RESEARCHERS have found that an extra dose of 'good bacteria' could be unnecessary if you have a well-rounded diet.
Professor Margaret Morris, head of Pharmacology at the University of NSW, led a team looking at the effects of western-style diets on brain function and gut bacteria.
The lab studied the impact of probiotics on rats fed for 25 days on either a healthy diet, or 'cafeteria' food such as cookies, cakes and meat pies.
In the junk food-fed rats with "grossly dysregulated" gut health the probiotics had a positive effect on the bacteria in their digestive tract, with the rats having better memory and brain function.
Intriguingly, however, for the rats that were fed a more healthy diet, the probiotics were found to have a negative effect on memory and had little impact on gut microbial diversity.
The study was published yesterday in the Molecular Psychiatry journal - CLICK HERE.
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