Tae Hyejin, Kim Tae-Suk
Stress Clinic, Health Promotion Center, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Department of Psychiatry, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Front Nutr. 2024 May 28;11:1385518. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1385518. eCollection 2024.
Over the past decade, research has reported that diet and gut health affect anxiety symptoms through changes in the gut microbiota. Therefore, the introduction of prebiotic and probiotic food favorable for the intestinal microbiota is necessary to improve the mental health of the host. The purpose of this study was to examine the contribution of prebiotic and probiotic foods to lowering anxiety symptoms using a large, nationwide population-based database.
The study population included 4,317 individuals 19 to 64 years of age who participated in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES VII-3, 2019-2021). A food frequency questionnaire was used to evaluate prebiotic and probiotic food consumption. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment 7-item scale (GAD-7) assessed the severity of anxiety symptoms. The effect of prebiotic and probiotic food consumption on anxiety severity was analyzed using multiple logistic regression.
Anxiety symptom severity was significantly lower in the highest prebiotic and/or probiotic food consumption tertiles compared to the lowest food consumption tertile. We also found a sex difference in the odds ratio for anxiety symptoms. The consumption of prebiotic food was significantly associated with the highest odds of anxiety among both men and women. However, probiotic food had a significant beneficial effect on lowering anxiety symptoms in men but not in women.
Our finding suggests that prebiotic and probiotic food consumption might confer a beneficial influence on anxiety symptoms. Further research is required for a deeper understanding into the mechanisms of the positive effects of prebiotics and probiotics on anxiety.
在过去十年中，研究报告称饮食和肠道健康通过肠道微生物群的变化影响焦虑症状。因此，引入有利于肠道微生物群的益生元和益生菌食品对于改善宿主的心理健康是必要的。本研究的目的是使用一个大型的、基于全国人口的数据库来检验益生元和益生菌食品对降低焦虑症状的作用。
研究人群包括4317名年龄在19至64岁之间、参与韩国国民健康与营养检查调查（2019 - 2021年第七次韩国国家健康与营养检查调查）的个体。使用食物频率问卷来评估益生元和益生菌食品的摄入量。采用广泛性焦虑障碍评估7项量表（GAD - 7）评估焦虑症状的严重程度。使用多元逻辑回归分析益生元和益生菌食品摄入量对焦虑严重程度的影响。
与最低食品摄入量三分位数相比，在最高益生元和/或益生菌食品摄入量三分位数中，焦虑症状严重程度显著更低。我们还发现焦虑症状比值比存在性别差异。益生元食品的摄入在男性和女性中均与最高焦虑几率显著相关。然而，益生菌食品对降低男性焦虑症状有显著有益作用，对女性则不然。
我们的研究结果表明，摄入益生元和益生菌食品可能对焦虑症状产生有益影响。需要进一步研究以更深入了解益生元和益生菌对焦虑产生积极作用的机制。
