Antidepressant Probiotics: Can Gut Changes Really Affect Psychiatric Health?

Scientists studying probiotics as natural antidepressants and their effects on overall psychiatric health are finding the good bacteria in your gut may be good for your brain, too.

Prescription antidepressants cause a variety of side effects, so researchers are looking to ancient practice to determine if probiotics in the gut affect psychiatric health.

ALERT: Weird Gut Bacteria Linked to Digestion, Heart, Obesity, Brain Problems

A study published in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology found that traditional dietary practices of fermented and natural foods lowered lipopolysaccharide endotoxin (LPS) levels by 38 percent, which is significant because "even relatively small elevations in systemic LPS levels have been shown to provoke depressive symptoms and disturb blood glucose control," the study says.

Separate studies conducted on "germ free" mice found that when injected with the probiotic microbe Bifidobacterium infantis, they had less of the hormone produced by stress.

The study, conducted by the Center for Neurobiology of Stress at UCLA and reported by Scientific American, linked how stress in the brain could be affected by the use of probiotic treatments. The decrease in the stress hormone found in this study began additional research working to link gut health and probiotics to psychiatric health.

SPECIAL: Doctor: You Can Stop Digestion Woes, Heartburn, Gas, Constipation, More

Another study conducted by the National Institutes of Health found that certain probiotics, specifically Lactobacillus rhamnosus, can deliver serotonin and other neuroactive substances. The evaluation of data collected from rodents says certain psychobiotics have antidepressant and anxiolytic qualities. (The study of how probiotics affect our brains and chemical makeup has morphed into a new branch of study called psychobiotics.)

“Evidence is emerging of benefits in alleviating symptoms of depression and in chrnoic fatigue syndrome,” the National Institutes of Health noted.

Bacteria linked to the gut and also to probiotics (in foods like yogurt) help make up important brain neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. While research seems to show these neurotransmitters help decrease stress hormones, fight depression, and assist in overall psychiatric health, more study is needed.

Doctor: Not All Probiotics Are the Same, Some Are Dangerous! Read More Here

Related Stories:

• Probiotics and Weight Loss: 4 Types for a Flatter Stomach
  
• Psychiatric Probiotics: 5 Types of Probiotics for Better Mental Heath