1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogel Bomb here with a classic episode from our 3 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: podcasts archives. In this one, we delve into the complicated 4 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:19,760 Speaker 1: science and pseudoscience behind probiotics. This episode originally aired back 5 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 1: in December of twenty eighteen, but probiotics is still a 6 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: food and wellness industry buzzword. So what can they really do? 7 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. What if you 8 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,560 Speaker 1: could take a pill that would treat depression, constipation, diarrhea, exzema, urine, 9 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: airtract infections, and allergies, while also preventing cavities and strengthening 10 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: your overall immunity. And what if it promised to shield 11 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:47,639 Speaker 1: you from the impurities of the world and re establish 12 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: a right and correct balance in your body's ecology. First 13 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 1: of all, everybody settled down, there is no such thing 14 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: as a pill that does all of that. But to 15 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: hear some people talk, probiotics might just come close. The 16 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: popularity of products containing friendly live microorganisms has exploded over 17 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: the past decade. At this point, you can walk into 18 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: almost any grocery store and find probiotics in capsules, lozenges, gum, 19 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: facial toner and yes even in pet products, in addition 20 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: to the more traditional delivery systems like culture dairy products, yogurt, 21 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: and fermented products like suakraut and kombucha. Some folks are 22 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: making a lot of money on these little bacterial helpers, 23 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: but what are they actually able to do for us 24 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: and are they safe? We spoke with doctor Chris Irwin, 25 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: a dietitian and lecturer in nutrition and dietetics at Griffith 26 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 1: University in Queensland, Australia. He said that unless you have 27 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: an extremely poor diet or drink alcohol to excess, there's 28 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 1: not a lot of evidence that a probiotic dietary supplement 29 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: will help your overall health. He said, if you're taking probiotics, 30 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: you'll likely need to take them every day, and it's 31 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: best to feed the healthy bacteria with prebiotics. The bottom 32 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: line is that healthy people are likely to get more 33 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: benefit from getting regular exercise, avoiding smoking or consuming too 34 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: much alcohol, and having a diet rich in foods that 35 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: increase fiber and natural prebiotics intake like vegetables, fruit and 36 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:14,560 Speaker 1: whole grains, rather than consuming a probiotic supplement. However, probiotics 37 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: might be an effective treatment for specific cases or conditions. 38 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: While there's not a lot of evidence supporting the idea 39 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 1: that probiotics could help with your exima allergies or dental woes, sorry, 40 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: they might actually help people looking to avoid vaginal east 41 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: infections or upper respiratory infections picked up from a cold virus. 42 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: Other studies have found that probiotics can help with digestive 43 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,079 Speaker 1: issues like irritable bell syndrome and may improve the frequency 44 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: and consistency of your poop. So, as a consumer, what 45 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:43,519 Speaker 1: should you look for in a probiotic If you want 46 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:46,519 Speaker 1: to get the most bang for your buck, Basically, you've 47 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 1: got some homework to do. Irwin said. Different probiotic strains 48 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 1: have different effects, so it's important to look for a 49 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:56,799 Speaker 1: probiotic supplement that contains the strains of bacteria most likely 50 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: to match your condition. The dose of bacteria, called colon 51 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: many forming units or CFU, is also important and should 52 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: be high enough to meet benefits observed in clinical trials. 53 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: The short answer here is, if someone is looking for 54 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: a probiotic to take, go for something that provides the 55 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: greatest diversity in bacterial strains and the highest CFU. Irwin 56 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: also suggests getting advice from your doctor or dietitian for 57 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: the strains that might be right for you, and making 58 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: sure you're buying probiotic strains that are reputable and have 59 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 1: committed to transparency in scientific research. However, that latter is 60 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: more easily said than done. A study published in Jama 61 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: Internal Medicine in twenty eighteen pointed out that there is 62 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: very little government oversight of factories that manufacture probiotics, and 63 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: the US Boon and Drug Administration, or FDA, found that 64 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: about half of the six hundred and fifty factories that 65 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: manufacture probiotic supplements in the United States were cited for violations, 66 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: most having to do with the product not living up 67 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: to what was promised on the label. The study also 68 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: said the probiotics may lead to infections in people with 69 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: immune deficiencies. Another study published this year in the journal 70 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: Cell suggests some people may be resistant to supplemented probiotic bacteria, 71 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: and therefore we'll get no benefit from it at all. 72 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: The researchers also investigated whether probiotics can help the gut 73 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: microbiome bounce back after a round of antibiotics, and they 74 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: found that though probiotics might have helped with diarrhea related 75 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: to the antibiotic. They seem to have delayed the reconstitution 76 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: of gut bacteria. Of course, more research is needed to 77 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: understand just how helpful probiotics are to our overall health, 78 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: and it's important not to give them more credit than 79 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: their due. Irwin said, it's unlikely probiotic supplements are dangerous, 80 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: but I don't think that they're a magic bullet. Healthy 81 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: people are likely to get more benefit from having a 82 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: diet rich in vegetables, fruit, and whole grains. On the 83 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:45,279 Speaker 1: other hand, if someone has a poor diet and doesn't 84 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:49,600 Speaker 1: exercise regularly, their digestive bacteria may benefit from probiotic supplements, 85 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: but they'll likely need to keep taking them to get 86 00:04:52,000 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: lasting effects. Today's episode is based on the article Everyone 87 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: Be Taking Probiotics on hostiff works dot com, written by 88 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: Molly Edmunds and Jesslyn Shields. Brain Stuff is production of 89 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: by Heart Radio in partnership with hostuffworks dot Com, and 90 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 1: it's produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from My 91 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,280 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 92 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.