Probiotic Update: Studies Explore Mood Improving Potential and Synergy Between Probiotics
25 May 2017 --- A number of studies have this week underlined a range of health benefits certain probiotics may provide. Researchers from McMaster University found that certain probiotic strains may help relieve symptoms of depression, as well as help gastrointestinal upset, providing further evidence of the microbiota environment in the intestines being in direct communication with the brain, while Ganeden announced the findings of a separate study which sheds light on the added benefits created by combining probiotics.
NutritionInsight currently features an overview of a number of key products marketed as containing probiotics, highlighting that probiotics continue to be applied outside their more common domain of dairy, with considerable variation in products on offer and claims used in regard to probiotic content. One notable development is that indulgent products, such as snacks and confectionery, are receiving a health boost via the incorporation of probiotics, resulting in better-for-you appeal.
In a study performed in collaboration with scientists from Nestlé and published in the medical journal Gastroenterology, researchers found that twice as many adults with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) reported improvements from co-existing depression when they took a specific probiotic than adults with IBS who took a placebo.
“This study shows that consumption of a specific probiotic can improve both gut symptoms and psychological issues in IBS. This opens new avenues not only for the treatment of patients with functional bowel disorders but also for patients with primary psychiatric diseases,” says senior author Dr. Premysl Bercik, an associate professor of medicine at McMaster.
The pilot study involved 44 adults with IBS and mild to moderate anxiety or depression. They were followed for ten weeks, as half took a daily dose of the probiotic Bifidobacterium longum NCC3001, while the others had a placebo. At six weeks, 14 of 22, or 64%, of the patients taking the probiotic had decreased depression scores, compared to seven of 22 (or 32%) of patients given a placebo. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) showed that the improvement in depression scores was associated with changes in multiple brain areas involved in mood control.
In related news, Ganeden announced that research has shown that its patented, shelf-stable probiotic strain, GanedenBC30 (Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086), provides added benefits when combined with other functional ingredients such as plant proteins or HMB (beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate).
The company reports that GanedenBC30 was already acknowledged for its digestive and immune support benefits, but that this additional research confirmed that it may offer a variety of other positive effects on health, including enhancing the body’s utilization of protein, and most recently synergistic benefits when combined with HMB — leading to additional functional benefits to the end-user.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology from the American Physiological Society, focused on the strain’s positive effect when used in combination with HMB. The study looked into the body’s inflammatory response and muscle integrity during 40-days of intense military training. The results showed that not only does HMB provide its previously studied benefits, but muscle integrity may also be better maintained when the supplementation is combined with GanedenBC30.
“Probiotic awareness is at an all-time high, but many still associate them primarily with digestive support, and don’t realize that the benefits are strain specific — meaning not every strain has the same effects. We knew the specific health benefits of GanedenBC30 went far beyond digestion, and have worked with a variety of third-party research experts to explore these additional effects,” says David Keller, Vice President of Scientific Operations at Ganeden.
Last week, a DuPont sponsored study published in Beneficial Microbes demonstrated the role of probiotic supplementation in the maintainance of healthy respiratory immune function. The results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigating the effect probiotics had on the immune response in healthy, rhinovirus-challenged adult human subjects suggest that ingestion of Bl-04 at a dose of 2 billion CFU per day has an effect on the inflammatory response to rhinovirus infection.
During an interview in March, NutritionInsight’s sister website, FoodIngredientsFirst, spoke with Dr. Angela Naef, Vice President, Global Technology & Innovation, DuPont Nutrition & Health, who explained that the company is seeking to make significant investments in the area of probiotics and microbiome platforms.
“It’s about what health benefits, new products, prebiotics and probiotics and others, that can actually offer health and wellness solutions into the rapidly evolving microbiome space. We see this as a great time of expansion in the science of the human microbiome. From a totality of innovation perspective, this area we believe offers quite a bit of diversity for consumers, ways to impart positive health outcomes, things that really are central to each individual on the planet,” Dr. Naef says.
On 31 May (4pm CEST/10am EDT), Innova Market Insights will be hosting a live webinar focused on the latest developments in the market for gut-health related products. To register for this event see here.
