Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Probiotics.....overhyped?

Maybe. I must admit I think there may be particular benefits to fermented food, but the research is still inconclusive.

The study to investigate the potential benefits of probiotics in yogurt, a patient-oriented, double-blind, cluster-randomised, placebo-controlled, clinical trial

Conclusions: Consumption of a yogurt-based drink delivering 1010 CFU of Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis (B. lactis) BB-12 per day did not decrease the number of days missed of school due to an illness. Additional independent research on the potential of BB-12 to reduce illness in children needs to be conducted.

4 comments:

Dave, RN said...

Well... I can tell you , I started taking a probiotic a couple of weeks ago. After about 4 days on it, I pooped all day. About 6 regular bowel movements. Lost 4 lbs!
So don't poo-poo probiotics 'till you try them.

Anonymous said...

Hard to read much into that one. Only one strain of bacteria and no evidence that yoghurt is the best vehicle. And end marker - time off from school - isn't a good end point to be measuring with regard to probiotic efficacy. Maybe they were all vitamin D deficient?

ramon25 said...

Well 1010 cfu is nothing! Supplements contain 5-50 BILLION cfu and the good ones are enteirc coated.... I love your blog chris but you got to get up on some supps knowledge man! ;)

Billy Oblivion said...

To those advocating Pro-Biotics, any studies that disprove this one?

Seriously--science is fallibility, not anecdotes and hope.