The role of gut microbiota in anxiety, depression, and other mental disorders as well as the protective effects of dietary components

The proportion of the population that suffers from mental disorders (anxiety and depression, among others) has risen dramatically in the last few years. As a result, finding preventative and treatment methods for mental illnesses is crucial. Several gut microbiota strains, particularly Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes, have been shown to influence mental health via the microbiota gut-brain axis, and mental diseases, including depression and anxiety, may be linked to dysbiosis in the gut microbiota. However, specific dietary components, such as dairy products, spices (like Zanthoxylum curcumin, bungeanum, and capsaicin), medicinal herbs, fruits, vegetables, and probiotics (like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium), prebiotics (like dietary fiber and alpha-lactalbumin), synbiotics, postbiotics (like short-chain fatty acids), and so on, may protect against mental disorders by promoting good gut microbiota and suppressing harmful species. This study by Xiong et al. (2023) summarizes observations on gut microbiome relative to mental disorders. Furthermore, the benefits of dietary components that target the gut microbiome for mental health protection are explored. To prevent and cure mental problems, this study may be useful in developing dietary natural items into medications and functional foods. [NPID: Anxiety, depression, gut microbiota, probiotics, natural products]

Year: 2023

Reference: Xiong, R.-G., Li, J., Cheng, J., Zhou, D.-D., Wu, S.-X., Huang, S.-Y., Saimaiti, A., Yang, Z.-J., Gan, R.-Y., & Li, H.-B. (2023). The role of gut microbiota in anxiety, depression, and other mental disorders as well as the protective effects of dietary components. In Nutrients (Vol. 15, Issue 14). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15143258

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