Nutrition can play a significant role in emotional health, not only in humans but also in animals. Ephraim, Brockman, and Jewell (2022) investigated whether diets enriched with fish oil (omega-3 fatty acids), polyphenols, and prebiotics could influence gut microbiota composition and reduce biomarkers associated with canine anxiety.
Forty dogs aged 5–14 years were included in a cross-over study. After consuming a standardized washout food, they were randomized to either a control diet (fish oil + polyphenol blend without tomato pomace) or a test diet (same formula plus tomato pomace). After 30 days, dogs switched to the alternate food. Across conditions, the most significant changes occurred when comparing the washout food with the supplemented diets.
Key findings included:
- Significant decrease in plasma 4-ethylphenyl sulfate (4-EPS), a metabolite strongly associated with anxiety disorders, following both supplemented diets compared with the washout diet.
- Further reduction in 4-EPS levels when dogs consumed the test food with tomato pomace, compared to the control diet.
- Increases in beneficial bacterial genera such as Blautia, Parabacteroides, and Odoribacter, which correlated with reductions in anxiety-linked metabolites.
- Plasma levels of other metabolites associated with anxiety were also reduced with the enriched diets.
These results suggest that targeted nutritional strategies—specifically the inclusion of polyphenols, prebiotics, and omega-3 fatty acids—can beneficially modulate the gut-brain axis in dogs, leading to improvements in biomarkers related to anxiety. While behavioral outcomes were not directly measured, the biological changes highlight promising avenues for dietary interventions in canine anxiety management.
Source: Ephraim, E., Brockman, J., & Jewell, D. (2022). A Diet Supplemented with Polyphenols, Prebiotics and Omega-3 Fatty Acids Modulates the Intestinal Microbiota and Improves the Profile of Metabolites Linked with Anxiety in Dogs. Biology, 11. . Authors: E. Ephraim, J. Brockman, D. Jewell. Journal: Biology.
