New Research Shows That Probiotics Can Help Alleviate Depression:
In their new study, the researchers led by Dr. André Schmidt and Professor Undine Lang systematically investigated the effects of probiotics on patients with depression. All participants were inpatients at the University Psychiatric Clinics Basel (UPK) and were given a probiotic (21 subjects) or a placebo (26 subjects) for 31 days, in addition to antidepressants. Neither the participants nor the study staff knew which preparation the subjects were taking throughout the study period. The researchers carried out a series of tests on the participants immediately before treatment, at the end of the 31 days and again four weeks later.
The subsequent analysis showed that although depressive symptoms decreased in all participants thanks to the general antidepressant treatment, there was a greater improvement in the subjects in the probiotic group than in the placebo group.
In addition, the composition of their intestinal flora changed, at least temporarily: in the probiotic group, an analysis of stool samples revealed an increase in lactic bacteria at the end of treatment – an effect that was accompanied by a reduction in depressive symptoms. However, the level of these health-promoting gut bacteria decreased again over the following four weeks. "It may be that four weeks of treatment is not long enough and that it takes longer for the new composition of the intestinal flora to stabilize," explains Anna-Chiara Schaub, one of the lead authors of the study.Change in the processing of emotional stimuli
Another interesting effect of taking probiotics was seen in relation to brain activity when viewing neutral or fearful faces. The researchers investigated this effect using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In patients with depression, certain brain regions for emotional processing behave differently than in individuals with good mental health. After four weeks of probiotics, this brain activity normalized in the probiotic group but not in the placebo group.
Journal Reference:
Schaub, Anna-Chiara, Schneider, Else, Vazquez-Castellanos, Jorge F., et al. Clinical, gut microbial and neural effects of a probiotic add-on therapy in depressed patients: a randomized controlled trial [open], Translational Psychiatry (DOI: 10.1038/s41398-022-01977-z)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @11:55AM (3 children)
...people who eat well, have a good gut biom, ergo can weather life's little surprises when depression comes to roost.
Who would have figured, making better life choices leads to better psi?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Monday June 13 2022, @01:30PM (1 child)
Could someone not be eating right because they are depressed?
It is a vicious triangle.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday June 13 2022, @08:00PM
Possibly. I'd more suspect the starting input into that kind of depression <-> gut biome feedback loop is situational [archives.gov], though.
(Score: 2) by TrentDavey on Monday June 13 2022, @06:38PM
What are you talking about?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by cykros on Monday June 13 2022, @12:44PM
Given the way that candida and other problematic gut flora overgrowths have been seen to affect the brain, this should be no surprise, but it is nice to see that there's some focus being placed on it for addressing the issue. For those not aware, things that spur on candida overgrowth include: sugar, preservatives, alcohol, processed carbohydrates, and artificial sweeteners, to name a few. Candida in turn causes you to crave such things, given the way it acts on the brain, and this vicious cycle results in it taking resources from the more helpful gut flora. Most of those things also in turn do problematic things such as deplete B vitamin levels, throw one's insulin situation into a state of chaos, and generally just further the downward spiral into poor health.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @06:02PM
... hence ignore.
Ref fig. 1
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday June 13 2022, @08:19PM
I've mentioned this before -- it would seem to make sense that the evening after completing a course of antibiotics, you might want to take some probiotics on an empty stomach and let them repopulate the gut overnight and the next morning. That way any probiotics (or maybe even encapsulated bacteria) could colonize the gut with the desired bacterial population from a clean slate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @05:58AM (1 child)
This isn't new. I don't remember the Doctor's name, but someone else figured this out some years ago. The guy created his own probiotic supplement which was effective for a lot of people. A larger food company bought the probiotic company then gutted the amount of cultures in it to save costs. Now the supplement isn't really effective but it's still marketed with all the original healing claims and research. I don't remember the exact supplement formula nor company. It might be Garden of Life Mood+.
Other researched and usable cures/improvements for depression that everyone ignores:
1) Magnesium supplements. Take for 2-3 weeks. Unsure if benefits come from missing nutrition and/or from anti-inflammation properties. The meta-survey of related research papers recommended magnesium as the first treatment option for depression due to it's low cost, ease of treatment, lack of negative side effects, speed of effect, and effectiveness. No one promotes this treatment so few realize it exists.
2) An anti-inflammation, elimination diet (carnivore is best but others exist). The point is to remove all sources of inflammation from your diet, stay that way for a few weeks, then you can add foods back in one at a time and see how you feel after each one. You'll get depression improvements within around 2 weeks. Personally it cured my 16 years of clinical depression and I know that's not a placebo effect because I was doing the diet for other reasons and had no idea your diet could affect your mood so much. Many others have had similar experiences.
If you still believe the neurotransmitter imbalance theory of depression then your knowledge is decades out of date. That was debunked long ago (but it makes easy to understand ads that don't blame the victim). The latest research is focusing on inflammation (use an elimination diet) and glucose issues (use a ketogenic diet and/or MCT Oil). Or you can wait around for another 7 years until someone is able to produce a pill which triggers the same bio-mechanics as those diets trigger. The choice is yours.
For those who want citations, use Google Scholar. They aren't hard to find, you just have to know to look for them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @01:19PM
An enema of the people [washingtonpost.com]
Is, of course, about John Harvey Kellogg 1852-1943 [museumofquackery.com]