Summary: In a new study using rat models, researchers report adding a certain lactic acid bacteria to the diet can help to prevent a type of depression linked to an unhealthy lifestyle.
Source: Aarhus University.
New research suggests that the micro-organisms known as probiotics, which are normally providing health benefits in the intestines, also have an affect on the brain, or as an actual study at Aarhus University has shown; protect against depression.
In the animal study at the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University, rats were fed with an extra fatty and fiberless compound feed. Some of the rats simultaneously received a mix of micro-organisms, mostly in the form of lactic acid bacteria, in their drinking water. While the rats that lived solely on the fatty diet developed behaviour similar to depression, the rats receiving the probiotics-enriched drinking water remained neutral in their behaviour.
In other words, the probiotics offset the consequences of the unhealthy diet, explains medical doctor and PhD Anders Abildgaard. As part of his PhD dissertation, he has investigated the effect of probiotics in combination with an unhealthy diet.
The study has been published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
The rats that did not receive probiotics turned out to have an increased number of white blood cells in their brain tissues, which can be a sign of chronic inflammation and is also seen in the fatty tissues and liver of people who are overweight and in diabetics. The researchers did not find the elevated amounts of white blood cells in the brains of the rats with probiotics in their drinking water.
