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Probiotics Come with Bold Health Claims, but the Science is Shaky

posted by martyb on Wednesday January 27 2016, @03:36PM   
from the avoid-the-amateur-biotics dept.

AndyTheAbsurd writes:

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/

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Original Submission

• Re:Any bacteria you eat had better be digested (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday January 27 2016, @09:56PM

  by takyon (881) <{takyon} {at} {soylentnews.org}> on Wednesday January 27 2016, @09:56PM (#295588) Journal

  Every part of your body has different kinds of bacteria living on it. The microbiome is necessarily a complex subject

  It means that the introduction of certain bacteria could be considered an oral health treatment.

  On the subject of bacteria good for your gut being good for your teeth, I found this:

  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2897872/ [nih.gov]

  Several studies suggest that consumption of products containing probiotic lactobacilli or bifidobacteria could reduce the number of mutans streptococci in saliva.32–40 The tendency toward a decreased number of mutans streptococci in the saliva seems to be independent of the product or strain used; however, such effect has not been observed in all studies.41 The discrepancies between results cannot be explained by only the use of different probiotic strains, as different results have also been obtained using the same strains.

  [...] The first studies of the use of probiotics for enhancing oral health were for the treatment of periodontal inflammation.43 Patients with various periodontal diseases, gingivitis, periodontitis, and pregnancy gingivitis, were locally treated with a culture supernatant of a L. acidophilus strain. Significant recovery was reported for almost every patient. There has been significant interest in using probiotics in treatment of periodontal disease recently, too. The probiotic strains used in these studies include L. reuteri strains, L. brevis (CD2), L. casei Shirota, L. salivarius WB21, and Bacillus subtilis. L. reuteri and L. brevis have improved gingival health, as measured by decreased gum bleeding.

  [...] The interest in oral probiotics has been growing during the last decades. Most of the studies have been conducted with probiotic strains originally suggested for gut health; however, it is important to realize that each of the suggested health benefits should be studied for each bacterial strain individually. Thus, a probiotic bacterium in the mouth is not necessarily an oral probiotic. Furthermore, it is quite possible that the same species are not optimal for all oral health purposes; e.g., different properties might be desired in respect to dental and gingival health.

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