Health

Could yogurt reduce stress and improve symptoms of anxiety?

By Mallika Marshall, MD

December 7, 2023 / 5:45 PM EST / CBS Boston

BOSTON - According to new research, your favorite yogurt could help improve your mood.

A probiotic bacterium called Lactobacillus, found in yogurt and kefir, could help reduce stress and possibly improve symptoms of anxiety and depression. Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine studied mice and found that the presence of Lactobacilli in the gut helps maintain levels of a protein called interferon-gamma which regulates the body's response to stress.

The researchers hope to develop special probiotic supplements designed to promote Lactobacillus in the gut to help treat patients with depression and anxiety.

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Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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