Prebiotic Supplementation Influences Cortisol and Emotional Bias
A study epublished in December 2014 indicates that prebiotics impact cortisol levels as well as attentional vigilance to negative versus positive information. Prebiotics are soluble fiber that influences composition and/or activity of the gastrointestinal microflora. Prebiotics confer benefits upon host well-being and health.
The investigators assigned 45 healthy subjects to receive 1) the prebiotic fructo-oligosaccharides, 2) the prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides (B-GOS), or 3) a placebo of maltodextrin daily for three weeks. The researchers evaluated salivary cortisol awakening response at the beginning of the study and again after the supplementation period. The subjects completed a computerized task battery on the final day of supplementation to assess processing of emotionally salient information.
Supplementation with galacto-oligosaccharides lowered the salivary cortisol awakening response as well as decreased attentional vigilance to negative versus positive information compared to the placebo group. The investigators did not find any effect with fructo-oligosaccharide supplementation.
The study authors stated, “The suppression of the neuroendocrine stress response and the increase in the processing of positive versus negative attentional vigilance in subjects supplemented with B-GOS are consistent with previous findings of endocrine and anxiolytic effects of microbiota proliferation. Further studies are therefore needed to test the utility of B-GOS supplementation in the treatment of stress-related disorders.”
Reference:
Schmidt K, et al. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2014 Dec 3.
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