Whether COVID-19 has you sheltering-in-place, quarantining, or just frustrated by not being able to have your usual life, lots of people seem a little down in the dumps, grumpy, and yes, even “depressed”. The “life sucks now” feelings are real, but different from true clinical depression, which can happen for no observable reason.
Could “Bacteria” Improve Mood?
The right kind of bacteria – probiotics – just might help truly depressed people, even those who on antidepressant medication. This just-published study reviewed clinical research on the impact probiotic supplements had on people formally diagnosed with clinical depression.
Probiotics are what give Greek (& regular) yogurt that tangy taste.
Probiotics are live healthy bacteria, found in cultured foods like yogurt, kimchi, and kefir. These are different from PRE-biotics, which are various types of dietary fiber found in fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and beans. Prebiotic fiber feeds the growth of probiotic bacteria in the gut.
What The Results Showed
In the 7 studies that met the criteria for inclusion in the review, all found that probiotic supplementation “demonstrated a significant, quantitatively evident, decrease/improvement of symptoms and/or biochemically relevant measures of anxiety and/or depression for probiotic or combined prebiotic– probiotic use.” Whether the studies used one strain of probiotics or multiple strains, the results showed improvement in reducing depression symptoms.
Moreover, in one of the studies that also measured “quality of life”, it increased with supplementation but returned to baseline 8 weeks after the supplementation stopped.
Why Probiotics Helped
If something works, I always want to know WHY, and this paper suggests a mechanism for how probiotics might help depression.
The gut is known to be the center of our immune system, and when probiotics have been found to be useful, as they have with conditions like ulcerative colitis, it’s often because of their ability to reduce inflammation by suppressing the production of some annoying substances, called “cytokines”.
The gut also is known to connect with the brain via the “gut-brain axis”, part of the central nervous system, so “food and mood”, or the notion that what’s happening in one’s GI tract could impact one’s emotional state has weight behind it.
The “Fine Print”
It would be great to learn that just by having some yogurt, your mood would soar, but alas, reality must be acknowledged. These studies looked at persons with diagnosed, measurable depression. Those who got the probiotic supplements seemed to become less depressed, but those supplements contained higher doses of probiotics than you’d get from a cup of yogurt.
Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans & contains lots of probiotics, plus protein & fiber!
Probiotic foods and supplements may not be useful mood-boosters if you’re just having a down day, but there are plenty of reasons to eat foods that naturally contain probiotic bacteria, like these:
- Yogurt, including Greek yogurt
- Kefir
- Kombucha
- Tempeh
- Miso
- Kimchi
Look for “Live and Active Cultures” on yogurt and kefir labels, to be sure they contain useful amounts of probiotics.
“Live & active cultures” guarantees a high amount of probiotic bacteria.
These being dairy foods, they also have a whole lot of essential nutrients we need, especially calcium and potassium, to help fill gaps in most people’s diets.
The main ingredient in kimchi is cabbage, and it’s fermented soybeans in tempeh, so they both have PRE-biotic fiber, too. Heads up, if you’re sodium-sensitive: Miso and Kimchi can be loaded with sodium.
Is there a down side to getting probiotic bacteria? So far, there doesn’t seem to be, especially if you get them from food. Getting some probiotics daily though, gives you the most benefit, and the study found this as well: depression returned when the probiotics stopped.
Even if probiotic foods don’t lift your mood, you can definitely feel good about adding some healthy foods to your eating style!
