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Sep 23, 2014 · Two years later, scientists at UCLA found that healthy women who ate yogurt twice a day showed changes in the parts of the brain that process emotion. Now, Cryan and others have put forth a ...
- Overview
- Does yogurt help anxiety and depression?
- What is the most effective mental health treatment?
- What foods are good for anxiety and depression?
- Takeaway
•A new study in mice has found that the bacterium Lactobacillus helps the body manage stress, potentially preventing the onset of mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.
•The results could pave the way for new therapies to treat anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions.
•Experts say these findings support a growing body of evidence on the relationship between the gut and brain, and the impact diet has on our mental health.
•However Lactobacillus should not be considered a substitute for mental health treatment.
Mental health is complex, but new research suggests that a bacteria found in fermented foods and yogurt may help prevent depression and anxiety.
Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered that the bacterium Lactobacillus helps the body manage stress, potentially preventing the onset of mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.
Sas Parsad, nutritionist at The Gut Co said this study adds “valuable insights” to the connection between gut health and mental well-being, a growing area of interest in the field of nutrition.
“The fact that Lactobacillus, commonly found in fermented foods and yogurt, is linked to stress management and potential prevention of depression and anxiety opens up exciting possibilities for holistic approaches to mental health,” he noted.
Dr. Bankole Johnson, neuroscientist and founder of Casa Privée in Miami, agreed. He said this study highlights the role of gut microbes on stress and anxiety and in turn, how diet affects our mental well-being.
“Microbiota influences brain signaling, so changes in microbiota alter brain stimulation. This is an important effect and suggests that we really may be what we eat,” he said.
Lactobacillus’s role in supporting mental health can be attributed to its impact on the gut-brain axis, said Parsad.
“The gut is often called the “second brain” due to the bidirectional communication between the gut and the central nervous system,” he explained.
Of course, it would be unwise to suggest that simply getting more Lactobacillus into your diet could be a catch-all prevention tactic for mental health problems.
Eating a healthier diet can certainly improve your mental health and impact how you respond to stress, but Lactobacillus is not a substitute for treatment. Rather, it can complement it.
“These findings could revolutionize mental health treatments in that they suggest that incorporating dietary considerations, including Lactobacillus-rich foods, might become a complementary strategy for managing stress, depression, and anxiety,” Parsad noted.
Parsad said this holistic, complementary approach aligns with the emerging understanding that mental and physical health are interconnected. It, therefore, emphasizes the importance of a well-balanced diet for overall well-being.
The key word there is ‘holistic,’ and it’s important to remember that many physical and emotional experiences can contribute to a decline in mental health.
How mentally well we feel can be impacted by everything from experiencing childhood trauma or social disadvantage to genetics, age, lifestyle, and much more.
If diet is one area in which you want to improve, then Parsad recommended increasing your intake of Lactobacillus by incorporating fermented foods into your diet, such as:
•yogurt
•kefir
•sauerkraut
•kimchi
•pickles
The findings of this study in mice add weight to the idea that the foods we eat can contribute to our mental well-being.
They suggest that a bacteria like Lactobacillus may improve resilience to stress, potentially lowering the risk of developing a mental health condition like depression and anxiety.
- Victoria Stokes
May 30, 2013 · Perhaps yogurt could help.) Tasks like that are a measurement of activity in certain brain regions, and similar links have been found between gut changes and emotion recognition in animals, so ...
- Colin Lecher
Dec 6, 2023 · Hilbert noted out that “these findings can help researchers and scientists better develop therapies and probiotics for mood disorders, something that has eluded the scientific community and has ...
Dec 3, 2023 · Their research has identified how this bacterium, found in fermented foods and yogurt, influences mood disorders by regulating the immune system. Researchers have uncovered the crucial role of Lactobacillus in stress management and the potential prevention of depression and anxiety, paving the way for new probiotic-based treatments for mental health conditions.
May 28, 2013 · UCLA researchers now have the first evidence that bacteria ingested in food can affect brain function in humans. In an early proof-of-concept study of healthy women, they found that women who regularly consumed beneficial bacteria known as probiotics through yogurt showed altered brain function, both while in a resting state and in response to an emotion-recognition task.
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Dec 16, 2015 · Specifically, the researchers found that the bacteria in yogurt may help relieve anxiety and stress by reducing activity in the insula, the region of the brain responsible for emotion.
