How eating the correct breakfast may reduce worry, sadness, and tension

You might not believe that diet matters when it has to do with managing anxiety, sadness, or stress.

However, recent studies indicate that your favorite breakfast item and your stomach may hold the secret to improved mental health.

Researchers at the College of Virginia Faculty of Medicine have discovered that lactobacillus, a bacteria present in fermented foods and yogurt, may aid with stress management and the prevention of anxiety and depression.

The team, led by UVA professor Alban Gaultier, claimed that the results open up new avenues for the treatment of mental health issues.

The research, which used mice, appeared in the scientific journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

Thousands of bacteria, known as the microbiota, inhabit our bodies and are essential to our overall health and wellbeing. This includes the microbiota in our stomachs.

According to the UVA team, "disruptions" to the microbiota, whether resulting from sickness, an unhealthful diet, or other factors, facilitate the development of several illnesses, including cancer.

This indicates that in an effort to combat illness and promote health, scientists are now turning more and more to the stomach.

The relationship between gut microbes and mental health is also a topic of investigation.

With earlier studies indicating that the bacteria may be able to alleviate depression in lab animals, Dr. Gaultier and his colleagues set out to isolate Lactobacillus from different microorganisms in the stomach in order to ascertain its function.

Nowadays, new studies are trying to figure out how.

"We knew from previous studies that Lactobacillus helped with mood disorders and disappeared after psychological stress, although the root causes were not clear, mainly because of the technical difficulties involved in researching the microbiome," stated Dr. Gaultier.

The group employed a pair of strains of Lacto and six additional bacterial strains from a group of bacteria known as Modified Schaedler Flora.

The researchers employed mice whose guts contained Lactobacillus or did not.

Through behavioral assessments and exposure to various stressors such as damp bedding or a slanted cage, scientists discovered that mice lacking the microorganisms exhibited increased indications of anxiety and despair.

And they discovered that all it took to cause anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in mice was to transfer the gut microbiota from stressed animals to germ-free mice.

Researchers discovered that lactobacilli can sustain the body's levels of interferon gamma, an immunological mediator that controls the body's reaction to stress and helps prevent depression.  

"Our study may open the door to the development of desperately needed treatments for depression and anxiety."

Although the results do not prove that eating yogurt may help individuals get over their despair or anxiety, they do point to the possibility that the bacteria present in this common breakfast food may one day be employed as a tool to treat mental health issues.

However, having a bowl of the high-protein dairy for breakfast couldn't be a worse option.

Break your fast with the yogurt might help make you feel full for more time and avoid a blood sugar rise later in the day, according to sports nutritionist Jess Hillard of Warrior. 

Meanwhile, consuming fermented dairy products, such as yogurt, may reduce your chance of developing lung cancer, according to Oregon State University experts.