1 STUDY FINDS PROBIOTICS 'NOT AS BENEFICIAL FOR GUT HEALTH AS
2 PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT' (THEGUARDIAN.COM)
4 Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:30PM (BeauHD)
5 from the contrary-to-popular-belief dept.
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
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."
53 (by jblues ( 1703158 ))
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
68 ** Bitter sweet (Score:3, Informative)
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.
84 (by omnichad ( 1198475 ))
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.
94 ** I guess it's back to (Score:2)
95 (by bobstreo ( 1320787 ))
98 shit transplants for the health crazed. /s
99 Seriously, is anything really good or really bad for you in
102 ** Don't take probiotic pills (Score:5, Insightful)
103 (by PopeRatzo ( 965947 ))
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
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.
128 ** Re: Don't take probiotic pills (Score:3)
129 (by ljw1004 ( 764174 ))
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?
137 (by omnichad ( 1198475 ))
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
153 (by PopeRatzo ( 965947 ))
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?
170 ** Makes sense to me. (Score:5, Informative)
171 (by Vegan Cyclist ( 1650427 ))
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.
184 ** This study is done by morons (Score:2)
185 (by gurps_npc ( 621217 ))
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
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
200 (by omnichad ( 1198475 ))
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