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The "good bacteria," or probiotics, that fill the pomegranate drink are everywhere these days, in pills and powders marketed as super supplements. Probiotics are said to improve digestive and immune health. They're touted as potential treatments for conditions ranging from inflammatory bowel disease to eczema to tooth decay. Some marketing campaigns even hint that they can prevent the flu.
Scientific evidence, however, does not necessarily support those claims.
Studies in rodents and small groups of humans point to possible health benefits of consuming probiotics. But there have been only a few large human trials — in large part because Food and Drug Administration rules have dissuaded food companies and federally funded researchers from conducting the types of studies that could confirm, or refute, the proposed benefits of consuming "good" microbes.
http://www.statnews.com/2016/01/21/probiotics-shaky-science/
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday January 27 2016, @05:11PM
People want to eat healthy or pretend to eat healthy, and don't want a prescription to eat lunch. That's where the 'F' (and 'U'?) in Food and Drug Administration comes in.
The FDA could crack down (harder) on non-food supplements with some simple changes to regulatory law, but there's a lot of money and homeopaths invested in keeping powdered shark fin, ginseng, weight loss caffeine powders, etc. on the market.
At the very least fecal transplants [wikipedia.org] are regarded as a legitimate medical treatment.
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