WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: What Can Probiotics Really Do?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogel Bomb here with a classic episode from our

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<v Speaker 1>podcasts archives. In this one, we delve into the complicated

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<v Speaker 1>science and pseudoscience behind probiotics. This episode originally aired back

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<v Speaker 1>in December of twenty eighteen, but probiotics is still a

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<v Speaker 1>food and wellness industry buzzword. So what can they really do?

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. What if you

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<v Speaker 1>could take a pill that would treat depression, constipation, diarrhea, exzema, urine,

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<v Speaker 1>airtract infections, and allergies, while also preventing cavities and strengthening

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<v Speaker 1>your overall immunity. And what if it promised to shield

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<v Speaker 1>you from the impurities of the world and re establish

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<v Speaker 1>a right and correct balance in your body's ecology. First

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<v Speaker 1>of all, everybody settled down, there is no such thing

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<v Speaker 1>as a pill that does all of that. But to

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<v Speaker 1>hear some people talk, probiotics might just come close. The

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<v Speaker 1>popularity of products containing friendly live microorganisms has exploded over

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<v Speaker 1>the past decade. At this point, you can walk into

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<v Speaker 1>almost any grocery store and find probiotics in capsules, lozenges, gum,

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<v Speaker 1>facial toner and yes even in pet products, in addition

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<v Speaker 1>to the more traditional delivery systems like culture dairy products, yogurt,

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<v Speaker 1>and fermented products like suakraut and kombucha. Some folks are

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<v Speaker 1>making a lot of money on these little bacterial helpers,

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<v Speaker 1>but what are they actually able to do for us

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<v Speaker 1>and are they safe? We spoke with doctor Chris Irwin,

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<v Speaker 1>a dietitian and lecturer in nutrition and dietetics at Griffith

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<v Speaker 1>University in Queensland, Australia. He said that unless you have

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<v Speaker 1>an extremely poor diet or drink alcohol to excess, there's

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<v Speaker 1>not a lot of evidence that a probiotic dietary supplement

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<v Speaker 1>will help your overall health. He said, if you're taking probiotics,

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<v Speaker 1>you'll likely need to take them every day, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>best to feed the healthy bacteria with prebiotics. The bottom

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<v Speaker 1>line is that healthy people are likely to get more

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<v Speaker 1>benefit from getting regular exercise, avoiding smoking or consuming too

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<v Speaker 1>much alcohol, and having a diet rich in foods that

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<v Speaker 1>increase fiber and natural prebiotics intake like vegetables, fruit and

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<v Speaker 1>whole grains, rather than consuming a probiotic supplement. However, probiotics

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<v Speaker 1>might be an effective treatment for specific cases or conditions.

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<v Speaker 1>While there's not a lot of evidence supporting the idea

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<v Speaker 1>that probiotics could help with your exima allergies or dental woes, sorry,

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<v Speaker 1>they might actually help people looking to avoid vaginal east

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<v Speaker 1>infections or upper respiratory infections picked up from a cold virus.

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<v Speaker 1>Other studies have found that probiotics can help with digestive

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<v Speaker 1>issues like irritable bell syndrome and may improve the frequency

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<v Speaker 1>and consistency of your poop. So, as a consumer, what

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<v Speaker 1>should you look for in a probiotic If you want

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<v Speaker 1>to get the most bang for your buck, Basically, you've

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<v Speaker 1>got some homework to do. Irwin said. Different probiotic strains

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<v Speaker 1>have different effects, so it's important to look for a

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<v Speaker 1>probiotic supplement that contains the strains of bacteria most likely

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<v Speaker 1>to match your condition. The dose of bacteria, called colon

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<v Speaker 1>many forming units or CFU, is also important and should

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<v Speaker 1>be high enough to meet benefits observed in clinical trials.

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<v Speaker 1>The short answer here is, if someone is looking for

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<v Speaker 1>a probiotic to take, go for something that provides the

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<v Speaker 1>greatest diversity in bacterial strains and the highest CFU. Irwin

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<v Speaker 1>also suggests getting advice from your doctor or dietitian for

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<v Speaker 1>the strains that might be right for you, and making

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<v Speaker 1>sure you're buying probiotic strains that are reputable and have

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<v Speaker 1>committed to transparency in scientific research. However, that latter is

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<v Speaker 1>more easily said than done. A study published in Jama

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<v Speaker 1>Internal Medicine in twenty eighteen pointed out that there is

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<v Speaker 1>very little government oversight of factories that manufacture probiotics, and

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<v Speaker 1>the US Boon and Drug Administration, or FDA, found that

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<v Speaker 1>about half of the six hundred and fifty factories that

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<v Speaker 1>manufacture probiotic supplements in the United States were cited for violations,

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<v Speaker 1>most having to do with the product not living up

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<v Speaker 1>to what was promised on the label. The study also

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<v Speaker 1>said the probiotics may lead to infections in people with

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<v Speaker 1>immune deficiencies. Another study published this year in the journal

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<v Speaker 1>Cell suggests some people may be resistant to supplemented probiotic bacteria,

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<v Speaker 1>and therefore we'll get no benefit from it at all.

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<v Speaker 1>The researchers also investigated whether probiotics can help the gut

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<v Speaker 1>microbiome bounce back after a round of antibiotics, and they

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<v Speaker 1>found that though probiotics might have helped with diarrhea related

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<v Speaker 1>to the antibiotic. They seem to have delayed the reconstitution

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<v Speaker 1>of gut bacteria. Of course, more research is needed to

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<v Speaker 1>understand just how helpful probiotics are to our overall health,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's important not to give them more credit than

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<v Speaker 1>their due. Irwin said, it's unlikely probiotic supplements are dangerous,

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<v Speaker 1>but I don't think that they're a magic bullet. Healthy

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<v Speaker 1>people are likely to get more benefit from having a

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<v Speaker 1>diet rich in vegetables, fruit, and whole grains. On the

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<v Speaker 1>other hand, if someone has a poor diet and doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>exercise regularly, their digestive bacteria may benefit from probiotic supplements,

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<v Speaker 1>but they'll likely need to keep taking them to get

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<v Speaker 1>lasting effects. Today's episode is based on the article Everyone

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<v Speaker 1>Be Taking Probiotics on hostiff works dot com, written by

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<v Speaker 1>Molly Edmunds and Jesslyn Shields. Brain Stuff is production of

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<v Speaker 1>by Heart Radio in partnership with hostuffworks dot Com, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from My

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows.