Science and Technology Daily reporter Liu Xia
Irish APC Microbiome Research Institute team members published a paper in the latest issue of Molecular Psychiatry, saying that people's diet may also be an effective way to deal with stress - their latest research shows that eating more fermented foods and cellulose-rich foods every day in just 4 weeks will have a significant effect on reducing stress levels.
Source: Physicist Organization Network
Over the past decade, more and more studies have shown that diet can have a huge impact on people's mental health. In fact, a healthy diet can even reduce the risk of many common mental illnesses. In addition, previous studies have shown that stress and behavior are also related to people’s microbiome, but to date it is unclear whether changing diet (and microbiome) will have a significant impact on stress levels.
In the latest study, scientists recruited 45 healthy volunteers aged 18-59 and relatively low dietary fiber content in their diet, more than half of whom were women. They were divided into two groups, one of which was assigned a diet designed by nutritionist to increase their intake of prebiotics and fermented foods, called "Psychobiotics" because it brings mental health to the eaters. Volunteers need to eat 6-8 servings of fruits and vegetables rich in probiotic fiber (such as onions, leeks, cabbage, apples, bananas and oats), 5-8 servings of cereals, 3-4 servings of beans a week, and 2-3 servings of fermented foods (such as sauerkraut, appetizers and black tea) every day. The control group only follows the general dietary recommendations based on the healthy diet pyramid. The study lasted 4 weeks.
study results showed that participants who followed the "psychoprobiotic" diet felt less stressed, and those who ate more "psychoprobiotics" had the largest drop in stress levels compared with the control group. Both groups of people improved their sleep quality, but the "mental probiotic" group improved significantly.
researchers explained that they found that the levels of certain key chemicals produced by gut microorganisms have changed significantly, some of which are related to mental health, which may explain why the "psychoprobiotic" group feels less stressed.
However, they also emphasized that although the latest research results show that specific diets can reduce stress levels, the sample size is small and the study duration is short, and it is not clear how long the above improvement will last, so long-term research is still needed.
Source: Science and Technology Daily
Editor: Shen Wei (internship)
Review: Yue Liang
