Gut feelings: could everyday prebiotics calm anxiety and improve sleep?
NCT ID NCT07752823
First seen Aug 07, 2026 · Last updated Aug 07, 2026
Summary
This large citizen-science trial is testing whether two prebiotic products can reduce feelings of anxiety and improve related outcomes like sleep in adults. Around 1,000 participants will be randomly assigned to take either an active prebiotic or a placebo for 12 weeks, without knowing which they receive. Researchers will track changes in anxiety scores, sleep quality, and safety to see if these products offer a natural way to support mental wellness.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Prebiotic products (Active Gut Feeling Product 1 and 2) compared with placebo
- What this could lead to
- If these prebiotics work, they could offer a natural, accessible way to help ease anxiety and improve sleep and overall mental wellness.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-stage trial, and the effects may be small or no better than placebo. Prebiotics can also cause digestive discomfort in some people.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 1,000 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Aug 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Aug 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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A company
The lead sponsor is a pharmaceutical, biotech, or medical-device company.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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21 to 80 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Criteria: 3.1 Inclusion Participants must meet all of the following criteria: * Adults aged 21-80 years (inclusive) at the time of electronic informed consent, of any ethnicity, race, or gender identity * Assigned sex at birth determines sex-specific PRO branching (e.g., menstrual interference) where applicable * Reside in the contiguous 48 states in the United States and is able to provide a valid US shipping address and and 10-digit mobile phone number * Per state regulations, individuals residing in New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island will be excluded * Capable of providing voluntary, electronic informed consent and willing to comply with study procedures, including remote biospecimen collection * PROMIS Anxiety 8A T-score between 55.0 and 69.9 (inclusive) at screening, corresponding to mild-to-moderate anxiety symptoms. * On a stable medication regimen for ≥30 days prior to screening and willing to maintain that regimen for the duration of the trial, unless changes are deemed medically necessary by the participant's healthcare provider. Stable, prescribed psychotropic medications (including SSRIs, SNRIs, and other antidepressants or anxiolytics) are not exclusionary. * Willing to take a study product and not know the intervention arm assignment (active or placebo) or the product identity. * Reliable daily access to the internet via mobile device or computer 3.2 Exclusion Individuals who report any of the following during screening may be excluded from participation: * Currently pregnant, planning to become pregnant during the trial, or breastfeeding * Unable to read and understand English at a 7th-grade reading level * Currently enrolled in another interventional clinical trial or planning to enroll in one during the trial timeline * Heavy alcohol consumption (defined for female sex assigned at birth \>/= 2 alcoholic beverages/day, male sex assigned at birth \>/=3/day) or use of recreational or illicit drugs other than cannabis * History of bariatric or weight-loss surgery (e.g., Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, adjustable gastric banding, or biliopancreatic diversion). * Reports a current diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease). * Current or recent (within 3 months) major illness, surgery, or hospitalization posing a known significant safety risk * Diagnosis of cardiac dysfunction, severe liver disease, or severe kidney disease that presents a known contraindication to study product ingredients or substantial safety risk: * NYHA Class III or IV congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, uncontrolled arrhythmias, cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease, stage 3b or 4 chronic kidney disease, or kidney failure * Significant immunocompromise, including diagnosed primary or acquired immunodeficiency, current chemotherapy, current immunotherapy, current use of immunosuppressive medications, or daily corticosteroid dose \>5 mg prednisone-equivalent * Antibiotic use (oral, IV) currently or within 30 days prior to screening * Plans to start a new structured dietary regimen (including new probiotic or prebiotic supplementation outside the study product) during the trial period * Use of medications with a well-established interaction posing a substantial safety risk with study product ingredients * Active suicidality as determined by a response of 3 in item 9 of the PHQ-9 score at screening * Known hypersensitivity to any component of the study products * Wave-specific exclusion criteria per Subprotocol A (Wave 1) or Subprotocol B (Wave 2) Note on medication exclusions: routine prescription medications (including antihypertensives, anticoagulants at standard outpatient doses, antiseizure medications, and medications carrying a grapefruit-consumption warning) are not categorically excluded. Specific medications posing a documented safety risk in combination with the food ingredients (products) are addressed by the study screening Q-bank. * Participants residing in the states of New York, New Jersey, or Rhode Island are not eligible to participate in the study. This restriction is due to state regulatory requirements governing direct-to-consumer at-home laboratory specimen collection and processing that cannot be accommodated within the fully decentralized design of the study. No alternative collection pathway is available under the current protocol. * To ensure compliance, state-of-residence logic is built into the enrollment platform. Participants who indicate a residential address in New York, New Jersey, or Rhode Island will not be eligible. This automated screening ensures that ineligible participants are not inadvertently enrolled in the study.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Radicle Science Inc.
Del Mar, California, 92014-2605, United States
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