Decreased social anxiety among young adults who eat fermented foods -- ScienceDaily

I am still learning how to share interesting information through my blog. Apparently just clicking on the Blogspot icon at the bottom of the article does not share the entire article, just a link. (see below)

Given the interesting subject matter, it occured to me I might want to follow one or two of the authors/researchers, but that didn't prove obvious to me either, but I did find a psychiatry journal website which gives an executive summary of the article:

Highlights

• •This study investigated the relationship between fermented foods and social anxiety.
• •Fermented food consumption, neuroticism, and exercise predicted social anxiety.
• •Fermented food consumption and neuroticism interacted to predict social anxiety.
• •Fermented foods should be further investigated as an intervention for social anxiety.

Abstract

Animal models and clinical trials in humans suggest that probiotics can have an anxiolytic effect. However, no studies have examined the relationship between probiotics and social anxiety. Here we employ a cross-sectional approach to determine whether consumption of fermented foods likely to contain probiotics interacts with neuroticism to predict social anxiety symptoms. A sample of young adults (N=710, 445 female) completed self-report measures of fermented food consumption, neuroticism, and social anxiety. An interaction model, controlling for demographics, general consumption of healthful foods, and exercise frequency, showed that exercise frequency, neuroticism, and fermented food consumption significantly and independently predicted social anxiety. Moreover, fermented food consumption also interacted with neuroticism in predicting social anxiety. Specifically, for those high in neuroticism, higher frequency of fermented food consumption was associated with fewer symptoms of social anxiety. Taken together with previous studies, the results suggest that fermented foods that contain probiotics may have a protective effect against social anxiety symptoms for those at higher genetic risk, as indexed by trait neuroticism. While additional research is necessary to determine the direction of causality, these results suggest that consumption of fermented foods that contain probiotics may serve as a low-risk intervention for reducing social anxiety.

So, there you have it.... A summary.

Of course the question becomes what fermented foods....? Beer? Wine? Kombucha? Cheese? Yogurt seems obvious, and sauerkraut... but how much sauerkraut can you eat? I think most pickles are 'pickled' with vinegar, which might be the only fermented ingredient... so, does that mean we need to make our own vinegar? So, I am a little uncertain about whether I am eating enough probiotic food to keep my anxiety levels to a manageable level or if I should eat more fermented food. (See, you can perceive my anxiety level in that statement alone!)

Decreased social anxiety among young adults who eat fermented foods -- ScienceDaily