Navigation
Association between consumption of fermented food and food-derived prebiotics with cognitive performance, depressive, and anxiety symptoms in psychiatrically healthy medical students under psychological stress: A prospective cohort study
Prebiotic and probiotic gut microbiome-targeting therapeutic interventions are postulated to aid mental health. Despite being rich sources, fermented foods and others copious in prebiotics have not been evaluated for their efficacy. In this prospective cohort study by Karbownik et al. (2022), the authors investigate the impact of consuming fermented and prebiotic-rich foods on cognitive performance and symptoms of anxiety and depression in a population of otherwise healthy medical students suffering from psychological stressors. 372 participating students (aged 22.7 ± 1.1 years, 66% of which were females) reported on their food consumption through a 7-day dietary record, and on the symptoms of depression and anxiety they experienced using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7. Cognitive performance was evaluated based on academic examination performance. The results showed that fermented foods and food-derived prebiotics had no significant effect on cognitive performance under stress. However, a significant increase in symptoms of anxiety and depression was noted with an increasing intake of fermented foods, while food-derived prebiotics had no such impact. The authors thus conclude that fermented foods and food-acquired prebiotics do not affect cognitive performance under stress, though a higher consumption of fermented foods caused an increase in severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Further work is necessary to ascertain the safety profiles of fermented foods with respect to this psychologically vulnerable population. [NPID: Anxiety, cognitive function, depression, fermented food, prebiotics, probiotic, psychological stress]
Year: 2022
