In a new study from the University of Surrey, researchers examined whether the daily consumption of a prebiotic food supplement could improve overall wellbeing.
They found that those who received a daily dose of prebiotics improved mental wellbeing by reducing anxiety levels and had better gut health than the control group.
In the study, the team tested a group of 64 healthy female participants with no current or previous clinical diagnoses of anxiety.
Participants received either a daily dose of the prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) or a placebo for 28 days.
All those involved in the trial completed surveys about their health experiences, including mood, anxiety and sleep quality and provided a stool sample for gut microbiome sequencing analysis.
The team found the people who took a daily dose of the prebiotics supplement had better mental wellbeing. Their anxiety levels were lower and their gut health was better.
The findings suggest that researchers can use a simple and safe food supplement such as prebiotics to improve both the abundance of beneficial gut bacteria in the gut and to improve mental health and wellbeing.
If you care about anxiety, please read studies about this single brain region links depression, anxiety, and heart disease and findings of depression, but not anxiety, is linked to inflammation.
For more information about anxiety and your health, please see recent studies about a new treatment for depression, anxiety and results showing a major cause of social anxiety disorder.
The study is published in Scientific Reports. One author of the study is Dr Kathrin Cohen Kadosh.
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