Fermented Foods Can Reduce Anxiety

[Cort]

Another example of how probiotics and the gut flora can affect many issues including mood. I think I'd better start loading up on fermented foods. I don't have the kind of anxiety they have but "anxiety" certainly is a part of my ME/CFS. They belief the probiotics may be increasing GABA levels in the brain.

‘It is likely that the probiotics (friendly bacteria) in the fermented foods are favourably changing the environment in the gut, and changes in the gut in turn influence social anxiety,’

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Eating fermented foods like pickles, yoghurt, and even some types of dark chocolate could help treat extreme shyness, according to a study.
People who ate more of these foods had fewer symptoms of social anxiety, the researchers found.

‘It is likely that the probiotics (friendly bacteria) in the fermented foods are favourably changing the environment in the gut, and changes in the gut in turn influence social anxiety,’ said the researchers from the University of Maryland and the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

Social anxiety – also known as social phobia – is a persistent and overwhelming fear of social situations, and is one of the most common anxiety disorders, according to NHS data.

People with the disorder may dread everyday activities such as meeting strangers, talking in groups, speaking on the telephone, or shopping.

It can interfere with work, school, and relationships, and treatment usually involves cognitive behavioural therapy, or antidepressants.

It’s thought up to one in 10 people may suffer from it, with women twice as likely to have it as men.

For the study, which was published in the journal Psychiatry Research, the psychologists assessed 710 people.

They gave them a series of questionnaires designed to assess their personalities as well as lifestyles, including the amount of fermented foods they had eaten over the last 30 days.

These foods included yoghurt, fermented soy milk, miso soup, sauerkraut, some types of dark chocolate and pickles.

Those who ate more fermented foods had fewer social anxiety symptoms, with the effect being greatest among those at genetic risk for social anxiety disorder as measured by a high score on the neuroticism scale during the personality assessment.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...cial-anxiety-study-reveals.html#ixzz3cs5tmpsu

 

[Who Me?]

Maybe but fermented food are really bad for a bunch of other things, candida, shoot my brain isn't working but one was a diet you recently posted here.

 

[Cort]

Actually I think it's just the opposite. Candida is the overgrowth of bad bacteria but fermented foods have all sorts of good bacteria. Therefore restore the balance! You fight bacteria with bacteria. I admit that eating fermented foods seems just plain weird but it seems to work.

The thing I like about fermented foods is that they're so damn cheap - you can make them yourself.

Here are a couple of articles on that.

• http://draxe.com/treating-candida-with-fermented-vegetables/
• http://www.thecandidadiet.com/probiotic-foods.htm

 

[Who Me?]

This is what I use for candida. If I remember correctly fermented foods feeds the bad bacteria.

http://candidarecovery.com

Forbidden Foods
Anything sweet (sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup, corn syrup, dextrose, sorbitol, Splenda), alcoholic beverages, buttermilk, cheeses, coffee & tea, cold cereal (read label), cottage cheese, crackers, dried & candied fruits, flour enriched with vitamins from yeast, fruit & fruit juices (except lemon or lime juice; only 1 gm per tablespoon), leftovers, malt products, mushrooms, packaged & processed foods, peanuts, pistachios, pretzels, processed & smoked meats, sorbitol, sprouts, sweet potatoes & yams, vinegar-containing foods (catsup, mustard, mayonnaise, salad dressings, pickles), vitamins/minerals from yeast source (read label), yeast, yeast breads & pastries.
And yogurt. Say whaaat??? There are some yogurts that promote acidophilus ... but yogurt is a DAIRY product and it has LACTOSE in it. You do need acidophilus on this program, 2 three times a day would be great. But DO NOT look to getting it from yogurt. There are naturally occurring SUGARS in yogurt that are feeding the candida. Maybe a couple of tablespoons per day - maybe as a dip or a sauce of some kind - but DO NOT be disillusioned about the benefits of yogurt. Buy your acidophilus at the health food store in pill form, and skip the yogurt. HONEST.

 

[tatt]

want to draw attention to this research http://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/news/prebiotic-supplement-in-treatment-of-anxiety and to a more balanced view of it here

http://www.livescience.com/49248-gut-bacteria-mental-health.html

Personally I'm more interested in the reduction of cortisol levels. I've taken the prebiotic Bimmuno when on holiday to avoid travelllors diarrhoea and am thinking of taking it longer term

 

[Cort]

I think that I'm finding that 5-HTP is making me calmer - as is the practice of "choosing everything" that happens. That's an interesting practice!

I'm also taking home-brewed kefir every day. That tends to calm me down and lift me up at the same time for a short time anyway.

 

[JMAC]

Did you have trouble tolerating the homemade kefir? Maybe I should try small amounts.