For many, new stresses may arise as the result of the New Year. From New Year’s resolutions to the upcoming tax season, stress and anxiety can take a toll on the body. Recently, researchers looked at how stress and anxiety directly affect the gut-brain axis.

A new study on mice conducted by an international team of researchers found a connection between probiotics, stress and anxiety. Researchers divided the mice into two groups, one being fed a Lactobacillus rhamnosus-filled broth, a bacterium found in EndoMune Advanced, and the other a bacteria-free broth. Conclusions drawn from the study suggest that those that drank the Lactobacillus rhamnosus-filled broth were less stressed and produced less corticosterone, a stress hormone, when reacting to a nerve-racking event.

Although it is not conclusive that probiotics can replace medications for anxiety or stress, the study initiates the idea that alternative treatments, like probiotics, for anxiety or stress disorders may exist in the future. Read the full study and its implications here.