Eating Yogurt May Curb Symptoms Of Depression Naturally

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Mar, 2017 ) : A recent study suggests eating yogurt can help ease the symptoms of depression. According to researchers, depression is one of the major mental diseases affecting millions of people today and across different age groups,a private news channel reported.

The study done by University of Virginia in the US, eating yogurt rich in lactobacillus, which is a kind of probiotic bacteria, may help alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety. In the study, conducted on mice, the researchers have discovered a specific mechanism for how the lactobacillus bacteria affect mood, providing a direct link between the health of the gut microbiome and mental health.

For the study, the team induced depression symptoms in mice to analyse their composition of the gut microbiome and found that the major change was the loss of lactobacillus.

With the loss of lactobacillus came the onset of depression symptoms.

Conversely, feeding the mice lactobacillus with their food returned them to almost normal, the researchers said. "A single strain of lactobacillus, is able to influence mood," Gaultier observed.

In addition, the study found that the amount of lactobacillus in the gut affects the level of a metabolite in the blood called kynurenine which has been shown to drive depression. When lactobacillus was diminished in the gut, the levels of kynurenine went up and depression symptoms set in.

While there is no harm in people with depression eating yogurt, people receiving treatment for depression should not stop taking their medications without consulting their physicians, the researchers suggested.