What is the effectiveness of probiotics? They might not work as well for everyone, according to a new study

You hear all the time that you're supposed to eat yogurt or take probiotic supplements to boost your digestive health, but how effective is probiotics? Well, according to Forbes, new research presented in two articles published in the journal Cell Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Tel Aviv suggest that not only is probiotics not as effective as you would think, but it could also affect your bowel health.

According to ABC News, probiotics are living microorganisms that are found in foods such as yoghurt or pickled vegetables, as well as in dietary supplements. Previous research suggests that probiotics mimic and enhance the effects of the good bacteria that line the digestive tract and help the body absorb food and fight infections. According to ABC News, in the US, probiotic supplements are a multi-million dollar industry. About 4 million adults take probiotic forms and 60% of health care providers prescribe probiotics to their patients. But this new research can change that.

"People have been providing a lot of support for probiotics, even though the literature underlying their understanding is very controversial," said Eran Elinav, lead author and immunologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. "We wanted to determine if probiotics such as those you buy at the supermarket colonize the GI tract as they are supposed to do, and then whether these probiotics have an impact on the human host."

The researchers found that many people may be resistant to the effects of probiotics, according to Forbes reports. The researchers asked 19 people to take 11 of the most common probiotic strains, Forbes says, and only eight of them had significant bacterial colonization in their digestive tract. This means that for many volunteers, taking probiotics did not help them grow the good bacteria they needed to help their digestive system and immune system. The researchers were also able to predict which participants would have successful bacterial growth and which ones would excrete the probiotics by examining their normal microbiome and gene expression in their digestive tract, reports Forbes.

"The benefits of standard probiotics that we all take can not be as universal as we once thought," Forbes told Eran Segal, a computational biologist at the Weizmann Institute and author of the first study. Intestinal microbiome in the conduct of very specific clinical differences between people. "

Researchers have also found that taking probiotics after a series of antibiotics – supposed to restore a healthy intestinal biome – may actually do more harm than good, according to reports from The Independent. According to The Independent, antibiotics destroy the gut of all its natural bacteria, good or bad, which is why many people take probiotics after antibiotic therapy. But the researchers found that probiotics did not always help the intestines to return to normal, says Forbes; In fact, in some participants this has significantly delayed the return of their own intestinal bacteria for months.

"Contrary to the current dogma that probiotics are harmless and benefit everyone, these results reveal a new potential adverse effect of using probiotics with antibiotics that could even have long-term consequences," he said. Elinav at The Independent.

According to Forbes, the researchers say that this study shows that we must abandon the unique approach of probiotics. It's not because they work for some people that they work for everyone. In fact, for some, they could do more harm than good. A more personalized approach to probiotics and therapies directed against the microbiome will ensure that everyone gets the individual care they need. Until then, approach probiotics with caution and consult your doctor if you are not sure that probiotics are suitable for your medical needs.