HEALTH

Probiotics may help you beat stress

New York: Common probiotics sold in supplements and yogurt can decrease stress-related behaviour and anxiety, suggests new research, says IANS. “Our study has shown that simple probiotics that we normally use to keep our digestive tract in sync, could be beneficial to reducing our stress levels as well,” said Aaron Ericsson from University of Missouri in the US.

In a series of studies, researchers tested how zebrafish behaved after doses of Lactobacillus plant arum, common bacteria found in yogurt and probiotic supplements. Studying how gut bacteria affect behaviour in zebrafish could lead to a better understanding of how probiotics may affect the central nervous system in humans.

“Zebrafish are an emerging model species for neurobehavioral studies and their use is well-established in drug-screening,” Ericsson noted. In their first experiment, scientists added the bacteria to certain tanks housing zebra fish; other tanks of zebra fish received no probiotics.

Then, the researchers introduced environmental stressors to both groups, such as draining small amounts of water from the tank and overcrowding. “Each day we introduced a different stressor – tests that are validated by other researchers and cause higher anxiety among zebrafish,” Elizabeth Bryda, Professor at College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri.

By analysing the gene pathways of both groups of fish, the research team found that zebrafish that were given the supplements showed a reduction in the metabolic mechanisms associated with stress.

“Essentially, bacteria in the gut altered the gene expression associated with stress- and anxiety-related pathways in the fish allowing for increased signaling of particular neurotransmitters,” Daniel Davis from University of Missouri noted.

Cheese could curb high BP

New York: Consuming sodium in the form of a dairy product, such as cheese, may protect against some of sodium’s effects on the cardiovascular system, such as high blood pressure, researchers say.

According to researchers, the protection comes from antioxidant properties of dairy proteins in cheese. The results suggest that when sodium is consumed in cheese it does not have the negative vascular effects that researchers observed with sodium from non-dairy sources.

“We found that when participants ate a lot of sodium in cheese, they had better blood vessel function — more blood flow — compared to when they ate an equal amount of sodium from non-dairy sources — in this case, pretzels and soy cheese,” said Anna Stanhewicz, post-doctoral fellow at the Pennsylvania State University.

“The novel finding may have implications for dietary recommendations. Newer dietary recommendations suggest limiting sodium, but our data suggest that eating sodium in the form of a dairy product, such as cheese, may be protective,” added Lacy Alexander, Associate Professor at the Pennsylvania State University.

For the study, the researchers fed participants dairy cheese, pretzels or soy cheese on five separate occasions, three days apart.   They then compared the effects of each food on the cardiovascular system using a laser-Doppler, which shines a weak laser light onto the skin.  Further, the study revealed soy served as an additional control to match the fat, salt and protein content from a dietary source that is not dairy-based.

Participants who had more nitric oxide-moderated dilation after eating dairy cheese, compared to after eating pretzels or soy cheese, the researchers observed, in the paper reported in the British Journal of Nutrition.