People treated for depression exhibit greater improvements if probiotics are taken with anti-depressants as compared to only taking anti-depressants, a Swedish study has found.
The study found a greater proportion of depressed and bipolar patients that took both probiotics and anti-depressants—55 percent—entered remission as compared to the 40 percent of patients that only took antidepressants. Probiotics are ingestible products that contain live bacteria beneficial for the body.
Participants that took probiotics daily for 31 days with their anti-depressants had a greater reduction in their depression scores, higher prevalence of healthy bacteria, especially increased proportions of the Lactobacillus genus bacteria.
The genus of bacteria entered the gut microbiome through the probiotic and is also associated with improved mood scores in participants….