The effect of probiotic-psychobiotic food consumption on body image and self-esteem in young adults.

Stress, lifestyle, infectious diseases, exercise and dietary habits can cause deterioration of the intestinal microbiota of individuals. Disruption of the microbiota may pave the way for the formation of psychiatric disorders. This change that may occur in their psychology can negatively affect the body image and self-esteem of individuals. It is known that the use of psychobiotics can affect positively. For this purpose, the study was carried out with the participation of 229 students studying at Biruni University in Istanbul. According to the findings; It was determined that 89.08% of the students participating in the study had knowledge about probiotics and 45.85% knew about psychobiotics, and 68.12% of them consumed probiotics. When the consumption habits were examined, it was found that it increased in proportion to the knowledge. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between male and female students in terms of knowledge level (p>0.05). It was determined that probiotic food consumption did not make a significant difference on self-esteem and body image (p>0.05). The reason for this is thought to be due to the fact that the concept of psychobiotics is a relatively new concept and has only recently been studied. There were no participants in the study with low body image. In addition, there is no participant with high self-esteem. Since the covid-19 pandemic and quarantine processes will have more time with themselves, there is a possibility that they paid more attention to their bodies and selves. Keywords: body image, probiotic, psychobiotic, self-esteem,