Probiotics vs SAM-E for mood
Short answer: For mood, more users report improvement with Probiotics — 100% of 54 reports, versus 92% of 114 for SAM-E.
Probiotics has 2,293 meta-analyses and 2,235 randomized trials on PubMed; SAM-E has 3 and 1.
Based on 479 reports about Probiotics and 284 about SAM-E. Not medical advice.
| Probiotics Supplement | SAM-E Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 63%helped144 reports · high confidence | 63%helped131 reports · high confidence |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mostly positive |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | BResearch: Moderate |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 2,293 / 2,235 | 3 / 1 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Mood % reporting improvement | 100% (54) | 92% (114) |
| Digestion % reporting improvement | 84% (86) | — |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 90% (29) | 67% (21) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | 80% (10) | 87% (23) |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 70% (10) | 100% (13) |
| Common side effects | stomach issues, brain fog, diarrhea, withdrawal | insomnia, jitteriness, stomach issues, anxiety |
| Typical dose reported | 2 capsules / daily | 200-400 mg / daily |
Some combinations of probiotics or strains may be beneficial in IBS. However, certainty in the evidence for efficacy by GRADE criteria was low to very low across almost all of our analyses.
Gastroenterology, 2023 ↗“What finally made a difference was taking probiotics...I felt better fairly quickly.”
Our results showed that robotic surgery contributed positively to some perioperative outcomes but longer operative times remained a shortcoming. Better quality evidence is needed to guide surgical decision making regarding the precise clinical targets of this innovation in the next generation of its use.
Surg Endosc, 2016 ↗“I also take SAM-e in the morning (200mg or 400mg per day depending on how I'm feeling) for my general depression/anxiety.”
Related comparisons
Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate