(Important disclaimer: Some probiotics can make people with a condition called SIBO worse. Please talk to your doctor before taking any supplements, including probiotics).
The scientific literature is replete with studies, showing the mind-gut axis has a profound effect on our mental health.
Now a new study from the University of Basel, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, offers further evidence that supplementing antidepressants with probiotics can help alleviate depressive symptoms.
Neuroscience News has a great breakdown, but here’s the gist
Participants were divided into a group receiving antidepressants alone, and a group receiving antidepressants + probiotics.
Of course, participants didn’t know which group they were in.
Both groups felt better after four weeks (after all, both were now on antidepressants).
However, the group receiving antidepressants + probiotics experienced a greater reduction in depressive symptoms after four weeks than the group merely receiving antidepressants.
Neuroscience News notes: “In addition, the composition of their intestinal flora changed,” notably there was an increase in lactic acid bacteria in their stool samples.
Second… and fascinatingly:
As measured by MRI’s, the group taking antidepressants + probiotics experienced different brain activity when viewing neutral or fearful faces.
That suggests normalized emotional processing, which of course, is also another important factor in the depression equation.
Neuroscience News also reminds us of a previous study — one that Christians should really think about before they start to condemn depressives as lacking sufficient spirituality.
Researchers have found that when they inject the intestinal flora of depressed people into sterilized mice, the mice suddenly begin demonstrating depressive behaviors.
How on earth can you reconcile this with the “depression is spiritual” thing?
Mice are not spiritual beings, at last check, and yet when you inject them with depressive intestinal flora, they become depressed.
Does that mean these are not mice with faith?
Should we excoriate these little furry mammals for not praying enough or having the joy of the Lord?
“But maybe if you put the intestinal flora of people with poor spirituality, it will affect mice.”
I can already hear that, because spiritual fundamentalists won’t let go on this issue.
And I can already see myself nodding, and politely moving on because Proverbs has a lot to say about nodding and politely moving on.
Regardless, this is yet another powerful study on the mind-gut axis, but of course, like I said to begin this post, certain probiotics can make a condition called SIBO worse, so definitely talk to your doctor before taking any supplements.
[Photo: Pexels, free stock photography]
