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