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This article is based on scientific evidence, written by experts and fact checked by experts.

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This article contains scientific references. The numbers in the parentheses (1, 2, 3) are clickable links to peer-reviewed scientific papers.

Probiotics for Anxiety

Written by Dr. Michael Ruscio, DC on June 13, 2020

Written by Dr. Michael Ruscio, DC on June 13, 2020 — Reviewed by Noora Alakulppi

• Gut-Brain Axis|
• Anxiety Symptoms|
• Can Probiotics Improve Anxiety?|
• Anxiety and the Gut|
• Anxiety-Gut-Thyroid|
• Using Probiotics for Anxiety|
• Probiotics and Diet|
• The Bottom Line|

Can probiotics improve anxiety?

If you’re one of the 19% of Americans who experience anxiety disorders, you may want to consider trying probiotics for relief. It may seem counterintuitive, but anxiety and other mental illnesses may have a lot to do with what’s happening in your gut.

Probiotics have emerged as a potential anti-anxiety treatment with minimal side effects.

Let’s take a look at what is known.

Probiotics and the Gut-Brain Axis

Research tells us that the gut and brain share a very close connection. Through multiple lines of communication, your central nervous system (which includes the brain) talks to your endocrine and digestive systems. [1]

Inflammation in the intestines is known to cause digestive and immune system symptoms and also inflammation in the brain. This may look like brain fog, irritability, and yes, anxiety. Changes in the gut microbiota can produce many different types of symptoms, including mental health symptoms like anxiety and depression, and loss of cognitive function. [2]

Anxiety Symptoms

According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, common symptoms of general anxiety disorder include:

• Feeling restless, wound-up, or on-edge
• Being easily fatigued
• Having difficulty concentrating
• Being irritable
• Having muscle tension
• Difficulty controlling feelings of worry
• Having sleep problems, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, restlessness, or unsatisfying sleep

Another type of anxiety is panic disorders. Symptoms include:

• Heart palpitations, a pounding heartbeat, or an accelerated heart rate
• Sweating
• Trembling or shaking
• Sensations of shortness of breath, smothering, or choking
• Feelings of impending doom
• Feelings of being out of control

Other types of anxiety include phobias (fear of particular things or actions, like heights) and social anxiety.

Can Probiotics Improve Anxiety?

Meta-Analysis Summary: Probiotics and Anxiety

Four meta-analyses all determine that there may be some anti-anxiety effect from probiotics, but that the current available data isn’t conclusive.

• One meta-analysis determined that the available data wasn’t clear, and more high-quality human clinical trials were needed. [3]
• A second meta-analysis identified possible anti-anxiety effects from probiotics, but found the total sample sizes too small to make widespread claims. [4]
• A third meta-analysis found a clear anti-anxiety effect in animal studies, but not enough data in human clinical trials. [5]
• A fourth meta-analysis determined a likely positive benefit of using probiotics for anxiety and depression. [6]

Even more interesting, a significant number of people experience relief from mental health symptoms when they rebalance their gut.

In a systematic review of randomized control trials, 56% of participants experienced improved anxiety with the use of probiotics and a low FODMAP diet. [7]

Anxiety May Start in the Gut

It’s no secret that people with gut health problems often feel anxious or depressed. But which comes first, the mental health challenge or the gut symptoms?

• A 2016 study of 1,900 people found that two-thirds of them experienced irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) before mental health symptoms, implying that for many people, the gut disturbance was the source of their anxiety. [8]

Another way to think about this connection is by considering the role of a leaky gut. Gut inflammation can make the gut lining permeable, which allows bacterial toxins to enter the bloodstream. These toxins have been shown to contribute to anxiety and depression symptoms. [9]

We know that probiotics help improve leaky gut. [10] So probiotics may help reduce anxiety by reducing leaky gut.

Anxiety, Gut, and Thyroid Connection

A systematic review found that people with underlying autoimmune thyroiditis or hypothyroidism are likely to experience anxiety and depression. [11] But hypothyroidism is also closely linked with gut dysbiosis, especially Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). [12] I often find restoring my patients’ gut function resolves their thyroid symptoms, and this includes their related anxiety symptoms.

Using Probiotics for Anxiety

Many people advocate for choosing probiotics based on your health condition. Usually this is because particular probiotic strains, such as B. infantis, or B. longum, were used in one or more studies. For anxiety or depression, this may include recommendations to include “psychobiotics”, or probiotics that have shown promise for psychiatric conditions. For example, a recent study on rats showed that Lactobacillus helveticus reduced their anxiety scores. [13]

And so the thinking goes, “If that probiotic helped anxious rats, maybe it will help me.”

But probiotic supplementation doesn’t work like a medication (and animal studies aren’t necessarily a good way to assess how a therapy will benefit you).

Instead, the benefits of probiotics are general. They repair function and restore your gut environment. Though there may be hundreds of probiotics, almost all of them fall into one of three categories.

The best approach is to choose one high-quality probiotic supplement from each category and use regularly. The specific brand or strains aren’t as important as making sure you are using one probiotic from each type:

• Type 1: Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium blends: includes examples such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Bifidobacterium longum.
• Type 2: Saccharomyces boulardii, a beneficial yeast.
• Type 3: Soil-Based Probiotics, usually Bacillus strains.

Use all three probiotics daily for about a month, and see how you feel. If you notice positive effects, you can continue, or reduce your dose to the smallest effective dose. Common effects of probiotics include:

• Improved mood
• Improved digestion
• Improved sleep
• Improved hormones

If you didn’t notice any improvements, you can stop, knowing that you gave probiotic therapy a try. There’s no need to continue trying out new probiotic strains.

The FDA doesn’t closely regulate probiotics, so do your homework to choose reputable brands.

Many sources also recommend using fermented foods to reset your gut microbiota because they contain good bacteria. Though fermented foods, like kimchi or sauerkraut, are healthy, they generally don’t have enough colony-forming units (CFUs) to provide a clinical benefit.

Similarly, prebiotics, which feed your beneficial bacteria, aren’t necessary to supplement, as long as you’re eating a diet rich in fiber from fruits, vegetables, and nuts and seeds. I recommend using caution with prebiotics, as they can flare digestive symptoms.

Do Probiotics Work Better with the Right Diet?

In one study that compared probiotic use with a low FODMAP diet, many participants experienced significant relief of anxiety from trying the low FODMAP diet. The low FODMAP diet alone has been shown to restore a healthy gut microbiome, and decrease symptoms related to IBS, like bloating and stool changes. [14] It works by decreasing the food supply for bad bacteria in your gut. Improving your diet reduces gut inflammation, which helps improve many types of symptoms, including anxiety.

The Bottom Line

Though there isn’t yet iron-clad evidence that probiotics improve anxiety, the research suggests that they may help. Following a low FODMAP diet along with probiotics may be even more  effective. Because probiotics are typically safe and don’t cause negative side effects, a trial of probiotic therapy makes sense if you suffer from anxiety.