Functional medicine depressionIn a recent study published last week in Brain, Behavior and Immunity researchers found that multispecies probiotics had an effect on mood after four weeks of supplementation.

Hippocrates stated, “all disease begins in the gut” and there is more and more evidence and research that supports this. There is definitely a gut-brain relationship between nutrition and the gut microbiome and how they support brain health and function.

The relationship between probiotics and mood

Probiotics are essential in improving digestion and immune function. In this study researchers investigated whether the administration of a multispecies (containing Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus salivarius, and Lactococcus lactis) probiotic had an effect on rumination (i.e., recurrent thoughts about possible causes and consequences of one’s distress). Rumination is one of the most predictive vulnerability markers of depression” says Steenbergen. “Persistent ruminative thoughts often precede and predict episodes of depression.”

This study was blind at three levels (group allocator, participants, outcome assessor), placebo-controlled, randomized, pre- and post-intervention assessment design was used to investigate the effect of multispecies probiotic intervention on cognitive reactivity to sad mood, as well as reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. Researchers had 40 participants take a sachet each day. Half of the people received a placebo powder, while the other half received a muiltispecies probiotic mixture. Participants came to the lab twice: once at the beginning of the study and four weeks later. In both occasions they were required to fill out a questionnaire indexing sensitivity (cognitive reactivity) to depression.

Results

Participants who received the multispecies probiotics showed significantly reduced ruminative thoughts compared to the participants who received the placebo powder. These results provide the first evidence that probiotics may help reduce negative thoughts associated with sad mood. In addition, this provides information on a cognitive mechanism that may be responsible for the positive mood effects of probiotic supplementation. Probiotic supplementation may serve as adjuvant or preventive therapy for depression.

Source: Laura Steenbergen, Roberta Sellaro, Saskia van Hemert, Jos A. Bosch, Lorenza S. Colzato. A randomized controlled trial to test the effect of multispecies probiotics on cognitive reactivity to sad mood. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 2015; DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2015.04.003

Sharing is caring!