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