Fermented foods and prebiotics can reduce stress and improve sleep quality!

A new Irish research shows that fermented foods and prebiotics improve not only gut health. But they can also reduce stress and improve the duration and quality of sleep. This is good for the overall health of a person and his quality of life.

The Irish study on psychobiotic foods and quality of life

We all know that certain foods can harm our sleep enormously. It might lead to either insomnia or a disturbed non refreshing sleep. While there are other foods that can stress us and make our tension worse.

A new study from Ireland shows that a psychobiotic diet can destress us and improve our sleep quality. Molecular Psychiatry journal has published this study in its recent October 2022 issue.

The study group was 45 adults of age between 18 to 59 years who usually had a diet low in dietary fiber. Their intake of fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables was low. But they had high intake of red meat, chicken, junk foods, and sweets.

The researchers from APC Microbiome Ireland at the University College Cork divided these 45 participants into two groups in a random way. Both groups sought diet interventions from registered dietitians who instructed the groups to follow two different diets. One group had a diet based on the food pyramid. While the second group took a psychobiotic diet. The latter diet included ample amounts of prebiotics and fermented foods. This name of the diet is psychobiotic because it has “microbiota-targeted interventions that support mental health”.

What are fermented foods and prebiotics?

The Irish research team instructed the second group to have on their daily menu 2 to 3 servings of fermented foods (like sauerkraut, kefir, or kombucha), with 5 to 8 servings of whole grains, and also have 6 to 8 servings of fruits and vegetables rich in prebiotic fibers (such as apples, bananas, leeks, onions and cabbages). They were told to include with this 3 to 4 servings of legumes in a week.

Ideally, a psychobiotic diet eater should avoid sugary foods and drinks, sweets, and junk fast foods that are highly processed and rich in saturated fats, cholesterol and sodium.

Findings of the study

The researchers did an assessment of the stress level decline and improvement in sleep quality in both groups after the said dietary interventions.

Read more: Why fermented foods should be a regular in your daily food regime?

Both groups showed improvement in the quality of sleep. But the psychobiotic group had a more prominent decrease in the amount and intensity of their stress levels. Catherine Gervacio, a registered dietitian says:

“The study provides promising benefits of what a psychobiotic diet can do in relation to digestion and stress,”

“Stress affects digestive health and can hinder the efficient absorption of nutrients needed to combat stress and other potential risk associated with it. Further study is needed, but it does give further evidence of how big diet and nutrition is in managing stress and sleep.”

But she warns:

“Further studies are yet to be conducted in order to prove that probiotics do contribute significantly to stress and sleep. Until then, everyone should focus on healthy eating, and practice ways to combat stress and sleep.”