Effects of a high-prebiotic diet versus probiotic supplements versus synbiotics on adult mental health: The "Gut Feelings" randomised controlled trial
Preliminary evidence supports the use of dietary interventions and gut microbiota-targeted interventions such as probiotic or prebiotic supplementation for improving mental health. We report on the first randomised controlled trial (RCT) to examine the effects of a high-prebiotic dietary interventio...
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| Published in: | Frontiers in neuroscience Vol. 16; p. 1097278 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Switzerland
Frontiers Research Foundation
06-02-2023
Frontiers Media S.A |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Preliminary evidence supports the use of dietary interventions and gut microbiota-targeted interventions such as probiotic or prebiotic supplementation for improving mental health. We report on the first randomised controlled trial (RCT) to examine the effects of a high-prebiotic dietary intervention and probiotic supplements on mental health.
"Gut Feelings" was an 8-week, 2 × 2 factorial RCT of 119 adults with moderate psychological distress and low prebiotic food intake. Treatment arms: (1) probiotic supplement and diet-as-usual (probiotic group); (2) high-prebiotic diet and placebo supplement (prebiotic diet group); (3) probiotic supplement and high-prebiotic diet (synbiotic group); and (4) placebo supplement and diet-as-usual (placebo group). The primary outcome was assessment of total mood disturbance (TMD; Profile of Mood States Short Form) from baseline to 8 weeks. Secondary outcomes included anxiety, depression, stress, sleep, and wellbeing measures.
A modified intention-to-treat analysis using linear mixed effects models revealed that the prebiotic diet reduced TMD relative to placebo at 8 weeks [Cohen's
= -0.60, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -1.18, -0.03;
= 0.039]. There was no evidence of symptom improvement from the probiotic (
= -0.19, 95% CI = -0.75, 0.38;
= 0.51) or synbiotic treatments (
= -0.03, 95% CI = -0.59, 0.53;
= 0.92). Improved anxiety, stress, and sleep were noted in response to the prebiotic diet while the probiotic tentatively improved wellbeing, relative to placebo. No benefit was found in response to the synbiotic intervention. All treatments were well tolerated with few adverse events.
A high-prebiotic dietary intervention may improve mood, anxiety, stress, and sleep in adults with moderate psychological distress and low prebiotic intake. A synbiotic combination of high-prebiotic diet and probiotic supplement does not appear to have a beneficial effect on mental health outcomes, though further evidence is required. Results are limited by the relatively small sample size.
https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=372753, identifier ACTRN12617000795392. |
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| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 This article was submitted to Gut-Brain Axis, a section of the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience Edited by: Ashok Kumar, University of Florida, United States Reviewed by: Kiran Veer Sandhu, University College Cork, Ireland; Cosmin Moldovan, Titu Maiorescu University, Romania |
| ISSN: | 1662-4548 1662-453X 1662-453X |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fnins.2022.1097278 |