Loading...
Despite growing evidence that the gut microbiome affects human health, knowing how to exploit that knowledge to improve health is unclear. Probiotics, which are available over the counter, are used widely to reestablish “healthy” gut flora. But do they? In two new reports, researchers examine the consequences of using probiotics.
In one report, endoscopic studies showed that bacterial flora of stool are a reasonable (although imperfect) reflection of flora at mucosal surfaces throughout the gut. Controlled studies of healthy humans pre- and postadministration of probiotics with 11 bacterial strains (or placebo) showed that, although the bacterial strains in the probiotics were shed in stool of all participants, this shedding was not a reliab…