水平的激素，这些激素要么帮助婴儿保持清醒，要么帮助其入睡。
因此，用吸奶器吸奶的母亲可以为这两种不同的母乳贴上标签。
“例如，深夜分泌的母乳中含有更高水平的褪黑素——这种睡眠激素，”考克斯说，“而上午分泌的母乳中则含有更高水平的皮质醇——这种清醒激素。因此有一种观点认为，如果将这两种母乳分开，或许能让宝宝睡得更好。”
维生素B具有多项重要功能
考克斯表示，维生素B对我们的健康至关重要，因为它在人体内发挥着多种作用。
“它能调节免疫系统，”考克斯说，“支持大脑健康，并且与多种神经系统疾病存在关联。”
考克斯解释道，研究人员可以通过采集你的肠道微生物组样本并进行测序，来确定你的微生物组正在产生哪些化学物质，以及它是否可能是维生素B缺乏的根源。
“我们不仅想知道如何拥有一个普通的健康微生物组，还想了解你的微生物组缺乏什么，”考克斯说，“它在产生什么？这样我们就能以此维持所有物质的平衡。”
Norah O’Donnell: Secrets of the gut microbiome and how it impacts our long-term brain health
August 26, 2026 / 7:05 AM EDT / CBS News
I have always been interested in the idea of food as medicine, and the significant role our diets play in our long-term health. On the latest episode of “Healthful,” I sat down with Dr. Laura Cox, an assistant professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Cox is an expert on the gut microbiome and what it means for our neurological health.
The gut microbiome “is the trillions of microbial cells that live in our guts,” she explained, describing it as “a community of microbes that supports our health” by making vitamins, educating our body’s immune system and even protecting us from pathogens.
The gut microbiome can affect our brains by changing our immune systems and our metabolism, Cox said.
Her work also focuses on whether gut health is linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Here are some of the takeaways from our conversation —watch it on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcasts:
Can GLP1s help prevent Alzheimer’s disease?
According to Cox, researchers are learning more about the effects of GLP-1 drugs, which are used to treat diabetes or obesity, on our gut health.
“GLP-1s can affect the gut microbiome because they can act on the gut barrier and change some of the immune interactions,” Cox explained, adding that GLP-1 drugs can have a “direct effect on the brain.”
Researchers often refer to Alzheimer’s disease as “Type 3 diabetes” because of its link to insulin resistance.
“So the GLP-1 might have a direct protective effect in preventing Alzheimer’s disease,” Cox said. “Now in late stage, it doesn’t seem to have an effect. And it may be too late of an intervention there. But there may be a pathway for disease prevention very, very early on.”
The possible link between Parkinson’s, the gut and constipation
Gut inflammation is a “primary pathway” through which the gut microbiome can impact certain neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Cox said.
“Parkinson’s disease is one of those diseases with the most evidence that the gut microbiome is involved,” Cox said.
Neurological diseases have “different signatures,” she said, and research has found that “constipation symptoms can precede” the onset of Parkinson’s by 20 years.
Cox said alpha-synuclein, the misfolded proteins that cause Parkinson’s disease, can sometimes start in the gut and spread up the vagus nerve — the nerve that carries signals between your brain, heart and digestive system.
According to Cox, studies have shown that cutting the vagus nerve, a surgical procedure known as a vagotomy, can reduce the risk of Parkinson’s.
Parkinson’s patients can also have a “gut inflammatory signature” that looks similar to that of inflammatory bowel disease because of an overabundance of proteins called lipocalin and calprotectin, Cox said.
“One of the things that we understand about Parkinson’s is that oftentimes, there’s a genetic risk plus an environmental risk on top of it,” Cox said. “We know that there are many pathways to Parkinson’s. So there are other environmental toxicants that can lead to this. We think the gut microbiome is a really important pathway there.”
Morning and night breast milk have different hormones
During pregnancy, according to Cox, a mother’s gut microbiome changes to look like her baby’s microbiome.
“She gets higher levels of what I like to call baby bacteria,” Cox said, which include the yogurt bacteria Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.
And during breastfeeding, studies indicate a mother can respond to the changing microbiome needs of her baby, Cox said.
“There are some studies that suggest that the mom can kind of respond to the baby, and if she senses inflammation, she can kind of send out different signals,” Cox said. “We know that breast milk contains many different components to feed an infant’s gut microbiome.”
Furthermore, new research shows the breast milk a mother produces in the morning is different in composition than the breast milk produced at the end of day, containing higher levels of hormones designed to either help their infants stay awake or sleep.
So mothers who pump breast milk can label the two different types.
“For example, there’s higher levels of melatonin, the sleep hormone, in the late-night milk,” Cox said. “So then there’s higher levels of cortisol, the awake hormone, in the a.m. milk. And so the thought is, if you separate that, you might be able to get your baby to sleep better.”
Vitamin B serves several important functions
Cox said vitamin B is crucial to our health because it plays several roles in the body.
“It tunes the immune system,” Cox said. “It supports brain health. And it’s been linked to many different neurologic diseases.”
Cox explained that researchers can study a sample of your gut microbiome and sequence it to determine what chemicals your microbiome is producing and if it’s potentially the source of a vitamin B deficiency.
“We’re trying to say not just how can I have a generic healthy microbiome, but what is your microbiome lacking?” Cox said. “What is it producing? And so how can we keep everything in balance that way?”
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