You Might Want To Eat More Yogurt to Decrease Social Anxiety

by Monica Joshi

You are what you eat. That much we know. While what you eat can easily affect you physically, researchers have now found that what you put in your stomach may also play a key role in mental health.

Researchers from William and Mary joined with the University of Maryland School of Social Work to investigate the possible connection between fermented foods, e.g. yogurt, which contain probiotics, and social anxiety. The researchers found that young adults who eat more fermented foods have fewer social anxiety symptoms, with the effect being the greatest among those who are at a genetic risk for anxiety disorder.

W&M psychology professors Matthew Hilimire and Catherine Forestell teamed up with University of Maryland's assistant professor Jordan DeVylder to have their research accepted for publication in the August issue of Psychiatry Research.

The researchers studied 700 students who took the university's Introduction to Psychology courses in the fall of 2014. They designed a questionnaire that asked students about the fermented foods consumed over the past 30 days. In addition, it also asked about exercise frequency, consumption of fruits and vegetables as well as the frequency of consumption of other foods. This was to control for the healthy eating habits outside of the fermented food intake.

Dr. Hilimire noted that:

“The main finding was that individuals who had consumed more fermented foods had reduced social anxiety but that was qualified by an interaction by neuroticism. What that means is that that relationship was strongest amongst people that were high in neuroticism.”

The not-so-surprising finding was that more exercise was related to reduced social anxiety. While the researchers were pleased to see the findings so clearly support their hypothesis, the study is the first in a series they have planned. They hope to continue exploring the mind-gut connection, including another examination of the data to see whether a correlation exists between fermented food intake and autism symptoms.

The researchers are also planning to soon create an experimental version of the study. Without that experimental phase, the researchers couldn't make a causative connection between eating fermented foods and reduced social anxiety.

Hilimire, however, was quick to note that, with regards to precedence:

“...if we rely on the animal models that have come before us and the human experimental work that has come before us in other anxiety and depression studies, it does seem that there is a causative mechanism. Assuming similar findings in the experimental follow-up, what it would suggest is that you could augment more traditional therapies (like medications, psychotherapy or a combination of the two) with fermented foods – dietary changes – and exercise, as well.”

It is clear that research over the past several years has increasingly supported a close relationship between nutrition and mental health. The research, if pushed through the experimental phase, could really be more useful in determining some sort of a causal conclusion of the data.