Keeping your gut in good health may be key as it can affect your personality as well as regulate energy levels, finds a study.

The study led by researchers from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, showed that gut bacteria which are responsible for breakdown of food, and metabolomic pathways can influence a person’s energy levels, fatigue, and their day-to-day personality, Daily Mail reported.

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The team found that certain, distinct, bacteria were strongly associated with one of four defined personality traits a person could hold.

Although a gut microbiome does not often change, taking antibiotics or another drug that can alter the body’s bacteria may be able to change a person’s demeanour as a result.

“These new findings support previous studies which reported that feelings of energy are associated with metabolic processes, while feelings of fatigue are associated with inflammatory processes,” lead researcher Dr Ali Boolani, a physical therapy professor at Clarkson, said in a statement.

“Since we are still learning about the gut microbiome, we don’t know whether if we try to change our personality trait, we might see a change in gut microbiome; or if we try to change our gut microbiome, we might also change our personality trait,” Boolani said.

For the study, published in the journal Nutrients, the team gathered data from 20 participants, the report said.

Each of the participants were screened to make sure they had not recently used a medicine that would effect their microbiome. Using stool samples, researchers investigated the levels of different bacteria in each of the participants.

They were also surveyed on four traits the Boolani believes are the base of a person’s personality: mental energy, mental fatigue, physical energy, and physical fatigue.

Researchers found strong correlation between certain traits and certain bacteria found in each person’s microbiome.

While the sample size of the study is relatively small, Boolani is hopeful that these findings could be a stepping stone for future investigation into how a person’s mood can be affected by their gut, the report said.