Fermented foods and cellulose reduce stress

Science and Technology Daily Beijing, November 1 (Reporter Liu Xia) A team member of the APC Microbiome Institute in Ireland published a paper in the latest issue of Molecular Psychiatry that people's diet may also be an effective way to cope with stress - their latest research shows that eating more fermented foods and fiber-rich foods every day for just 4 weeks has a significant effect
on reducing stress levels.

Over the past decade, a growing body of research has shown that diet can have a huge impact
on people's mental health.
In fact, a healthy diet can even reduce the risk of
many common mental illnesses.
In addition, previous studies have shown that stress and behavior are also associated with people's microbiota, but to date, it has not been clear whether
changing diet (and microbiome) has a noticeable effect on stress levels.

In the latest study, scientists recruited 45 healthy volunteers aged 18-59 who had a diet relatively low in dietary fiber, more than half of whom were women
.
They were divided into two groups, one of which was assigned a diet designed by dietitians to increase their intake of prebiotics and fermented foods, known as "psychobiotics" because of its mental health
in the people who eat them.
Volunteers need to eat 6-8 servings of fiber-rich fruits and vegetables (such as onions, leeks, cabbage, apples, bananas and oats), 5-8 servings of cereals, 3-4 servings of legumes per week, and 2-3 servings of fermented foods (such as sauerkraut, appetizers and black tea)
per day.
The control group followed only general dietary recommendations
based on the Healthy Eating Pyramid.
The study lasted four weeks
.

The findings showed that participants who followed a "psycho probiotic" diet felt less stressed and those who ate more "psycho probiotics" experienced the greatest
drop in stress levels.
Sleep quality improved in both groups, but the improvement in sleep quality was more pronounced
in the "psychoprobiotic" group.

The researchers explain that they found significant changes in levels of certain key chemicals produced by gut microbes, some of which are linked to mental health, which may explain why the "psychoprobiotics" group felt less
stressed.

They also emphasised, however, that while the latest findings suggest that specific diets can reduce stress levels, the sample size and short duration of the study make it unclear how long these improvements will last, so long-term studies
are needed.
(Editor Li Chuang)