Probiotics for anxiety/depression?

Okay, if you haven’t heard all the fanfare for probiotics from watching TV commercials, visiting your local grocery store, or even reading my blog posts, then you might be asking yourself, what are probiotics?  As I’ve previously posted, probiotics are essentially dietary supplements or functional foods that contain potentially beneficial bacteria or yeast.

Research suggests that probiotics may have beneficial effects at preventing traveler’s diarrhea, treating allergic rhinitis, and reducing gastrointestinal symptoms.  Recently, Canadian researchers from Toronto, published a study in the journal, Gut Pathogens, on the effects of probiotic cultures on the emotional symptoms in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Rao et al, 2009).  Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a complex illness with no clearly understood etiology or specific cause.  Emotional symptoms of CFS are most commonly of an anxiety nature.

Patients with CFS in this study were randomized to receive 24 billion colony forming units of Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) or placebo daily for 2 months.  Researchers found a signiciant rise in both Lactobacillus casei as well as bifidobacteria in the stools of the intervention group.  Additionally, the researchers found a significant decline in anxiety symptoms (Beck Anxiety Inventory) in those taking LcS (p=0.01).

• In patients with CFS, supplementation with Lactobacillus casei strain Shirtoa for 2 months, resulted in statisically signicant reduction in anxiety symptoms.

Reference:

Rao AV, Bested AC, Beaulne TM, Katzman MA, Iorio C, Berardi JM, Logan AC.  A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study of a probiotic in emotional symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome.  Gut Pathog. 2009 Mar 19;1(1):6.