You know what they say, “a healthy gut equals a healthy brain.” With so many studies to prove it, the gut really does play a significant role in brain health, specifically mental health.
There are millions of people who suffer from depression. Despite the available medications and therapies, a lot of experts are still exploring healthier alternatives to fight the mental disorder. Currently, it has led them to explore the benefits of probiotics.
What Are Probiotics?
Probiotics are good bacteria that exist in certain foods naturally, such as yogurt and kimchi. Today, individuals can get probiotics in pill or powder form. Probiotics are known to help improve digestive health and are often recommended for treating bloating or diarrhea.
Additionally, probiotics can also hone the body’s immune system, produce antimicrobial substances, and ferment fiber in a person’s diet to generate nutrients for the cells that line the intestines.
What’s the Link Between the Gut and the Brain?
Researchers have found evidence to suggest that the effects of bacteria in the gastrointestinal (GI) system can send signals to the central nervous system, which links the gut and the brain. This is why many mental illnesses, such as depression, are often associated with issues with the gut.
The Role of Probiotics in Treating Depression
A metastudy published between 2003 and 2019 that was carried out by researchers at Brighton and Sussex Medical School found that probiotics may help ease depression symptoms. The researchers collected 71 studies, with seven meeting all their criteria.
Twelve probiotic samples were featured in the chosen studies. All of them contained at least one probiotic strain, while four involved combinations of multiple strains. The studies varied widely, but all of them concluded that probiotic supplements might be linked to quantitative reductions in depression.
According to the researchers, this link could be due to the probiotics helping reduce the production of inflammatory chemicals. Another hypothesis is that the probiotics somehow affect tryptophan, which is a chemical believed to be essential in the gut-brain axis in mental disorders.
However, that doesn’t mean that the results could be long-lasting because none of the studies lasted very long, and the number of participants in each study was small. Therefore, the researchers couldn’t conclude that the effect of probiotics to treat depression is long-lasting and whether there were any unwanted side-effects when used for an extended period.
Nonetheless, probiotics really do help alleviate symptoms of depression, but it still requires further investigation.
According to Annadora J. Bruce-Keller, associate professor from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, “Many probiotics are Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) with relatively few adverse effects beyond mild stomach upset or diarrhea.”
In 2018, a team of Singaporean academicians gathered data from ten clinical trials to form a meta-analysis, and found “significant improvements in the moods of individuals with mild to moderate depressive symptoms and nonsignificant effects in healthy individuals.” None of these ten studies reported any side-effects of probiotics.
Conclusion
Probiotics seem to not only help with gut health, but they can also treat certain mental disorders, such as depression. Alleviating symptoms of depression is crucial to the recovery of an individual, and probiotics could help eliminate the need for consumption of antidepressants that have more significant side-effects.
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