Drug-free mood boost

Enjoying cool, creamy yogurt daily can ward off a blue mood, report investigators at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville. In an animal study, depressed mice treated with lactobacillus, a probiotic bacteria strain found in yogurt and kefir, had 46 percent lower levels of kynurenine (a metabolite in the blood that has been shown to cause depression) compared with mice that were not given the probiotic. The study authors say lactobacillus eases inflammation, decreasing the production of the depressive compound. They suspect humans would experience similar benefits consuming probiotic-rich foods.