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Probiotics Alter Structural Integrity In The Brain, Reducing Depressive Episodes

YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
Messages
16,047
Location
Second star to the right ...
There’s a number of members, myself included, who believe that the gut microbiota play a part in ME, either in the illness itself, or in the various ways that it expresses in each of us, and the forms it takes.

Here’s a nifty little research study using probiotics that I think will be interesting even to those of us who don’t share that view …

Before we get too excited, with 32 participants crossing the finish line (14 probiotic, 18 placebo), this is a small study. But then, from tiny acorns do giant oak trees grow ….

Neuroimaging Supports Probiotic Add-on Intervention That Improves Patients’ Depressive Symptoms …. 03-03-23
https://neurosciencenews.com/probiotics-depression-22707/

  • The findings showed that when patients took their study treatment as prescribed, those in the probiotic group had fewer depressive symptoms than those in the placebo group.
  • Analysis of stool samples from the participants showed that probiotic-treated patients also had more Lactobacillus species in their gut microbiome than the placebo-treated patients, which was, in turn, associated with fewer depressive symptoms.
  • The researchers found that patients who received a placebo had the typical brain alterations associated with depression. In contrast, the people who took the probiotic had signs of preserved structural integrity and fewer signs of neurodegeneration.
 

ljimbo423

Senior Member
Messages
4,705
Location
United States, New Hampshire
Thought you might find this interesting JBo ...

It is really interesting how much influence the gut has in the body and brain. It's so very complicated and they still have far more to learn about this interaction then they already know.

Maybe at some point in the future, they'll be able to give probiotics to people for anxiety and depression, instead of benzo's and antidepressants. Wouldn't that be nice!
 

godlovesatrier

Senior Member
Messages
2,545
Location
United Kingdom
This could explain why I no longer have depression? I had mild depression for decades, but since started solaray24 strain (which has some inulin in it) I have barely had any at all (almost zero honestly). I thought it was the choline, but I stopped choline and it remained. So it makes sense that it's the probiotics really. I went through a period where I didn't take much at all, so I am pretty confident, as I kept taking these the entire time.