Exciting stuff you guys! Studies are showing that probiotics can help with anxiety and depression. Typically, people take them to ease digestion, bloating, gas, etc. I personally take probiotics before I have milk because I'm lactose intolerant and they have "good" bacteria that digest the lactose for me. They're over the counter and I've never read or felt any side effects on them.

Here's some reading on it:

• "Rao and Bested believe that probiotics "crowd out" the more toxic stomach bacteria linked to depression and other mood disorders. “Bifidobacteria appears to increase levels of tryptophan in the brain, a chemical that "helps people feel better." Patients taking the probiotic also showed a marked improvement in their digestion, experiencing less bloating and gas and a reduction in inflammation. The findings are "huge," Bested said. "The subjects felt less anxious, they felt calmer, they felt better able to cope with their illness, they were sleeping better, had fewer heart palpitations and less symptoms of anxiety," she said."
• "Rao explained that the good bacteria produce "compounds that get to the brain and help the brain to manage problems associated with behavioural and mood problems, such as anxiety and depression." He said the findings open "a door to a whole new field, and that is the relationship of gut micro flora, or gut bacteria, to many disorders - mental disorders being one of them. So it opens a door to many future research and applications in this area.""

Want to read more?

• Other studies on probiotics and depression/anxiety include yogurt. Yogurt has "good" bacteria in it too. So if the whole probiotic tablet or pill thing bothers you, eat some yogurt!
• Since this is much more cheaper and much more friendly than trying prescribed medication, you may want to buy probiotic tablets or pills. I get the Nature's Bounty Probiotic Acidophilus tablets (and the pills). For around $8-14, you're set for almost a third of the year (most of their probiotic bottles have 100 tablets/pills). They'll sometimes have twin packs for saver deals so you can get another 100 for a couple extra dollars. I can get them with natural strawberry flavoring too - and they taste just like candy. I thought I'd mention that in case tablets or pills turn you off. Lastly, you can often find coupons for Nature's Bounty stuff online (e.g. - coupons.com) or in store ads, so that's a plus. At least, where I live, they're a widely recognized brand.

And now...! I'm going to take one of my tablets everyday (I don't have milk everyday, so I don't take them that often right now anyway) and come back here in two weeks to let you guys know how it went for me. It's July 16th, so I'll edit this on the 30th.