A recent scientific study published in the prestigious journal "Cell" found that probiotics didn't even get temporarily established in half of the normal people studied.... in one end and out the other. And in the other half, they only lingered briefly before being crowded out by the normal gut microbes.
We have been encouraged to take probiotics after taking antibiotics, but this study showed that it didn't work as expected. Probiotics didn't help re-establish the normal bacterial population after antibiotics, and actually hindered it.
Of course this study used normal subjects and didn't look at what might happen with IBDs, but it does suggest that we should be cautious about using probiotics.
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-45434753
Rosie
Probiotics labeled "quite useless" in recent study
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Probiotics labeled "quite useless" in recent study
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time………Thomas Edison
I don't take probiotics regularly, but I don't agree that they don't help when taking antibiotics. I believe they do prevent women from getting yeast infections while taking antibiotics. I had a yeast infection years ago when taking an antibiotic, but since learning about probiotics and taking them two hours after an antibiotic dose I have not had another yeast infection. I don't believe that's a coincidence. Nor have I ever gotten D as many people do when taking antibiotics.
Marcia
------------
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. - M. Angelou
------------
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. - M. Angelou
Well, I have to admit that I fell for the "should help after taking an antibiotic" pitch and I often recommended that (although I have never taken a probiotic myself after taking an antibiotic), but I've claimed all along that probiotics are a useless waste of money in general for most people.
If you look at the original article in Cell, rather than to dwell on the useless claim, the title of the article indicates that taking probiotics is actually counterproductive for rebuilding one's proper gut microbiome, while pointing out that an autologous fecal microbiome transplantation (aFMT) is much more effective. But lest we mistakenly assume that this is proof that fecal matter transplants are effective, note that autologous refers to cells or tissues obtained from the same individual.
Here's a link to a pdf of the original Cell article, if anyone is interested. You'll probably have to copy and paste the link in your browser to make it work (at least my browser doesn't interpret it properly as a link in this post).
https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(18)31108-5.pdf
This is potent information. Thanks for sharing.
Tex
If you look at the original article in Cell, rather than to dwell on the useless claim, the title of the article indicates that taking probiotics is actually counterproductive for rebuilding one's proper gut microbiome, while pointing out that an autologous fecal microbiome transplantation (aFMT) is much more effective. But lest we mistakenly assume that this is proof that fecal matter transplants are effective, note that autologous refers to cells or tissues obtained from the same individual.
It took a mighty long time for this research result to see the light of day. That probably is a tribute to the power of the huge probiotic industry. It just goes to show that no one likes to rock the boat in a situation such as this.Post-Antibiotic Gut Mucosal Microbiome Reconstitution Is Impaired by Probiotics and Improved by Autologous FMT
Here's a link to a pdf of the original Cell article, if anyone is interested. You'll probably have to copy and paste the link in your browser to make it work (at least my browser doesn't interpret it properly as a link in this post).
https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(18)31108-5.pdf
This is potent information. Thanks for sharing.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.