Don’t Believe the Hype? – WebMD

THURSDAY, Sept. 6, 2018 (HealthDay News) — They’re sold everywhere, but can probiotics — the good bacteria found in some foods like yogurt and in supplements — really help restore digestive health?

Maybe, but only for some people, new research suggests. The Israeli researchers found that some people’s digestive systems held on to the probiotics given in a supplement. But in others, the body expelled the good bacteria.

And, in a second study, the same team found that when taken along with a course of antibiotics, probiotics may actually delay gut bacteria from returning to normal.

Senior study author Dr. Eran Elinav said the findings suggest that more caution is needed when using probiotics, and that there shouldn’t be a “one-size-fits-all” approach to probiotic supplements.

“The current practice — followed by millions of individuals who consume probiotics with the hope that they improve their health and prevent disease — needs to be modified to one which is centered on the individual,” Elinav said. He’s a professor in the immunology department at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.

Probiotics are live microorganisms, often bacteria, believed to have beneficial health effects, according to the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). They have been studied in a variety of conditions, including antibiotic-related diarrhea, digestive disorders, tooth decay, allergies, eczema, liver disease and even the common cold. But there’s no definitive evidence that probiotics work for any of these conditions, the NCCIH says.

Yet, probiotic supplements are very popular. In a 2012 survey, about 4 million Americans said they had used a probiotic or prebiotic (dietary substances that encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria) supplement in the past month, according to the NCCIH.

Elinav said that the use of probiotics should be subjected to the same scrutiny as other medical treatments. “Any such intervention needs to be weighed in terms of its benefits versus its harm potentials,” he said.

The first study done by Elinav and his team included 25 volunteers. They underwent upper endoscopy and colonoscopy so that the researchers could obtain samples of their “microbiome” (the gut’s native bacteria) in different areas of the digestive system.