Can Probiotics Help with Anxiety?

In recent years gaining a better understanding of how the body works and ways of looking after it has become increasingly popular amongst many of us. With so many options for us to boost our wellbeing and various ways we can, not only include some daily self care, but also help with our general health becoming so easily accessible to achieve at home. It could perhaps, an at home HIIT workouts or yoga, a morning smoothie full of healthy greens and superfoods, or daily intake of vitamins and supplements.

As you can see there are plenty of ways to help you feel your best, the only bump in the road could be anxiety getting in the way of you living your day-to-day life the way you want. This isn’t a reason to be too hard on yourself, the stress and pace of modern life can leave even the calmest person feeling a little overwhelmed at times. So, with that in mind, we wondered whether introducing probiotics into your daily routine will help, this is exactly what we will be exploring in today’s blog post, so stick around if you want to know if probiotics can help with anxiety.

Which probiotics are best for anxiety?

It’s slowly becoming common knowledge that the gut and brain are connected which can have an impact on how our emotions can affect our mood and general health and wellbeing. With this has come extensive research into finding how probiotics can help improve your mood, reduce anxiety, and rebalancing the gut’s flora. Here are some examples of how probiotics can help.

• The gut is also known as being our second brain, ensuring the gut’s microbiome is contains the right level of good bacteria has a knock-on positive impact on the rest of the body, including your mood and wellbeing.
• The gut’s microbiome is a delicate balance of good and bad bacteria which can be altered with the slightest change. This can be a result of eating food that is too salty, increased stress or anxiety.

As for finding the best probiotics to help with anxiety, stress or just generally boosting your mood are.

• Lactobacillus acidophilus Rosell-52
• Lactobacillus casei Shirota
• Bifidobacterium longum 1714
• Bifidobacterium longum Rosell-175

These strains have been proven to have a marked improvement on reducing anxiety and elevating your mood. However, everyone is different and it’s important to consult with your GP or a medical professional to ensure you are safe to introduce these into your daily routine.

How long does it take for probiotics to work for anxiety?

When you first introduce probiotics to your routine, you must first prepare yourself for some short time side effects, such as diarrhoea, bloating, and stomach cramps. These generally clear up after about 3 days and will start to work at calming inflammations, rebalancing the bacteria in the gut, and leave you with improvements in your mood, wellbeing, and health. This could take about 4-8 weeks for you to notice a real reduction in anxiety and how frequently you feel stress.

With probiotics proving to be so effective at helping reduce anxiety, many make probiotics a permanent fixture in your daily routine. There is nothing wrong if they continue to work for you and your lifestyle. There are some swaps and changes you can make in your routine to also help reducing anxiety and stress. Exercising regularly, introducing more vegetables, super foods, and whole grains into your diet, drinking plenty of water, and improving your sleeping habit will all have a marked improvement whilst giving your probiotics a helping hand. 

Can probiotics make anxiety worse?

No, not really, this is because probiotics have such a positive impact on improving your gut health there are no signs of them causing anxiety to worsen. Although this may feel a little confusing as helping to boost your mental health is something probiotics are not known for. As I have already mentioned however, many are beginning to understand the important connection between gut and brain helps with your digestion function, lowering cholesterol, and improving mental health.

If you wanted to know more about whether probiotics make you feel anxious, you can check out our dedicated blog post over on The Health Insiders.

Are probiotics good for panic attacks?

Yes, probiotics have proven to be an effective supplement to introduce into your routine, especially if you suffer from panic attacks and anxiety. I have already shared with you how probiotics can improve your mental health and boost your mood and relieving stress. There has been a selection of extensive research carried out to find how probiotics can help control panic attacks. With many of those who suffer with daily attacks found they noticed their anxiety and stress is significantly reduced. For others they saw no improvement, this could potential be a result of the strain of probiotic used in the study. If this is something you wanted to explore further, I would suggest you carry out your own research and ask the advice of a medical professional.

Can gut problems cause anxiety?

Yes, believe it or not, gut problems have a strong connection with a flare-up in stress, anxiety, and panic attacks. It is suggested that any problems concerning anything linked with gastrointestinal imbalance will result in stress and anxiety. You may be familiar with the “gut-wrenching” feeling you suffer from when you are under a lot of stress or find yourself in a situation that makes you anxious. This is a reaction in your gut suffering from inflammation or imbalance in bacteria which often results in stomach upset, cramping, or even diarrhoea. As effective as probiotics are at reducing anxiety, they are not the only thing that can help you combat you feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or suffering from panic attacks. It is important to remember to take the time for yourself and perform simple self-care habits which will have a long-term positive impact on your daily routine and mood.

There you have a little more information about whether probiotics can help with anxiety. Don’t forget if you have any more questions, you can come find us on Instagram.