Scientists say that probiotics found in kombucha can help beat depression!
Jaw-Dropping Science Facts Everyone Should Know About Kombucha, Part 2
Kombucha is a fermented drink made from green or black tea, cane sugar and a probiotic live fungus culture called SCOBY*. It’s packed full of probiotic yeasts and bacterias, B vitamins, organic acids and antioxidants, all of which are claimed to work various wonders for your body and mind. Although official government-backed research on kombucha is pretty thin on the ground, there are still tons of fascinating independent studies suggesting that a kombucha a day really does keep the doctor away. Following on from part one, here’s another great reason to make kombucha part of your everyday routine!
Not only can probiotics boost serotonin, scientists have found they also help to decrease negative thinking! In a 2015 study, psychologists Laura Steenbergen and Lorenza Colzato from the Leiden Institute of Brain and Cognition tested the power of probiotics in combatting negative feelings. They split 40 subjects into two groups, half of which received a probiotics mixture and half a placebo. The conclusion? Prolonged use of probiotics reduces recurrent negative thoughts about possible causes and consequences of distress- a marker of depression.
“These results provide the first evidence that the intake of probiotics may help reduce negative thoughts associated with sad mood,” Colzato said of her team’s study. “Our findings shed an interesting new light on the potential of probiotics to serve as adjuvant or preventive therapy for depression.”
There you go: that morning kombucha tonic can boost happiness in more ways than one!
Source: Gregor Reid ‘Neuroactive probiotics’ July 2011
Reid, G. (2011), Neuroactive probiotics. Bioessays, 33: 562. doi: 10.1002/bies.201100074