☁️🍄 Issue No. 023: Gut Feelings

Good morning, and welcome back to another edition of Headlines, your weekly dispatch on all things mental health. Always a pleasure. 

This week, we’re exploring the intersection of mental and metabolic health. 👇

GUT FEELINGS

You are what you eat, as the saying goes.

Scientists are taking things one step further, now proclaiming you act what you eat. 

THE GUT-BRAIN AXIS

Often overlooked in mental health discussions, our gut health is closely tied to emotional well-being. Indeed, producing over 90% of the body’s serotonin and home to 100M+ nerve endings, it’s often referred to as our second brain. 

Several studies show that mental disorders are closely linked to changes in gut microbiota, and scientists have drawn associations between depression and gut bacteria.

Now, an emerging body of of research is digging into the connection between our bellies and our brain. 

• Last year, Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Chris Palmer published Brain Energy, which theorizes that “mental disorders are metabolic disorders of the brain.” 

• In 2019, Dr. Shebani Sethi founded Stanford Medicine’s Metabolic Psychiatry Clinic, focused on treating metabolic dysfunction to improve mental health outcomes. 

• Published in 2017, The Psychobiotic Revolution examines how the food we eat, particularly probiotics, affects our mood. 

READER, DIGEST

Beyond academia, consumers are increasingly drawing the connection as well.

• Over 64% of Gen Z eaters say they believe in the link between nutrition and the mind. 

• Nearly three-quarters of Americans say they believe their mental health and well-being are impacted by their food and beverage choices.

What’s more, they’re putting their money where their mouths are — a majority say they’re willing to pay a premium for healthier food options.

In other words, the science, interest, and dollars are steadily converging to fuel the mental health x metabolic health scene. Microbiome startups have raised over $1B in the past five years, and the global probiotics market is expected to cross $77B by 2025. 

Keen to capture demand, startups are setting the table: 

Planting seeds. Microbiome startup Seed Health, known for developing precision probiotics, raised $40M in 2021 and partnered with Axial Therapeutics last year to develop a probiotic targeting anxiety, depression, and stress. 

Custom made. Personalized nutrition program ZOE boasts nearly $80M in backing and leverages a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), stool kit, and more to custom-tailor a plan that helps users improve their metabolic health, mood, and more. 

Kall me maybe. Honing in on the gut-brain axis, Kallyope closed a $236M Series D last year and received an $8.2M grant this May from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

Dig in. With $12.4M in total funding, Digbi uses microbiome-based diagnostics to treat chronic conditions across mental health, cardio-metabolic health, and beyond. 

Holistic health. A 12-week program, Meru Health leverages prescribed nutrition among other holistic treatments, with 73% of participants showing clinically significant improvement after program completion. The company has secured over $50M to date.

Others include Holobiome, which partnered with consumer goods giant Unilever to identify food and drink ingredients that could improve mental well-being, and Vitract, a startup targeting mental illness with gut microbiome tech and personalized nutrition.

Elsewhere, glucose monitoring startups like Levels and January AI are going mainstream while Apple makes its own metabolic health moonshot. 

Over in the CPG space, pro/prebiotics are trending, from clinically proven fiber blends like Supergut to functional beverage brands like OLIPOP and Poppi. 

LOOKING AHEAD

One thing to note, food science can be a controversial field, notorious for its countless contradictions and mixed messages. 

At the core of controversy is a simple reality: It’s quite difficult to design accurate trials around food. For one, everyone’s gut microbiome is different, and everything from cultural factors to personal preferences can impact how people react to food, both physically and emotionally. 

Another issue, even personalized approaches to nutrition are relatively imprecise. While research connects foods rich in probiotics to reduced feelings of anxiety and depression, it’s hard to isolate specific bacteria strains and identify their effects on the body. 

Punchline: Not unlike the brain, the gut remains a scientific puzzle; but as researchers slowly put the pieces together, more and more are finding powerful ties between our metabolic and mental well-being. The future of holistic mental health treatments might give “spilling your guts” a whole new meaning. 

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QUICK HITS

• Tok talks. TikTok is forming a Youth Council to make the platform safer for teens. 

• On track. Psychedelic Alpha launches worldwide psychedelic laws tracker. 

• AI meditation. Ogimi enlists AI as a personalized mindfulness coach. 

• Downsize. Headspace lays off 181 employees in its second round of cuts. 

• Fine lines. Could botox help ease symptoms of depression? Some say yes.

• Cash crunch. Psychedelic renaissance pioneer MAPS is strapped for cash, offering $85M of private shares. 

• The name’s bond. Soul Tribes is launching the world’s first tax-exempt psychedelic bond. 

• Lucid dream tech. Prophetic AI plans device to induce and stabilize lucid dreams. 

NEWS & TRENDS

1) Breathe easy

Breathwork is steadily making a name for itself as a bonafide mental health treatment. In New York, Mayor Eric Adams recently announced that all public schools—from kindergarten to high school classes—will be required to offer two to five minutes of mindful breathing every day, starting next fall. 

Meanwhile, Freespira is pushing forward with its FDA-cleared breathing-based treatment for anxiety and panic disorders. And this week, it announced a partnership with government contractor Lovell to increase treatment access for veterans with PTSD. → Re-read: Issue No. 009: Breath Works

2) First draft

Last week, the FDA released guidance for psychedelic drug trials for the first time ever. The draft outlines considerations on trial conduct, data collection, subject safety, and more, and it notably coincided with the last day of MAPS’ Psychedelic Science 2023 conference. 

It’s a landmark move that paves the path for trials across the industry. To date, psychedelic research has been largely backed by private sponsors without a central codification of recommendations. This changes things. → Read more

DEALS & DEBUTS

📚 Author Health, a platform providing value-based care for Medicare Advantage members, launched this week with $115M in financing led by General Atlantic. → source

📐 Blueprint, a platform for mental health providers, announced a $9M Series A co-led by Ensemble VC and Lightbank. → source 

AvoMD, a no-code app built for combating clinician burnout, raised $5M in seed funding led by AlleyCorp.

→ source

👤 Heading, an insurance-based mental healthcare provider, closed $4.5M in a Series A extension round led by Gron Ventures and Jam Fund. → source

🍇 Berry Health, a startup looking to democratize access to mental, sexual, and skincare in Africa, closed $1.6M in a pre-seed round led by Lightspeed and General Catalyst.→ source

✨ Headspace, a meditation and mental health platform, teamed up with Virgin Pulse, an employer health tech company. → source

🦶 Stella, a trauma treatment provider, is expanding its footprint, acquiring several ketamine clinics from Field Trip Health.→ source, [Re-read: Issue No. 022: The Great Ketamine Comedown]

😌 Calm Health, the meditation app’s mental health offshoot, is tapping experts from Mayo Clinic to develop a cancer-specific mental health program. → source

🏥 Children’s Mercy Kansas City is partnering with KVC Health Systems to build a $53M 72-bed mental health inpatient hospital. → source

🗣️ Talkiatry, an in-network psychiatric care provider, is teaming up with Transact Campus, a college fintech platform, to bridge the campus mental health gap.  → source

🌸 Daiichi Sankyo, a Japanese pharma company, is sponsoring Australian biotech startup Psylo to develop novel non-hallucinogenic medicines for mental health. → source

🍽️ Filament Health, a clinical-stage psychedelic drug developer, is partnering with NeoLumina Bioscience to test a psilocybin-based drug for eating disorders.→ source

WHAT I’M READING

• Elon and beyond. Elon does ketamine, Sergey does shrooms. From entrepreneurs to executives, psychedelics are sweeping Silicon Valley. A look into the drugs that are “powering business breakthroughs.” → The Wall Street Journal

Hope you’re enjoying the holiday weekend! If you get the chance, don’t miss the summer supermoon tomorrow night. Supposed to be a bright one. 🌕

See you next Sunday,-Mel