STUDY FINDS PROBIOTICS 'NOT AS BENEFICIAL FOR GUT HEALTH AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT' (THEGUARDIAN.COM) Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:30PM (BeauHD) from the contrary-to-popular-belief dept. o Reference: 0102641010 o News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/18/09/06/2153223/study-finds-probiotics-not-as-beneficial-for-gut-health-as-previously-thought o Source link: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/sep/06/probiotics-not-as-beneficial-for-gut-health-as-previously-thought An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: > The gut microbiome is the sum total of all the micro-organisms living in a person's gut, and has been shown to play a huge role in human health. New research has found probiotics -- usually taken as supplements or in foods such as yoghurt, kimchi or kefir -- [1]can hinder a patient's gut microbiome from returning to normal after a course of antibiotics , and that different people respond to probiotics in dramatically different ways. In the [2]first of two papers published in the journal Cell, researchers performed endoscopies and colonoscopies to sample and study the gut microbiomes of people who took antibiotics before and after probiotic consumption. Another group were given samples of their own gut microbiomes collected before consuming antibiotics. The researchers found the microbiomes of those who had taken the probiotics had suffered a "very severe disturbance." "Once the probiotics had colonized the gut, they completely inhibited the return of the indigenous microbiome which was disrupted during antibiotic treatment," said Eran Elinav, an immunologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and lead author on the studies. > > The scientists also compared the gut microbiomes of the gut intestinal tract of 25 volunteers with that of their stools. They found that stool bacteria only partially correlated with the microbiomes functioning inside their bodies. "So the fact that we all almost exclusively rely on stool in our microbiome research may not be a reliable way of studying gut microbiome health," said Elinav. In the [3]second paper , the researchers examined the colonization and impact of probiotics on 15 people by sampling within their gastrointestinal tract. They divided the individuals into two groups: one were given a preparation made of 11 strains of very commonly used probiotics and the other were given a placebo. Of those who were given probiotics, he said, "We could group the individuals into two distinct groups: one which resisted the colonisation of the probiotics, and one in which the probiotics colonized the gut and modified the composition of the gut microbiome and the genes of the host individual." [1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/sep/06/probiotics- not-as-beneficial-for-gut-health-as-previously-thought [2] https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(18)31102-4 [3] https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(18)31108-5 ** ** Re: (Score:2) (by jblues ( 1703158 )) Bacteria are are naturally present in raw fruit and vegetables and naturally fermented foods, including naturally fermented bread. Most cold climate cultures relied on fermented vegetables to get them through the winter. Salt fermentation of raw vegetables allows the lactobacillus bacterias to proliferate. Almost all of the sugars are consumed, however most of the rest of nutritional profile is intact, including the vitamin C. In some cases the nutritional profile is enhanced. This is why viking sailors di ** Bitter sweet (Score:3, Informative) (by Anonymous Coward) Been saying this for years. I get some people have IBS but the reliance on things like yogurt is crazy. Fun little tip for a stomach ache - saliva. Let it build in your mouth (without water) and swallow in one gulp. Not only does it give your mouth a natural way to break down any bateria / sugar, but helps to calm your gut. Mouthwash is the nuclear option. So much of how your body functions comes down to diet. It's interesting they do not go into what foods were consumed. ** ** Re: (Score:3) (by omnichad ( 1198475 )) The "S" stands for syndrome, which identifies it as a collection of symptoms and not a disease. It's a diagnosis only in that there are good ways to treat the symptoms even when you don't understand the root cause fully. ** I guess it's back to (Score:2) (by bobstreo ( 1320787 )) shit transplants for the health crazed. /s Seriously, is anything really good or really bad for you in moderation? ** Don't take probiotic pills (Score:5, Insightful) (by PopeRatzo ( 965947 )) Don't waste your money on probiotic capsules. If you want to try to increase the amount or variety of bacteria in your guts, there are tons of delicious foods that are chock full of probiotics. Olives, pickles, fermented meats like the Italian delicacy soprasetta (which might be the tastiest thing ever invented by humans). Kimchi is also good, but it will make you smell bad, so if you're single, you might want to go easy on the kimchi. Also, if you use vinegar on salads, try getting some of that good cider vinegar that still has the "mother" in it. Shake the bottle and use like any other vinegar. And of course, yogurt, kefir, that kind of stuff is delicious too. I'm not crazy about kombucha. It's a big fad now and there are places here in California that have kombucha on tap, but it's not really to my taste. Some people swear by it. I notice that now when you buy it in the store, they ask for an ID since there's a small amount of alcohol in it. Also, alcohol is not really good for your gut bacteria, but there are more important things in life than gut bacteria, you know? Just eat a lot of different kinds of food and you'll end up with good gut bacteria without even trying. ** Re: Don't take probiotic pills (Score:3) (by ljw1004 ( 764174 )) Why would you advise people on natural sources of probiotics - in response to an article which said that they're either ineffectual or actually bad? ** Re: (Score:2) (by omnichad ( 1198475 )) They likely contain a lot more biodiversity vs. a monoculture or handful of strains in probiotic supplements. And they would still probably be ineffectual most of the time, except after antibiotic use. This study doesn't cover any of that. Of course if you're trying to feed the microbiome you already have, eating unfermented vegetables makes more sense as they still have the complex sugars like oligosaccharides, fructans and so on that would feed it. That depends on whether you are repopulating after an ** Re: (Score:2) (by PopeRatzo ( 965947 )) > Why would you advise people on natural sources of > probiotics - in response to an article which said that > they're either ineffectual or actually bad? Because on the high probability that this new "study" actually gets overturned by future research, I want people to know they can eat delicious healthy food. Remember when fats were bad? And coffee? And wine was good for you? And eggs were bad for you? And low-fat diets were good for losing weight? And chocolate was bad for you? Do you need me to go on? When ** Makes sense to me. (Score:5, Informative) (by Vegan Cyclist ( 1650427 )) Most probiotics are a pretty small range of bacteria, and I don't know if I've ever seen anywhere that confirms these are actually the ones we want on a large scale...especially when some supplements have pretty large doses of these. From all the reading I've done it seems the best direction will be to focus on prebiotics, aka the foods that the microbiome thrives on, which is typically fibrous vegetable matter. Feed the good ones you've got (rather than trying to implant others), and you'll probably be better off. ** This study is done by morons (Score:2) (by gurps_npc ( 621217 )) What idiot thinks that if you give pills of a specific biome you will get something BESIDES that specific biome???? Look, if you take probiotic pills, you are replacing your normal biome WITH the biome of the pills. That was the presumed GOAL of taking the pills. The fact that your biome change is the thing you were trying to do, that's why you take the pills. If you have a blue car, and then paint it with red paint you are an idiot if you complain that the car is no longer red. There are lots of good reas ** Re: (Score:2) (by omnichad ( 1198475 )) > Look, if you take probiotic pills, you are replacing your > normal biome WITH the biome of the pills. The study concluded the opposite (in all cases except with antibiotic use). And the results are surprising. What it sounds like is happening is that all of the bacteria in the probiotic compete for food with the biofilm in your intestines. However, the probiotic has no way to supplant the biofilm - that's a protective layer that keeps out competing bacteria. It just starves the resident population a little bit as it passes on through. Either way, more or less none of it stays behind and it all leaves t