Effects of Daily Probiotics Supplementation on Anxiety Induced Physiological Parameters among Competitive Football Players

Abstract

<jats:p>Competitive football players who undergo strenuous training and frequent competitions are more vulnerable to psychological disorders. Probiotics are capable of reducing these psychological disorders. The present study aimed to determine the effect of daily probiotics supplementation on anxiety induced physiological parameters among competitive football players. The randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial was conducted on 20 male footballers who received either probiotics (Lactobacillus Casei Shirota strain 3 × 1010 colony forming units (CFU) or a placebo drink over eight weeks. Portable biofeedback devices were used to measure the electroencephalography, heart rate, and electrodermal responses along with cognitive tests at the baseline, week 4, and week 8. Data were statistically analyzed using mixed factorial ANOVA and results revealed that there is no significant difference between the probiotic and placebo groups for heart rate (61.90 bpm ± 5.84 vs. 67.67 bpm ± 8.42, p = 0.09) and electrodermal responses (0.27 µS ± 0.19 vs. 0.41 µS ± 0.12, p = 0.07) after eight weeks. Similarly, brain waves showed no significant changes during the study period except for the theta wave and delta wave at week 4 (p &lt; 0.05). The cognitive test reaction time (digit vigilance test) showed significant improvement in the probiotic group compared to the placebo (p &lt; 0.05). In conclusion, these findings suggest that daily probiotics supplementation may have the potential to modulate the brain waves namely, theta (relaxation) and delta (attention) for better training, brain function, and psychological improvement to exercise. Further research is needed to elucidate the mechanism of current findings.</jats:p>

Effect of Probiotics on Psychiatric Symptoms and Central Nervous System Functions in Human Health and Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The publishing dates of the studies were between 2007 and 2021. Most studies were conducted in Asia ( n = 28; 51.9%) [ 30 , 32 , 33 , 36 , 41 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 47 , 48 , 50 , 51 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 62 , 63 , 69 , 70 , 72 , 74 , 75 , 77 , 78 , 79 ], followed by Europe ( n = 18; 33.3%) [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 22 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 40 , 42 , 46 , 49 , 52 , 59 , 60 , 64 , 65 , 67 , 73 ], America ( n = 7; 12%) [ 21 , 38 , 39 , 61 , 68 ,…”

“…Only four studies examined the impact on CNS function by using functional magnetic resonance imaging [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ], while only six studies used electroencephalography (EEG) [ 33 , 34 , 43 , 49 , 56 , 75 ]. There was also one study applying magnetoencephalography (MEG) [ 22 ], another using actigraphic measurements [ 78 ] and one study with electrodermal responses (EDR) [ 33 ]. The other studies investigated anxiety, depression, stress, psychiatric distress and other mental or behavioral states by validated questionnaires.…”

“…Six studies recorded EEG, three of them during sleep to assess the effects of probiotics on sleep parameters [ 43 , 56 , 75 ]; these studies reported improvements of sleep quality. Two further studies found that probiotic intake improved memory function [ 34 ] and modulated brain regions associated with relaxation and attention [ 33 ]. In contrast, Kelly et al (2017) found no significant difference between the probiotic and placebo treatment in the EEG measurements for cognitive functions in hypothalamic–pituitary adrenal response while socially evaluated cold pressor test, paired associates learning, attention witching task, emotional troop and emotion recognition task [ 49 ].…”

Effects of Probiotics on Anxiety, Stress, Mood and Fitness of Badminton Players

“…Modulation of microbiota might also enhance endurance in athletes and improvement of VO2max might be due to the prevention of upper respiratory tract infection [ 46 ]. Reduced anxiety and stress conditions due to probiotic supplements could improve athletes’ brain function, resulting in high performance in competitions [ 51 ].…”

Effects of Nutritional Interventions on Accuracy and Reaction Time with Relevance to Mental Fatigue in Sporting, Military, and Aerospace Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Future research could align the mechanisms of a given nutritional intervention to those of mental fatigue, in order to identify potentially effective interventions to mitigate the negative physiological and behavioral consequences of mental fatigue. Nutritional interventions excluded from the meta-analysis, due to unavailable or insufficient data, were probiotics [ 76 , 77 ], nitrates [ 78 , 79 ], omega-3 [ 80 ], creatine monohydrate [ 81 ], and ketone salts [ 82 ], which may have led to different results. However, this meta-analysis opens avenues for further research to quantify the effects of interventions on mental fatigue-related outcomes.…”