Study: Fermented foods and reduced social anxiety

Posted on July 12, 2015

In a new study of the mind-gut connection, eating fermented foods, which contain probiotics, were associated with reduced symptoms of social anxiety for student participants.

Giving new meaning to the old cliché of "you are what you eat," the research team says this is the first in a series of studies they are planning, hypothesizing that the right food could complement the efforts of psychologists when it comes to mental health.

The researchers constructed a questionnaire that asked students about their consumption of fermented foods over the past month, and around 700 students responded.

It also questioned students about their exercise frequency and consumption of fruits and vegetables in the interest of controlling for other healthy habits that are reputed as mood boosters.

"The main finding was that individuals who had consumed more fermented foods had reduced social anxiety but that was qualified by an interaction by neuroticism," says Hilimire. "What that means is that that relationship was strongest amongst people that were high in neuroticism."

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Category(s):Social Anxiety / Phobia

Source material from Free Malaysia Today