Probiotic in yogurt may improve depressive symptoms

The last few years have shown the incredible importance of the right gut bacteria. The correct gut microflora is essential to normal and healthy bowel movements, but recently as the researchers have been researching gut bacteria more vigorously have found that it helps with normal functioning of the nervous system, and in a recent paper, lead author Alban Gaultier from University of Virginia school of medicine in Charlottesville, Virginia has found that even one strain of bacteria, lactobaccilus in yogurt is enough to alter mood, and in mice it reversed symptoms of depression!

Lactobacillus is a strain of friendly gut bacteria found in live cultures of yogurt. They found yogurt alone with this one strain of bacteria was enough to reverse depressive symptoms in mice!

There clearly is a link between the microbiome of the gut and the health of the mind!

I dare to say that it will be found, sooner vs later, that correct gut microbiome helps to increase fertility and even helps with a more robust immune system.

 

To find out what the mechanism is, they took two groups of mice and exposed them to chronic stress. What they found was that the level of kynurenin, which has been known to cause depression while the levels of Lactobaccilus in the gut goes down! With the loss of lactobaccilus, comes depression.

Tryptophan, which is an amino acid and a precursor to serotonin, the feel good neurotransmitter in the brain, is converted to kynurenin (KYN) by the liver during times of stress. KYN is inflammatory, and can cross the blood-brain barrier. Inflammation in the brain correlates with higher levels of depression and schizophrenia; KYN contributes to brain inflammation. Raising Lactobaccilus reduced kynurenin and helped with depressive symptoms.

“The big hope for this kind of research is that we won’t need to bother with complex drugs and side effects when we can just play with the microbiome. It would be magical just to change your diet, to change the bacteria you take, and fix your health ― and your mood,” says the author.

 

Far eastern philosophies of health and wellness has been well aware of the importance of diet in overall health for millenia.

additional references:  https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/diet-and-depression-2018022213309