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Study Finds Probiotics 'Not As Beneficial For Gut Health As Previously Thought' (theguardian.com)
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 -- 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 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 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."
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 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."
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.
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 didn't get scurvy. I used to wonder how these past cultures survived the whole winter without vegetables. They actually didn't.
The amount of bacteria in many fermented foods exceeds probiotics dosages. They might not be very beneficial, but they're probably not very harmful either. They certainly have an effect on the gut biome. In some cases certain strains have been shown to be beneficial, through immune system modulation, for certain conditions, such as in the natural treatment of eczma - there are efforts ongoing to commercialize on this.
If it acquires resources on instantiation like a duck, then its a shared_ptr<Duck>
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.
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 the body with your digested food.
With antibiotic use, the biofilm dies off, but there are only a few strains in the probiotic. These compete with the remnant biofilm reserve in the appendix for recolonization and actually slow recovery. Again this is just continuing my theory based on the results of the study. And those few strains are not enough diversity to maintain your digestive health and should not be the entire makeup of your intestinal microbiome.
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 a "study" comes out saying something is either good for you or not, you can almost set your clock another study coming around the corner saying the opposite. So eat what's good. If your grandparents ate something and lived to be 90, it probably won't be bad for you. Just don't waste money on some gelatin capsule with "live bacteria" in it when there are delicious alternatives.
Remember the Nutrition Pyramid? The Four Food Groups? Member? Huh?
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You're absolutely right. So the worst thing that can happen from ingesting this food is that you've just eaten something delicious that people have been eating for centuries. I'm not sure I get what part of it that is "crazy".
I don't know if probiotics are good or bogus or simply neutral. But I knew that fermented food is good food. I buy this habanero hot sauce that is fermented in barrels and it will make you weep and praise the lord. Get you some of that whole milk yogurt and put a big spoon on some blueberries and a drop of honey, it's like dipping your snout in Aphrodite's lady parts.
Don't pay attention to the labels. Eat what you like and don't overdo it and you'll live a nice long life and you won't need all those antibiotics because you'll be healthy.
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I once made sourdough bread myself and added more of the starter culture to the dough than you normally would, since I just had too much. It turned out to be pretty sour. But what was really interesting: when the bread got older it never grew mould as it normally does. Instead it just got even more sour over time. The environment of the dough did not permit mould to grow, even after the initial organisms were killed by baking.
Seriously, is anything [...] really bad for you in moderation?
Plutonium.
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