Probiotics didn’t reduce uni test stress, but lockdown had an unexpected effect

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-06-09 11:21

New Zealand

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Researchers studied hundreds of University of Auckland students during the first semester of 2020 to see if taking a specific probiotic strain helped lower their stress levels around exam time. They found no difference between the probiotic and a placebo, but highlight that overall student stress levels actually went down right before exams. The team says NZ’s COVID-19 lockdown went from Level 4 to Level 1 over the semester period, which may explain the fall in stress levels, and could have prevented them from seeing the actual effect of the probiotics.