Some bacteria are bad, but "good bacteria," the kind found in foods like yogurt, have rightfully earned some time in the spotlight. Beyond the benefits good bacteria, or probiotics, can play in our digestive and immune systems, these same organisms may actually be able to lift our spirits when we're feeling down.Research has found that there's a lot of communication that takes place between our gut and our brain, and some of this interaction may benefit emotional health. Supporting this theory is a study done a few years ago on mice. Some of the mice were fed a common probiotic, Lactobacillus rhamnosus. Behavioral changes were observed, and they found that animals fed the lactobacillus were a lot less anxious than mice not fed the probiotic.
Is the same true for humans? It could be.
A recent study conducted by Leiden University in the Netherlands analyzed 40 healthy people. One group took a probiotic containing a mix of eight bacteria strains for one month. The other 20 people received a placebo.
All 40 participants filled out questionnaires at the beginning and conclusion of the study. They were asked questions such as "When I am in a sad mood, I think how my life could be different" and "When I am down, I more often feel overwhelmed by things."
Participants taking the probiotics answered the questions differently at the end of the study than they had at the beginning. They expressed less aggressive and pensive thoughts, and they seemed less reactive to negative thoughts and feelings than the participants taking the placebo.
Similarly, research done at the University of California found that women who ate yogurt containing live bacterial cultures twice a day for one month had less activity in the part of the brain that handles sensory information, cognition and emotion when doing an emotional task. The women who ate a nonprobiotic yogurt or no dairy at all showed either no change or elevated brain activity during the emotional task.
More research needs to be done, but it appears that a trip to the dairy aisle for a big bowl of yogurt with probiotics might be just the ticket to lifting your mood on a regular basis.
