Newsletter #67: How Probiotics Might Fight Depression and Anxiety 🧠
Hello Friends!
Another beautiful summer Saturday is upon us, and so too is the newest edition of the humanOS newsletter! 🌞 Here is where we share our work, plus the various studies and media that caught our attention this week.
This Week’s Research Highlights
😔 Anxiety may be alleviated by regulating the gut microbiota.
Researchers in Shanghai performed a systematic review of 21 studies involving a total of 1,503 subjects. They found that probiotic and dietary interventions were often effective at regulating symptoms of anxiety through modulation of the gut microbiota. Interestingly, dietary interventions were significantly more effective to this end, suggesting that changing diet may have a greater impact on the microbiome.
🧠 The probiotic Bifidobacterium adolescentis may improve anxiety and depression.
Mice were divided into groups — some received probiotics, and some did not. Then, they were subjected to chronic restraint stress, which is known to elevate inflammation in the gut and in the brain of rodents. Those that were treated with B. adolescentis showed reduced signs of depressive and anxious behavior. The probiotic was shown to have modulated the gut microbiota - increasing proportion of Lactobacillus and reducing the sequence proportion of Bacteroides in feces ( 80% of individuals with depression have been shown to have a high proportion of Bacteroides). Finally, the probiotic reduced expression of inflammatory cytokines and elevated expression of BDNF in the hippocampus.
🍓 Consuming flavonoid-rich foods may protect against cancer and heart disease.
Researchers analyzed data from the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort, which assessed the diets of 53048 Danes over 23 years. They found that participants consuming around 500 mg of total flavonoids each day had the lowest risk of cancer or heart disease-related death. Flavonoids have been demonstrated to reduce inflammation and improve endothelial function, which would be expected to be protective against cancer and cardiovascular disease.
🚴 Exercise boosts endocannabinoids and improves mood in women with depression.
Seventeen women with depression were instructed to perform two 30-minute sessions on a stationary bike. One time was at a prescribed moderate intensity, the other at whatever pace they preferred. For each exercise session, the researchers collected blood samples before and immediately after exercise. After the moderate intensity exercise session, serum levels of endocannabinoids rose significantly. Changes in endocannabinoid levels, in turn, were significantly related to improvements in mood.
😴 Delaying school start times improves sleep in high school students.
Two cohorts of residential high school students in Hong Kong were followed both before and after their school start time was shifted from 7:30 to 8:30 in the morning. After the implementation of the one hour delay, the students slept, on average, approximately 40 minutes longer. In addition, the students showed improvements in sleep quality, daytime functioning, and life satisfaction.
Videos We Loved This Week
- Gerald Shulman: Mechanisms of Insulin Resistance: Implications for Obesity, Lipodystrophy, and Type 2 Diabetes. Via Kevin Bass.
- Amita Sehgal: A daily period of unproductivity: Can we solve the mystery of sleep? Via NIH Videocasting.
Products We Are Enjoying
Ball mason jars, wide mouth lid.
Ginny says: These classic mason jars have become ubiquitous with good reason- they are incredibly versatile. I like to use them for smoothies, overnight oats, chia pudding, fermenting vegetables, or just as a drinking vessel. And they have advantages beyond just looking cool. Compared to plastic, glass is generally a safer choice for food storage because they do not leach hormone-disrupting chemicals when heated or when in prolonged contact with food. They’re also more readily recycled, so they’re likely a better choice for the planet as well.

humanOS Catalog Feature of the Week
Want to watch this course with us this week? First lesson is just a little over 40 seconds long, and should give you a quick sense for the style of the course. Not yet a Pro user of humanOS? No sweat, this initial module is available for everyone, so give it a shot.