Public speaking is an important skill that can positively influence an individuals’ everyday life, career, relationships and much more. Despite, or maybe as a result of the importance of this skill, over the past five decades many people consistently rank public speaking amongst their top fears regardless of either gender or age. Millions of people invest themselves financially and spiritually with the goal of building their skill and confidence in public speaking. Whether through training videos, workshops, books, or classes people look for ways to improve. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, the results are often disappointing. Many individuals find themselves continuing to experience nervousness and anxiety when speaking in front of audiences and falling short of being able to deliver their speeches as hoped.

One cannot help but ask, is there a secret antidote to public speaking anxiety? The key to answering this question lies in understanding what might be the cause of stress-related anxiety and how the brain and body connect. In a situation of stress, the brain activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, resulting in an immediate release of cortisol to prime the body for the “fight or flight” response. Recent studies into the role of the microbiota-gut-brain axis have discovered a direct link between gut microbiota and HPA reactivity. These findings suggest that manipulations of microbiota might modulate the negative effects of HPA axis activation.

Though there are many factors that can influence the composition of gut microbiota and therefore the gut-brain axis, diet can be considered the most critical. Quantitative analysis suggests food intake can have both direct or indirect effects on brain function; changing food preferences can affect the brain and people’s behavior. Furthermore, a handful of studies investigated how the consumption of certain types of food, such as probiotics and prebiotics, can influence anxiety-like behaviors in general. Even though significant progress has been made in recognizing the importance of the diet-microbiota-gut-brain connection and the effect of food consumption in treating general anxiety, whether those findings hold true for specific anxieties needs further examination.

Against this backdrop, we are conducting a correlational study to assess the relation of dietary pattern and anxiety levels in the setting of public speaking. If you are interested to participate, please click the link below. Your response will be completely anonymous.