test/expected/SLASHDOT/0102641010

   1      STUDY FINDS PROBIOTICS 'NOT AS BENEFICIAL FOR GUT HEALTH AS
   2                 PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT' (THEGUARDIAN.COM)
   3
   4   Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:30PM (BeauHD)
   5   from the contrary-to-popular-belief dept.
   6
   7   o Reference: 0102641010
   8   o News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/18/09/06/2153223/study-finds-probiotics-not-as-beneficial-for-gut-health-as-previously-thought
   9   o Source link: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/sep/06/probiotics-not-as-beneficial-for-gut-health-as-previously-thought
  10
  11
  12     An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian:
  13
  14     >   The   gut   microbiome   is   the  sum  total  of  all  the
  15     micro-organisms  living  in  a person's gut, and has been shown
  16     to  play  a  huge  role in human health. New research has found
  17     probiotics  -- usually taken as supplements or in foods such as
  18     yoghurt,  kimchi  or  kefir  --  [1]can  hinder a patient's gut
  19     microbiome   from   returning  to  normal  after  a  course  of
  20     antibiotics  ,  and that different people respond to probiotics
  21     in  dramatically  different ways. In the [2]first of two papers
  22     published   in   the   journal   Cell,   researchers  performed
  23     endoscopies  and  colonoscopies  to  sample  and  study the gut
  24     microbiomes  of  people  who  took antibiotics before and after
  25     probiotic  consumption.  Another  group  were  given samples of
  26     their   own   gut   microbiomes   collected   before  consuming
  27     antibiotics.  The  researchers  found  the microbiomes of those
  28     who  had  taken  the  probiotics  had  suffered  a "very severe
  29     disturbance."  "Once the probiotics had colonized the gut, they
  30     completely  inhibited  the  return of the indigenous microbiome
  31     which  was  disrupted  during  antibiotic treatment," said Eran
  32     Elinav,  an  immunologist  at the Weizmann Institute of Science
  33     in Israel and lead author on the studies.
  34
  35     >
  36
  37     >  The  scientists also compared the gut microbiomes of the gut
  38     intestinal  tract  of  25 volunteers with that of their stools.
  39     They  found  that stool bacteria only partially correlated with
  40     the  microbiomes  functioning inside their bodies. "So the fact
  41     that  we all almost exclusively rely on stool in our microbiome
  42     research  may  not be a reliable way of studying gut microbiome
  43     health,"  said Elinav. In the [3]second paper , the researchers
  44     examined  the  colonization  and  impact  of  probiotics  on 15
  45     people  by  sampling  within their gastrointestinal tract. They
  46     divided  the  individuals  into  two  groups:  one were given a
  47     preparation   made   of   11  strains  of  very  commonly  used
  48     probiotics  and  the  other  were given a placebo. Of those who
  49     were   given   probiotics,   he   said,  "We  could  group  the
  50     individuals  into  two  distinct groups: one which resisted the
  51     colonisation   of   the   probiotics,  and  one  in  which  the
  52     probiotics  colonized  the  gut and modified the composition of
  53     the gut microbiome and the genes of the host individual."
  54
  55
  56
  57     [1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/sep/06/probiotics-
  58     not-as-beneficial-for-gut-health-as-previously-thought
  59
  60     [2] https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(18)31102-4
  61
  62     [3] https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(18)31108-5
  63
  64
  65   **
  66
  67      ** Re: (Score:2)
  68         (by jblues ( 1703158 ))
  69
  70
  71         Bacteria are are naturally present in raw fruit and
  72         vegetables and naturally fermented foods, including naturally
  73         fermented bread. Most cold climate cultures relied on
  74         fermented vegetables to get them through the winter. Salt
  75         fermentation of raw vegetables allows the lactobacillus
  76         bacterias to proliferate. Almost all of the sugars are
  77         consumed, however most of the rest of nutritional profile is
  78         intact, including the vitamin C. In some cases the
  79         nutritional profile is enhanced. This is why viking sailors
  80         di
  81
  82
  83   ** Bitter sweet (Score:3, Informative)
  84      (by Anonymous Coward)
  85
  86
  87      Been saying this for years. I get some people have IBS but the
  88      reliance on things like yogurt is crazy.
  89      Fun little tip for a stomach ache - saliva. Let it build in your
  90      mouth (without water) and swallow in one gulp. Not only does it
  91      give your mouth a natural way to break down any bateria / sugar,
  92      but helps to calm your gut. Mouthwash is the nuclear option.
  93      So much of how your body functions comes down to diet. It's
  94      interesting they do not go into what foods were consumed.
  95
  96      **
  97
  98         ** Re: (Score:3)
  99            (by omnichad ( 1198475 ))
 100
 101
 102            The "S" stands for syndrome, which identifies it as a
 103            collection of symptoms and not a disease. It's a diagnosis
 104            only in that there are good ways to treat the symptoms
 105            even when you don't understand the root cause fully.
 106
 107
 108
 109   ** I guess it's back to (Score:2)
 110      (by bobstreo ( 1320787 ))
 111
 112
 113      shit transplants for the health crazed.  /s
 114      Seriously, is anything really good or really bad for you in
 115      moderation?
 116
 117   ** Don't take probiotic pills (Score:5, Insightful)
 118      (by PopeRatzo ( 965947 ))
 119
 120
 121      Don't waste your money on probiotic capsules. If you want to try
 122      to increase the amount or variety of bacteria in your guts,
 123      there are tons of delicious foods that are chock full of
 124      probiotics. Olives, pickles, fermented meats like the Italian
 125      delicacy soprasetta (which might be the tastiest thing ever
 126      invented by humans). Kimchi is also good, but it will make you
 127      smell bad, so if you're single, you might want to go easy on the
 128      kimchi.
 129      Also, if you use vinegar on salads, try getting some of that
 130      good cider vinegar that still has the "mother" in it. Shake the
 131      bottle and use like any other vinegar. And of course, yogurt,
 132      kefir, that kind of stuff is delicious too.
 133      I'm not crazy about kombucha. It's a big fad now and there are
 134      places here in California that have kombucha on tap, but it's
 135      not really to my taste. Some people swear by it. I notice that
 136      now when you buy it in the store, they ask for an ID since
 137      there's a small amount of alcohol in it.
 138      Also, alcohol is not really good for your gut bacteria, but
 139      there are more important things in life than gut bacteria, you
 140      know? Just eat a lot of different kinds of food and you'll end
 141      up with good gut bacteria without even trying.
 142
 143      ** Re: Don't take probiotic pills (Score:3)
 144         (by ljw1004 ( 764174 ))
 145
 146
 147         Why would you advise people on natural sources of probiotics
 148         - in response to an article which said that they're either
 149         ineffectual or actually bad?
 150
 151         ** Re: (Score:2)
 152            (by omnichad ( 1198475 ))
 153
 154
 155            They likely contain a lot more biodiversity vs. a
 156            monoculture or handful of strains in probiotic
 157            supplements. And they would still probably be ineffectual
 158            most of the time, except after antibiotic use. This study
 159            doesn't cover any of that. Of course if you're trying to
 160            feed the microbiome you already have, eating unfermented
 161            vegetables makes more sense as they still have the complex
 162            sugars like oligosaccharides, fructans and so on that
 163            would feed it. That depends on whether you are
 164            repopulating after an
 165
 166
 167         ** Re: (Score:2)
 168            (by PopeRatzo ( 965947 ))
 169
 170
 171            > Why would you advise people on natural sources of
 172            > probiotics - in response to an article which said that
 173            > they're either ineffectual or actually bad?
 174            Because on the high probability that this new "study"
 175            actually gets overturned by future research, I want people
 176            to know they can eat delicious healthy food.
 177            Remember when fats were bad? And coffee? And wine was good
 178            for you? And eggs were bad for you? And low-fat diets were
 179            good for losing weight?
 180            And chocolate was bad for you? Do you need me to go on?
 181            When
 182
 183
 184
 185   ** Makes sense to me. (Score:5, Informative)
 186      (by Vegan Cyclist ( 1650427 ))
 187
 188
 189      Most probiotics are a pretty small range of bacteria, and I
 190      don't know if I've ever seen anywhere that confirms these are
 191      actually the ones we want on a large scale...especially when
 192      some supplements have pretty large doses of these.
 193      From all the reading I've done it seems the best direction will
 194      be to focus on prebiotics, aka the foods that the microbiome
 195      thrives on, which is typically fibrous vegetable matter. Feed
 196      the good ones you've got (rather than trying to implant others),
 197      and you'll probably be better off.
 198
 199   ** This study is done by morons (Score:2)
 200      (by gurps_npc ( 621217 ))
 201
 202
 203      What idiot thinks that if you give pills of a specific biome you
 204      will get something BESIDES that specific biome???? Look, if you
 205      take probiotic pills, you are replacing your normal biome WITH
 206      the biome of the pills.
 207      That was the presumed GOAL of taking the pills. The fact that
 208      your biome change is the thing you were trying to do, that's why
 209      you take the pills.
 210      If you have a blue car, and then paint it with red paint you are
 211      an idiot if you complain that the car is no longer red.
 212      There are lots of good reas
 213
 214      ** Re: (Score:2)
 215         (by omnichad ( 1198475 ))
 216
 217
 218         > Look, if you take probiotic pills, you are replacing your
 219         > normal biome WITH the biome of the pills.
 220         The study concluded the opposite (in all cases except with
 221         antibiotic use). And the results are surprising. What it
 222         sounds like is happening is that all of the bacteria in the
 223         probiotic compete for food with the biofilm in your
 224         intestines. However, the probiotic has no way to supplant the
 225         biofilm - that's a protective layer that keeps out competing
 226         bacteria. It just starves the resident population a little
 227         bit as it passes on through. Either way, more or less none of
 228         it stays behind and it all leaves t
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