Overview: Adding fermented foods and fiber to your daily diet for four weeks can make a big difference in reducing stress.
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When it comes to dealing with stress, we are often told that the best thing we can do is exercise, make time for activities we love, or try meditation or mindfulness.
But according to research published by myself and other members of APC Microbiome Ireland, the type of food we eat may also be an effective way to deal with stress. , showed that eating more fermented foods and fiber each day had a significant effect on lowering perceived stress levels.
Over the past decade, a growing body of research has shown that diet can have a significant impact on mental health. In fact, a healthy diet may even reduce the risk of many common mental illnesses.
The mechanisms underpinning dietary effects on mental health are not yet fully understood. But his one explanation for this connection may be due to the relationship between our brains and the microbiome — the trillions of bacteria that live in our gut.
Known as the gut-brain axis, this axis ensures that the brain and gut are in constant communication with each other, allowing important bodily functions such as digestion and appetite to occur. It also means that the emotional and cognitive centers of our brain are closely connected to the gut.
Previous studies have shown that stress and behavior are also linked to the microbiome, but it is not clear so far whether dietary changes (and thus the microbiome) have a distinct effect on stress levels. There was not.
This is what our research seeks to do. To test this, he recruited her 45 healthy people aged 18 to 59 who were on a relatively low-fiber diet. More than half were women. Participants were divided into her two groups and randomly assigned diets that followed the 4-week study period.
About half were assigned a diet devised by nutritionist Dr Kirsten Barding, which increased their intake of prebiotics and fermented foods.This included foods associated with better mental health. This is why it is known as the “psychobiotic” diet.
The group received one-on-one educational sessions with a nutritionist at the beginning and midway through the study. They should consume 6-8 servings of fruits and vegetables, 5-8 servings of grains, 3-4 servings of grains daily, which are high in prebiotic fiber (onions, chives, cabbage, apples, bananas, oats, etc.). Servings of legumes per week.
They were also told to include two to three servings of fermented foods (such as sauerkraut, kefir, and kombucha) daily. I received only
less stress
Interestingly, those on the psychobiotic diet reported less stress than those on the control diet.
There was also a direct correlation between how closely participants followed their diet and their perceived stress levels, with those who ate more psychobiotic foods over the 4-week period reported the greatest reduction in stress levels.
Interestingly, both groups improved their sleep quality, but the group following the psychobiotic diet reported greater improvement in sleep. Other studies have also shown that gut microbes are involved in the sleep process, which may explain this link.
Psychobiotic diets have only resulted in subtle changes in the composition and function of gut microbes. Some of these chemicals are associated with mental health, which may explain why dieting participants reported reduced stress.
See also
Our results suggest that specific diets can be used to reduce perceived stress levels. This kind of diet also helps protect your mental health in the long run as it targets the microbes in your gut.
While these results are encouraging, our research is not without limitations. First, the pandemic has limited recruitment, resulting in a small sample size. Therefore, long-term studies are needed.
Third, participants recorded their daily diet, but this form of measurement can be susceptible to error and bias, especially when estimating food intake. I did my best not to know which group I was assigned to, but I could have guessed based on the nutritional advice I was given. You may have given
Finally, our study only looked at people who were already healthy. increase.
Still, our study provides exciting evidence that an effective way to reduce stress may be through diet. It will be interesting to know if it can be replicated in people suffering from the disorder.It also adds further evidence to this area of research, showing evidence of links between diet, the microbiome, and mental health.
The next time you feel particularly stressed, think more carefully about what you eat for lunch or dinner. Including more fiber and fermented foods for a few weeks may help reduce stress a bit.
Funding: John Cryan has received funding from the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI), the Irish Research Council and the Health Research Commission. He is also funded by the Saks-Kavanaugh Foundation. The authors have received research funding, have served as consultants, and are affiliated with food and pharmaceutical speaker stations in the microbiome, food and neuroscience fields.
About this Stress and Diet Research News
author: John Cryan
sauce: conversation
contact: John Cryan – Conversation
image: image is public domain
