In February 2019, researchers in Korea published a study in the scientific journal Nutrition, showing a connection between depression and probiotic consumption.
What did they study?
The researchers analyzed the health data of over 26,000 participants in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants ranged from 19 to 64 years old. During their research, they assessed probiotic food consumption and determined depression status of the participants. They then grouped participants into thirds, depending on consumption levels of probiotic.
What did they find?
What they discovered was that the third of participants who had higher consumption of probiotics (19 times per week on average) also had lower odds of depression severity and lower odds of self-reported depression, when compared to the third who consumed probiotics the least (4 times per week on average).
For male participants, there also seemed to be a lower prevalence of final diagnosis of depression by a clinician when the participant was in the third that consumed probiotics the most.
What are probiotic foods?
Probiotic foods are foods that contain microorganisms, which improve or restore gut flora, resulting in general overall health benefits.
In the case of this study, probiotics came in the form of fermented vegetables and fermented dairy foods. The research wasn’t any more specific than that. In Western diets, probiotics are typically found in such foods as yogurt, buttermilk, and sauerkraut.
This is one more study among a growing body of research showing a connection between what we eat and our mental health. Here at Truehope, we’ve been promoting nutrition as mental health treatment for over 20 years.
Probiotic supplements
Did you know that Truehope has a probiotic product? Truehope GreenBAC is a rich blend of the 8 bacteria our digestive tract needs most. What sets our probiotic formula apart from others is our comprehensive collection of prebiotic ingredients to help the bacteria thrive.