Eating yoghurt daily may help boost mental health: Study

Yoghurt is not only good for your gut but could lift your mood as well according to a studyResearchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered how Lactobacillus a bacterium found in fermented foods and yoghurt helps the body manage stress and may help prevent depression and anxietyThe study published in the journal Brain Behavior and Immunity opens the door to new therapies to treat anxiety depression and other mental health conditionsThe discovery is notable because it pinpoints the role of Lactobacillus separating it from all the other microorganisms that naturally live in and on our bodies said Alban Gaultier researcher at the varsityOur discovery illuminates how gutresident Lactobacillus influences mood disorders by tuning the immune system said Gaultier from the varsitys Department of NeuroscienceOur research could pave the way toward discovering muchneeded therapeutics for anxiety and depressionThe team took an innovative approach to focus on Lactobacilli in specific Prior research from Gaultiers lab suggested that the bacteria could reverse depression in lab mice a hugely promising findingBut the researchers needed to understand howWe were aware from our prior research that Lactobacillus was beneficial in improving mood disorders and was lost following psychological stress but the underlying reasons remained unclear primarily due to the technical challenges associated with studying the microbiomeGaultier and his team decided to continue their depression research using a collection of bacteria known as Altered Schaedler Flora which includes two strains of Lactobacillus and six other bacterial strainsWith this rarely used bacterial community the team was able to create mice both with and without Lactobacillus circumventing the need for antibioticsThe results explain exactly how Lactobacilli influences behaviour and how a lack of the bacteria can worsen depression and anxietyLactobacilli in the family Lactobaccillacea maintain the levels of an immune mediator called interferon gamma that regulates the bodys response to stress and helps stave off depressionWith these results in hand we have new tools to optimise the development of probiotics which should speed up discoveries for novel therapies researcher Andrea R Merchak saidMost importantly we can now explore how maintaining a healthy level of Lactobacillus andor interferon gamma could be investigated to prevent and treat anxiety and depressionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever